- Afghan man arrested for plotting US election day attack
- Brazil lifts ban on Musk's X, ending standoff over disinformation
- Harris holds slight edge nationally over Trump: poll
- Chelsea edge Real Madrid in Women's Champions League, Lyon win
- Japan PM to dissolve parliament for 'honeymoon' snap election
- 'Diego Lives': Immersive Maradona exhibit hits Barcelona
- Brazil Supreme Court lifts ban on Musk's X
- Scientists sound AI alarm after winning physics Nobel
- Six-year-old girl among missing after Brazil landslide
- Nobel-winning physicist 'unnerved' by AI technology he helped create
- Mexico president rules out new 'war on drugs'
- Israeli defense minister postpones trip to Washington: Pentagon
- Europe skipper Donald in talks with Garcia over Ryder return
- Kenya MPs vote to impeach deputy president in historic move
- Former US coach Berhalter named Chicago Fire head coach
- New York Jets fire head coach Saleh: team
- Australia crush New Zealand in Women's T20 World Cup
- US states accuse TikTok of harming young users
- 'Evacuate now, now, now': Florida braces for next hurricane
- US Supreme Court skeptical of challenge to 'ghost guns' regulation
- Sparks fly as Orban berates EU 'elites' in parliament trip
- US finalizes rule to remove lead pipes within a decade
- Solanke hungry for second England cap after seven-year wait
- Gilded canopy restored at Vatican basilica
- Zverev scrapes through, Djokovic cruises to Shanghai Masters last 16
- Trump secretly sent Covid tests to Putin: Bob Woodward book
- Gauff answers critics: 'It's hard to win all the time'
- Neural networks, machine learning? Nobel-winning AI science explained
- China says raised 'serious concerns' with US over trade curbs
- Boeing delivers 27 MAX jets in September despite strike
- German 'Maddie' suspect could be free in 2025 after cleared of other sex crimes
- Italy seek Nations League consistency as Germany continue rebuild
- From boom to budgeting as reality bites for Saudi football
- Stock markets diverge as Hong Kong sinks, oil prices fall
- US trade gap narrowest in five months as imports slip
- Stay and 'you are going to die': Florida braces for next hurricane
- England 96-1 after Salman's century lifts Pakistan to 556
- Hollywood star Idris Elba champions African cinema in Ghana
- Djokovic rolls Cobolli to make Shanghai Masters last 16
- Milan's Hernandez receives two-game suspension after referee rant
- Geoffrey Hinton, soft-spoken godfather of AI
- Ex-Barcelona and Spain great Iniesta retires aged 40
- Duo wins Physics Nobel for 'foundational' AI breakthroughs
- German 'Maddie' suspect could be free in 2025 after cleared of separate sex crimes
- China slaps provisional tariffs on EU brandy imports
- Ex-skipper Skelton eyes Wallabies November return
- Spanish great Iniesta leaves indelible legacy after retirement
- Indian Kashmir elects first regional government in a decade
- Hong Kong stocks crash, oil prices retreat on fading China boost
- Man City accuse Premier League of 'misleading' claims after legal case
Olympics on free-to-air TV in Europe 2026-2032
The International Olympic Committee announced Monday that the four Olympic Games between 2026 and 2032 will be broadcast on free-to-air television in Europe.
The IOC said that all media rights in Europe for the summer and winter Games for the period had been awarded to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), an alliance of public service broadcasters, along with current rights holders Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD).
The move marks a change of approach from the current six-year deal that runs through to the Paris 2024 Olympics.
In 2015, Discovery -- now part of WBD -- bought the European rights for 1.3 billion euros ($1.37 billion). They then sub-licensed rights to other broadcasters.
"This new agreement guarantees free-to-air reach for the Games through the EBU's network of public service broadcasters," the IOC said in a statement.
The deal covers the Los Angeles 2028 and Brisbane 2032 summer Games, plus the winter Olympics in Milan Cortina 2026 and those in 2030, which have yet to be awarded to a host city.
The EBU and WBD presented a joint bid to acquire all media rights across 48 countries in Europe, as well as Israel.
The IOC did not put a figure on the deal.
But its president Thomas Bach said it would give European sports fans wider access to the Olympics than ever before.
"As the IOC redistributes 90 percent of the revenues it generates, this long-term agreement also provides critical financial stability to the wider sporting movement and ultimately supports the athletes themselves," he said.
- Sport 'for everyone': EBU -
The EBU -- which includes Britain's BBC, France Televisions, Germany's ARD and ZDF, Italy's Rai and Spain's RTVE -- will hold free-to-air rights on both television and digital platforms.
EBU members will broadcast at least more than 200 hours of coverage of the summer Olympics and at least 100 hours of the winter Games on television, plus radio coverage, live streaming and reporting across online and social media platforms, the alliance said.
Most EBU broadcasters managed to show Olympics coverage over the past three Games -- Pyeongchang 2018, Tokyo 2020 and Beijing 2022 -- after sub-licensing rights from Discovery.
"Sport should be for everyone," EBU director general Noel Curran said in a statement.
WBD will remain the only channel showing every moment of the Games in 43 European countries via its streaming and digital platforms, and will hold full pay-TV rights, including for its Eurosport channels.
The IOC said 372 million people in Europe watched the Tokyo 2020 Olympics via Discovery and its sub-licensees.
Some 156 million visited the platforms during the Beijing 2022 Winter Games -- nearly 20 times the number that had done so during Pyeongchang 2018.
The new deal also covers the Youth Olympic Games.
Russia and Belarus were excluded from the media rights tender process after Moscow's invasion of Ukraine breached the Olympic Truce period surrounding the Beijing 2022 Winter Games.
P.Santos--AMWN