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Report: Nine drops out of Rio 2016 bid

Nine is reportedly out of the bidding war for the 2016 Rio Olympics but is making no comment.

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2013-01-29_1428Nine is out of the bidding war for the 2016 Rio Olympics according to The Australian.

Nine is understood to have dropped out after an estimated $25 million loss as the broadcaster of the London 2012 games.

That would leave former Olympics broadcaster Seven as the front runner for Rio 2016.

But Nine’s group sales and marketing director Peter Wiltshire told AdNews there was “no comment at all.” Without Nine bidding Seven may nab the rights without having to shell out as much.

Foxtel is said to again be keen on sharing rights, having previously spent $120m on Vancouver’s 2010 Winter Olympics and the London Summer Olympics -but Seven has also paired with SBS before.

Seven’s bidding team is being led by Ryan Stokes, chief executive Tim Worner and commercial director Bruce McWilliam.

A decision is expected by the end of February, also including the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

43 Responses

  1. The BBC uK had their rights from Taxpayers fees & managed 21 channels & 3D .All we need is their feed with a selection of commentators from all networks . Olympics is a National event & should be spread over all our tv networks with the BBC feed. 7 on the tennis did one match .I saw BBC do 3 alternate matches at Wimbleton plus 3D . Again out of licence fees only 4 times what the ABC gets ! they have the expertise .

  2. Unless you provide a dedicated channel for every single sport and event, you are never going to truly do the games justice. Unless games are in South East Asia most big name events arent in prime time so why would networks want to shell out massive dollars.

  5. TEN please but if 7 joins either SBS or TEN I’ll be happy. Anyone but 9. By the way David why didn’t you add my comment on TV Lounge because it is still moderating

  7. While channel nine’s coverage of London was not great the last performance by seven in Beijing was a disgrace and should see them never have the rights to the Olympics again. If they can’t manage to deliver something decent when the games our held in an Australian friendly time zone, I shudder to think what they will dish up for Sochi and Rio!

    Meanwhile, Foxtel’s coverage of London was awesome!

  8. 7s sports coverage has probably gotten worse since the bejing olympics. out of date commentators dud personalities and contraptions no one cares about or uses like fango and megawall. i didn’t watch any of 9s coverage so i am hoping foxtel share it with someone

  9. For Rio the time difference means that you can’t show anything live in primetime so it isn’t that valuable. A lot of FTA content is not worth the price that 7 & 9 have bid bundles up to anymore.

    Channel 7 can’t afford to spend too much for the @l^mp!cs either. KKR is holding a lot of debt for its share of Seven West Media, and the print part of the business is losing money.

    It probably means that Channel 9 will have the money freed up to hold onto the cricket though.

  11. I would have thought that questions need to be asked as to how a network that didn’t appear to invest any money in their coverage, and broadcast endless ads, managed to end up with an estimated $25 million loss from these games!

  12. I have no idea why people so want 7 to show them. They’re coverage of Beijing was pathetic and it was in a good time zone for us.

    I remember reading about Steve Hooker and Matthew Mitcham winning Gold well before 7 showed it.

    The worst thing was that what they had on while they were winning Gold didn’t even involve Australians.

  15. As long as Foxtel keep it I will be happy. They showed everyone else in the country (and continue to) how Sports should be broadcast.

    No “megawalls.” No pointless interviews about the guy who painted the lines on the track. Just coverage of what was supposed to be shown at the time they said!

  16. @David. I don’t get foxtel and damn near slashed my wrists listening to that comment on the marathons and (I believe) some of the cycling road races. Let’s not forget his brilliance at the opening ceremony… I heard many of the countries nearly headed home when they heard mcguires pro USA diatribe.

  20. The worst possible news. So we will again be subjected to Seven and SBS’s obsession with team sports and crap like The Dream and Yum Cha. No more dedicated channels on Foxtel where we can watch events like the weightlifting and hammer throw in full and uninterrupted.

    Seven should be totally banned from bidding for the Olympics if Foxtel cannot be included as well.

  23. Joy to the world. I can watch the Olympics again. Sevens Olympic coverage was far better although they’re going the same way as nine by putting hamish mclachlan and mark beretta in their sporting events. Nines was simply unwatchable though. Worst Olympics broadcast

  24. Thank God for that. Nine’s effort at the last Olympics was laughable. Whoever thought eddie mcguire could commentate, or new anything about anything other than AFL, were (and still are) off their rocker. And who was the brainless twerp who thought adding comedians to a sports panel was a good idea? Oh, wait.

    Nine should never be allowed near a major sports broadcast again.

  25. Yes!
    Worst case scenario avoided!
    The remaining options are all better than Channel Nine:
    1. Seven.
    2. Ten.
    3. No one.
    4. Austereo.
    …
    8. Bega Community Voice.
    …
    15. Opera Winfrey Network.
    16. Australian Mining Federation Media Department
    …
    23. ABC4Kids.
    …
    42. ABC.

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