The International Olympic Committee has confirmed that commercial broadcaster Seven has acquired media rights in Australia for the next three editions of the Olympic Games.
The deal, which was first reported by TV Sports Markets on July 9, will cover the 2016 and 2020 summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and Tokyo, Brazil respectively, as well as the 2018 winter Games in PyeongChang, South Korea.
The agreement also includes the second edition of the summer Youth Olympics in Nanjing, China later this year and covers all media platforms.
Commercial broadcaster Nine and pay-television operator Foxtel had the rights in Australia for the Vancouver 2010 and London 2012 Games, while commercial broadcaster Ten covered this year’s winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. Seven’s last Olympic Games broadcast following two decades as the home of the Games in Australia was the 2008 edition in Beijing.
“This commitment and investment in our biggest ever Olympic broadcast agreement confirms our belief in the future of free-to-air Television in Australia,” West Media chief executive Tim Worne said.
“We don’t look at this as a series of 17 day events, our work as an Olympic partner starts today and will continue every day for up to the next ten years. It’s well known Australians are amongst the keenest sports watchers in the world and to have two of the three Games in our time zone, possibly more, and Rio’s best competition in our daylight hours, allows Seven West Media to maximise its investment.”