Murdoch Says News Corp. Unlikely To Bid For '14, '16 Games Rights

Murdoch Imagines Bidding For Games Will Be High

News Corp. Chair & CEO Rupert Murdoch yesterday said that the company is "unlikely to make a bid" for U.S. broadcast rights to the '14 and '16 Olympics, according to David Goetzl of MEDIAPOST. Murdoch, speaking at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia Conference in N.Y., said, "We haven't thought about it. But I wouldn't think so." However, Murdoch noted if Chicago is selected as the host of the '16 Games, acquiring rights for Fox "may be pretty tempting." Murdoch: "But I imagine the bidding will be high. And in spite of all the propaganda and everything -- I don't want to call anybody a liar -- but no one's ever made any money out of them." Goetzl noted bidding on the rights for the '14 and '16 Games is "expected to begin sometime after" October 2, when the IOC chooses a host city for the '16 Olympics. News Corp. was "expected to make a play" along with NBC Universal and ESPN, as the news conglomerate "could carry the Games on the Fox network as well as its run of cable outlets." NBCU President & CEO Jeff Zucker yesterday said that NBC "hopes to continue offering the Games after 2012, but only if it is financially beneficial." Zucker: "We're not going to put the company in any distress to do so" (MEDIAPOST.com, 9/15). Murdoch's remarks come less than two weeks after a Fox spokesperson told USA Today it "will absolutely be a part of the bidding process."

TERRITORIAL BATTLE: CABLEFAX DAILY reports distributors "negotiating for Fox Sports renewals may be in for a long battle." Murdoch yesterday at the conference said, "We are undercharging ... for all our local sports networks, which are absolutely essential carriage for any cable company" (CABLEFAX DAILY, 9/16).