Discovery sign Pan-European Olympics rights from 2018

It's pretty pointless to look at Discovery's channel line-up now and start extapolating from that how they're going to cover the Olympics in nine years' time. When BT won the Premier League rights, they didn't have any channels at all. When ESPN won them, they set up a channel in about three weeks. So you can't say "That then means they will have upto 4 outlets here in the UK for coverage" - they can launch dozens.

However, I don't think the coverage in the end will be any different to what we have now and I think the BBC will still show them all. I think the idea is that in the major markets where they don't have much of a presence they'll sell them on to another broadcaster. Eurosport in this country is such a minor broadcaster - I like sport and I have the channel but I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of times I've watched it - and in terms of ad revenue they won't make very much. And there's no appetite among British audiences for another subscription sports channel, epecially if all it's going to offer is the Olympics every four years. The only way it could work is if Discovery spent loads and loads and loads of money buyng so much off Sky and BT one of them has to close. People aren't going to pay for three subscriptions.

So in the end I can't see what Eurosport would gain from it in the UK. Be more lucrative just to sell all the UK rights to the Beeb.

Exactly Steve. I have Eurosport too and am much more a fan of the Olympic sports than I am of football & cricket, but outside the Aus Open and French Open coverage I don't watch it much at all.

The wider press seems so misinformed about this - seen a couple of articles today about the BBC not being able to afford the £920m Discovery paid, completely missing the point that is for across Europe.

Also the IOC and most major events have been collectively selling the European rights for years, although usually the big 5 countries are sold individually. I see Eurosport as more an intemediary than the primary rights holder - this gets them guaranteed pay-TV rights in all markets but the real money is to be made from selling them on. Based on what has been paid previously I'd think they'd be on to make £350-£400m from the big five for the second cycle of these rights - and any company would much rather have a guaranteed sum than take a lower sum (for less rights) then burden all the risk on getting it right themselves.

P.S. The government has missed the opportunity to update the crown jewels list in recent years but I think it's time the requirement to be in HD on all platforms was added as well.