Discovery strikes Czech Olympics deal

Discovery Communications has struck its latest sub-licensing agreement for its live Olympic Games rights, this time in the Czech Republic.

Local public broadcaster Ceska Televize (CT) will share rights to the 2018 Winter Olympics and the 2020 summer games with Discovery’s Eurosport.

The sub-licensed package includes digital rights to the content CT broadcasts on its linear channels. Eurosport retains the rights to all of the Olympic action on pay TV and through its digital platforms.

Discovery paid US$1.4bn for pan-European rights to the games through to 2024 in a surprise deal announced last summer. That followed its purchase of Eurosport from France’s TF1.

But regional rules regarding free-to-air coverage of major sporting events mean Discovery is partnering with terrestrial broadcasters in sub-licensing agreements.

It has already agreed to share coverage with the BBC in the UK, NOS in the Netherlands and YLE in Finland.