(ATR) Sky Italia is the new TV rights holder for the Olympics in Italy. The deal marks the end of state broadcaster RAI’s involvement since the 1960 Olympics in Rome, the first Summer Games to be telecast live around the world.
The digital broadcaster was announced Monday as the winner of the rights for the 2010 and 2012 Olympics. While known as a cable and satellite network, the IOC says Sky Italia’s rights include free-to-air, which would presumably involve the selling of those rights to terrestrial broadcasters, such as RAI.
A source familiar with Olympic TV rights estimates the Italian deal to be worth in excess of $100 million.
In 2004, the cost of renewing as a rights holder led RAI to back out of the 2010/2012 Olympic package for European broadcasters that is negotiated by the European Broadcast Union. The IOC said in 2004 that it would negotiate with other Italian broadcasters “in due course”. Nearly four years later, the deal is done.
Sky Italia is owned by News Corp, which could be on its way to securing rights packages in other parts of the globe, including the U.S. where Fox networks have become increasingly important to the TV business.
“This is a fantastic deal for the IOC and the Olympic Movement as a whole. SKY Italia demonstrated an unrivalled commitment to the Olympic Games and the Olympic values that will allow sports fans in Italy the chance to see more Olympic sport than ever before, not only on SKY Italia’s exciting subscription channel platforms, but also on a full range of digital media outlets and on free-to-air television,” said IOC vice president Thomas Bach.
“We are very proud of this deal that shows our constant commitment to offer more quality and choice to our subscribers, and we are grateful to the IOC for having chosen Sky Italia as a partner. We share with the IOC the will and commitment to make the Olympic Games available on all platforms, granting Italians the possibility to view on free-to-air television comparable amounts of coverage to previous Olympic Games. We will immediately start discussions to identify the best free-to-air network partner to proceed with this project,” said Tom Mockridge, CEO of SKY Italia.
Written by Ed HulaFor general comments or questions, click hereThe Golden 25 special edition magazine is now available in PDF. Click here to see who will be most influential in the Olympic Movement in 2008.
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