TIM becomes first ‘official mobile broadcaster’ of Olympic Games

A new partnership between the artist formerly known as Telecom Italia and Discovery Networks to broadcast the Olympics over mobile has the potential to start a bidding war throughout Europe.

The partnership between TIM and Discovery will see the telco become the exclusive Mobile Broadcaster of the Olympic Games in Italy. TIM  will be able to officially use the Olympic Rings, while also offering customers exclusive content. Customers who subscribe to either a mobile or broadband will gain exclusive VR and AR content, a 360 experience and over 30 additional feeds.

“Our partnership with Italy’s biggest telco operator to create the first ever Olympic Mobile Broadcaster designation will enable us to deliver the ultimate Olympic Games viewing experience to millions of people,” said Jean-Briac Perrette, CEO of Discovery Networks International.

“This world-first partnership is a big win for fans who want to consume exclusive content from the Games wherever and whenever they choose.”

The Olympics is one of those events which is universally enjoyed. When the event visited London in 2012, the city came to a standstill for the opening ceremony. Irrelevant of your nationality or how much you liked sport, millions were gripped by Mr Beans’ rendition of Chariots of Fire. That is the power of the Olympics, and the potential for customer engagement through association with such a prominent event.

Discovery has stated that this is the ‘first digitally focused deal’, though the question remains as to how many discussions are on-going in the background. The company has set out a mission statement for this Olympics to deliver ‘premium content to every person, through every service, on every screen’, demonstrating the ambition of the team. There is the potential for a deal in every market in Europe, meaning this could be a massive money-spinner.

Financials of this partnership were not released, though one can imagine there will be bidding wars behind closed door to gain control of this sought-after content. The Olympics as an event has the potential to reach almost every demographic within a market, the demand from operators is almost certain to be high.

Another point to consider is the deal with TIM covers both the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang in 2018 and the Summer Olympics in Tokyo in 2020, as well as a host of other events. Subscribers will also have instant access to Eurosport Player, and such events as the Swimming World Championships, Athletics World Championships, the French Open and Tour de France. The TIM team has captured a lot of content there.

This is only the first of what could be a number of deals. Considering the Winter Olympics will be kicking off in February, it would be a safe bet to assume there will be a few more announcements over the next couple of months. We’d happily put a tenner on Swisscom, Telekom Austria and Telenor signing up for a very similar deal.