TV3 "could bid against RTÉ for Irish TV rights to the Olympic Games if, as expected, free-to-air rights are sub-licensed to an Irish broadcaster," according to Mark Cummins of the IRISH EXAMINER. The IOC "has sold broadcast rights for the winter and summer games from 2018 to 2024 to the Discovery-owned Eurosport but stipulated that 200 hours of coverage must be made available to broadcasters in each domestic market."
TV3 Head of Sport Kieran Holden said that the channel "would be interested in acquiring those rights." Holden: "That could open up opportunities for us with the sub-licensing of events, something that we have not had the chance to do before because of the way the rights were sold by the EBU. We are interested in all sports rights if they are of interest to an Irish audience and are commercially viable."
Any possible bid from TV3 "could be boosted by an injection of cash from prospective new owners UPC, part of the vast Liberty Global group, which announced last month that it would acquire the broadcaster from present owners Doughty Hanson" for €80M ($87M) (IRISH EXAMINER, 8/4).
