RTÉ ‘hopeful’ of continued coverage of Olympics after sale of broadcast rights

RTÉ is “reasonably optimistic” of negotiating a solution that will allow it to continue its coverage of the Olympics from 2018 onwards.

The national broadcaster's concern follows the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) decision to sell the broadcasting rights to the Olympic Games, winter and summer, from 2018 to 2024, to Discovery Communications, the parent company of Eurosport.

The IOC will receive €1.3 billion for the rights. The deal is further evidence of a rapidly constricting free-to-air market. Sport is big business and the satellite behemoths are stockpiling the rights when they become available, with the national broadcasters such as RTÉ and BBC unable to compete in financial terms.

Monetary clout

It is a reflection of the current market where Sky, BT Sport, Discovery Communications, BeIn Sport and Al Jazeera carry the monetary clout.

BBC presents a classic example. It will lose the live rights to the British Open in 2017, having been unable to prevent a gradual erosion of blue chip events in its sports portfolio over the past 20 years.

It has been offered a stay of execution in relation to the 2018 winter Olympics (PyeongChang, South Korea) and the summer Games of 2020 (Tokyo, Japan), retaining broadcast rights in recognition of its coverage of the 2012 London Games.

French television was also given the same deal, while Russia is not constrained by the new agreement.

RTÉ admitted “disappointment” at the IOC’s decision, but in some respects it represents a continuation of a situation that first surfaced in 2013 when the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the umbrella body for a group of national public service broadcasters, failed to secure the primary rights for the 2016 summer Olympics in Rio.

Third-party negotiations

At that point RTÉ, along with 40 other national broadcasters, negotiated with a third party agency to secure rights to Rio, something they accomplished successfully as there is no diminution in terms of the package they will provide to viewers, compared with previous Olympic; from 2018 RTÉ may face competition for sub-licence rights from

TV3

.

A spokesperson for RTÉ said that “it was way too early to suggest that RTÉ had been written out of the script,” and that it would “engage with the market when they come to talk to us”.

A subsequent press release stated that: “RTÉ will make every effort to secure the rights for the Summer Olympic Games in 2020 and 2024 so that Irish viewers can watch home-produced, relevant coverage of Irish athletes competing both in Tokyo in 2020 and at the 2024 summer games – something that all countries would lose in the event of pan-European coverage.

Discovery chief executive David Zaslav confirmed that a portion of the rights would be available for negotiation: “We’ll open up those discussions in every market to sub-licence. In some markets we will run free-to-air, pay TV and all devices and in others we’ll partner with others.” Discovery is obliged to show 200 hours of free-to-air coverage.

“Designated major event”

The Irish Government’s 2009 Broadcast Act, which lists the summer Olympics as a designated major event which must be shown free-to-air in this territory, doesn’t stipulate what that constitutes, nor offers any clarity on the matter whatsoever.

RTÉ Head of Sport Ryle Nugent said: “I am reasonably optimistic that we can find some sort of solution but for now we are concentrating on producing the best package possible for Rio.”