Australian commercial network Nine has pulled out of the race to acquire rights for the 2014 winter Olympic Games and 2016 summer Olympics, according to the Australian newspaper.
The report said that Nine had dropped out of the race after incurring an estimated loss of $25 million (€20 million/$26.8 million) in broadcasting the London 2012 Games.
The newspaper added that free-to-air channel Seven was now the clear favourite to acquire the rights for the 2014 Games in Sochi, Russia, and the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Executives at commercial broadcaster Network Ten are reluctant to pay for a loss leader such as the Olympics, the report said.
The package of rights in Australia covering the next two editions of the Olympics is likely to be awarded by the end of February.