Olympics rights deals secured in six European markets

Polish public-service broadcaster TVP has acquired rights for the 2018 and 2020 Olympics in a sublicensing deal with media and entertainment company Discovery Communications, which has also secured agreements for the Games in five other European markets.

TVP has acquired exclusive free-to-air rights for the 2018 winter Games in Pyeongchang and the 2020 summer Olympics in Tokyo.

Discovery also confirmed free-to-air sublicensing agreements with several media groups, namely: Eesti Meedia in Estonia, Georgian Public Broadcasting in Georgia, RÚV in Iceland and Latvijas Televizija in Latvia.

The National Olympic Committee of Lithuania, Lietuvos Olimpinis Fondas, was also awarded rights.

The media groups in Estonia, Georgia, Iceland and Latvia, and the NOC in Lithuania, will have exclusive free-to-air rights, as well as selected digital rights for the content they broadcast on their linear television channels and selected clip rights following the live events. Eurosport retains rights to all of the action on pay-television platforms and through its digital and mobile services.

In Poland, the TVP 1 and TVP 2 channels will broadcast live coverage of the most important events at the Games, including competitions featuring Polish athletes. TVP will also show highlights and repeats of action from the Olympics on digital platforms.

Discovery’s international sports broadcaster, Eurosport, will retain pay-television rights for the Games in Poland as well as full digital coverage.

TVP will provide 200 hours of coverage of the Pyeongchang Games and 350 hours from the Tokyo Olympics.

Eurosport chief executive Peter Hutton said that the deal with the Lithuanian NOC represented “an example of how we are seeking and open to innovative partnerships which can best engage people in each market with the inspiration of the Games.”