A new broadcaster, Discovery Communications, has paid more than $2 billion to screen the Olympic Games from 2018 to 2024 across Europe, beating national public broadcasters that have traditionally shown the event.
Olympic logo Photo: IOC
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) chose Discovery, which is the parent of pay-television channel Eurosport, after a competitive auction that attracted more than 10 bids, said Timo Lumme, a marketing executive at the IOC.
"This is the first time we have licensed these rights to a single media company to manage and broadcast all the games across all the platforms," said Lumme.
The deal shows Discovery's ambitions for Europe where it bought out last year its partner in Eurosport, French broadcaster TF1.
The company, which also operates cable channels in the United States such as Animal Planet and Discovery, has said buying more sports rights could weigh on its short-term profitability.
