Early history The Seven Network was a joint broadcaster for the
1956 Summer Olympics held in Melbourne, which was the first
Olympics telecast in Australia, which it shared with the ABC and Nine television stations in Melbourne and Sydney. The same trio of broadcasters telecast the
1976 Summer Olympics, before Seven gained exclusivity for the
1980 Summer Olympics. It lost the rights for the next two Games before regaining rights from
1992. With rising costs associated with purchasing broadcasting rights, Seven shared the telecast with
SBS for the 2004 and 2008 Games.
Recent years Seven held
Australian
free-to-air,
pay television,
online, and
mobile telephony broadcast rights to the
2008 Summer Olympics in
Beijing, on-selling some events to SBS. The live telecast of the Games of the XXIX Olympiad was shared by both the Seven Network and
SBS Television. Seven broadcast the opening and closing ceremonies and mainstream sports, including
swimming,
athletics,
rowing,
cycling, and
gymnastics. In contrast,
SBS TV provided complementary coverage focused on long-form events such as
football,
road cycling,
volleyball, and
table tennis. Seven lost its Olympics rights for the
2010 Winter Olympics and the
2012 Summer Olympics to a joint bid by the Nine Network and
Foxtel. Rights to just the
2014 Winter Olympics were acquired by
Network Ten. On 5 August 2014, it was announced that Seven had acquired rights to the Olympics in Australia across all platforms for an undisclosed amount, in a deal lasting from
2016 through
2020, and also including the
2014 Summer Youth Olympics. IOC president
Thomas Bach praised the deal, stating that the Committee "enjoys long term partnerships and this agreement is something of a homecoming between us and Seven." Seven West Media CEO
Tim Worner explained that unlike previous stints as rightsholder, it would not necessarily have to sub-license the Games to a secondary broadcaster (as it had historically done with the ABC), stating that "[with] around 150 hours of content on any given day, there will be many more opportunities than ever before". However, Worner did not rule out the possibility of doing so. For the
2016 Summer Olympics, coverage was offered across Seven,
7Two and
7mate. In order to allow Games to be broadcast in high definition in all capital cities,
7HD was temporarily changed to a simulcast of Seven's primary channel in Sydney, Brisbane and Perth for the duration of the Games. The Games were also streamed through a
freemium mobile app; full access to Games content (including coverage of all events on live and on-demand basis) required purchase of a "premium" service costing $19.99. This content was also available free to
Telstra mobile subscribers. Free content was limited to 900 hours of live content simulcast from the three Seven Network channels, and 300 hours of live digital-only content. Highlights of events were broadcast in the afternoon, while primetime program
In Rio Today broadcast key moments, interviews and background information each night. Regularly scheduled programs
Sunrise,
Seven News at 6pm and
The Chase Australia aired throughout, while other programming were taken off air for the duration of the Games on Seven. Seven offered
2018 Winter Olympics coverage across Seven, 7Two and 7mate as well as its "OlympicsOn7" app, which similarly to its 2016 Olympics service, offered a mix of free or paid coverage. 245 hours of broadcast Olympic content are expected. Seven will continue broadcasting scheduled programs
Sunrise,
The Chase Australia,
Seven News at 6pm,
Home & Away and
My Kitchen Rules, with Olympic coverage airing at other times on its main channel.
Hamish McLachlan,
Edwina Bartholomew,
Mel McLaughlin and
Jason Richardson will be primary anchors based in
PyeongChang. Three Olympic-themed
The Front Bar specials will air during coverage. Seven lost the rights to the
2024 Summer Olympics, the
2026 Winter Olympics, the
2028 Summer Olympics, the
2030 Winter Olympics and the
2032 Summer Olympics to rivals
Nine Network. ==Awards and honors==