Paris 2024 Set to Reach Wide French TV Audience

(ATR) France Télévisions has struck a deal with Eurosport owner Discovery for exclusive free-to-air broadcasting rights to the Beijing 2022 and Paris 2024 Olympics.

The US media giant said Eurosport’s digital offering will show every minute of both Olympics "featuring every sport, every event and every gold medal".

Discovery’s deal with France Télévisions aims to support its ambition to engage more people, on more screens, with the Olympics than ever before in Europe.

Tuesday’s announcement extends France Télévisions agreement to be the free-to-air destination for coverage of the Olympics in France through 2024.

Timo Lumme, managing director of IOC Television and Marketing Services, said the collaboration between Discovery and France Télévisions meant Olympic fans in France "will have innovative, comprehensive coverage across their media platform of choice".

Discovery, Eurosport and France Télévisions will work closely with the Paris 2024 organizing committee and its leadership in delivery and promotion of the Games, helping to engage French citizens and offer platforms to bring to life its #MadeForSharing vision of the Games slogan.

Commenting on the deal, Paris 2024 president Tony Estanguet said: "When we think about the Games, it’s often magical television memories that come to our mind – achievements, emotions, victories, sometimes failures."

"All these moments, we lived them with France Télévisions since the Moscow 1980 Olympic Games."

"France Télévisions and Eurosport are committed stakeholders who share the passion of sports as we do. Together, we’ll make the Paris 2024 Olympic Games a unique opportunity to highlight the role of sport in our society, promote all disciplines and value the athletes," he added.

JB Perrette, president and CEO of Discovery, said the new partnership provided the perfect opportunity to build on Eurosport’s achievements at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics.

The host Olympic broadcaster in Europe reported 212 million users engaging with their PyeongChang Games coverage across all platforms owned by Discovery Communications, including traditional primetime coverage and mobile devices. It also reported 1.1 million engagements on social media platforms including Facebook and Twitter.

Discovery’s sub-licensing arrangements with the French public-service broadcaster follows its $1.4 billion partnership with the IOC, which included exclusive multimedia rights for 50 countries and territories in Europe and runs through the Paris 2024 Games.

Reported by Mark Bisson

25 Years at #1: Your best source of news about the Olympics is AroundTheRings.com, for subscribers only.