Through a sub-licensing deal with Swedish public-service broadcaster SVT, TV4 Media has snapped up rights in that Scandinavian market to the Olympic Games between 2026 and 2032.
A deal between those two parties was unveiled yesterday (21 August), covering the 2028 and 2032 Summer Olympics, as well as the 2026 and 2030 Winter Games.
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This tie-up will see Telia-owned TV4 – on free-to-air platforms – covering Olympic action for the first time. Live action will be shown via both TV4 linear channels and also the TV4 Play streaming platform.
SVT snapped up Swedish rights to the Olympics through 2032 in January last year, as part of a joint, Europe-wide, deal struck with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) by the European Broadcast Union of free-to-air networks and also Warner Bros. Discovery.
Through that deal, WBD’s Swedish platforms are the pay-TV Olympics rights-holders in that market, while SVT (up until this latest sub-licensing deal) was set to provide the free coverage. The deal entails WBD’s platforms in each European market (49 in total) holding rights to present every moment on its live-streaming and digital platforms.
SVT was also the FTA rightsholder for the recently-ended 2024 Olympics in Paris. During those Games, Sweden secured four gold medals – including a gold and new world record for sensation Armand Duplantis in the men's pole vault.
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By GlobalDataTV4 is claiming the Olympics represent “the only major sports event that TV4 has never broadcast before.”
Johan Cederqvist, TV4’s sports director, has said: “The Olympic Games are a fantastic addition to our strong sports portfolio [and] generate massive interest amongst the Swedish TV audience."
Fredrik Arefalk, channel and content director at the Swedish broadcaster, added: “We are immensely proud to be broadcasting the Olympic Games on TV4 for the first time. The vast interest and broad appeal of the Olympic Games fits TV4 and TV4 Play perfectly.”
The 2026 Winter Games will take place in Northern Italy and the 2030 edition in the French Alps, while Los Angeles will host the 2028 Summer Olympics, and Brisbane, Australia, will do the same in 2032.
Before Paris, previous editions of the Olympics were shown FTA in Sweden by the Kanal 5 broadcaster.
Elsewhere in Scandinavia, FTA coverage for the 2026-32 cycle will be provided by TV2 and DR in Denmark, NRK in Norway, and YLE in Finland.
Out of the Games in that cycle, the 2026 and 2030 Winter editions, both taking place in Europe, will be viewable during favorable timezones in Scandinavia.
In terms of recent TV4 sports rights activity, meanwhile, that broadcaster and all-electric off-road motorsport series Extreme E announced a deal extension in May.
