The BBC and Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) have written to Ofcom to set out their plans for coverage of the 2026 Winter Olympic Games, due to take place in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo from Friday 6 to Sunday 22 February.
The Olympic Games are designated as a Group A listed event, which means broadcasters’ plans for live coverage may, in some circumstances, require Ofcom’s consent.[1]
This page explains why the coverage plans do not require consent from Ofcom.
The BBC and WBD’s coverage plans are to be considered under the current listed event regime. That regime is being updated by the Media Act 2024, and we expect the updated regime to come into effect in summer 2026. However, the Media Act also provides that the updated regime will not apply to contracts entered into before the Act’s changes come into effect, meaning the existing regime and Code will continue to apply in relation to those contracts.
What are listed events?
The current listed events regime aims to ensure free-to-air broadcasters have an opportunity to acquire the live broadcast rights of specific events with significant national interest for UK audiences. The current framework divides broadcasters’ channels into two categories: ‘qualifying’ services (including the main PSB channels BBC One and BBC Two, ITV/STV, Channel 4 and Channel 5) which reach 95% of the population at no additional cost to the viewer, and ‘non-qualifying’ services, which do not. The current framework only applies to linear broadcast services.
Any broadcaster which wishes to show exclusive live coverage of all or any part of a listed event must obtain consent from Ofcom. However, where the live rights to a listed event have been acquired by both ‘qualifying’ and ‘non-qualifying’ broadcasters, then those broadcasters do not generally require consent.
WBD and the BBC plan to provide live and on-demand Olympics coverage
In 2023, the International Olympic Committee awarded all media rights in Europe for the four Olympic Games from 2026 up to, and including, 2032 to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and WBD. The BBC is a licensee of the free-to-air UK media rights for the Olympic Games derived from the IOC’s agreement with the EBU.
The result of these arrangements for this year’s Winter Olympic Games is that:
- WBD will show live and on-demand coverage of the whole of the Games through its discovery+ streaming platform. It will also show live coverage of the Games on the TNT Sports 2 channel throughout the event, including repeats overnight.
- The BBC will broadcast live coverage of the Games on BBC One or BBC Two and via one further stream, at any one time. There are no restrictions on which sporting events it may show live, and there are no limitations on how many hours of live coverage – or of highlights – it may show on its two streams. The BBC will also broadcast live radio coverage on BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra.
The existing rules do not require the BBC and WBD to obtain Ofcom’s consent for their 2026 Winter Olympics coverage
The existing rules do not apply to coverage of the Olympics on the discovery+ streaming platform. The linear coverage that will be broadcast by the BBC and WBD does not require consent from Ofcom because the exception for cases where coverage is to be broadcast on both of the categories of service under the listed events rules applies (i.e. the BBC broadcasting services which are ‘qualifying’ services, and TNT Sports 2 which is a ‘non-qualifying’ service).
Ofcom has previously published notes on the arrangements between the BBC and WBD for the 2024 Summer Olympics and 2022 Winter Olympics.
The Media Act’s changes to the listed events rules
As outlined in our recent statement, the Media Act 2024 updates the range of services which fall within scope of the regime and limits services which benefit from the regime to those provided by public service broadcasters. When it is in force, the regime will capture a range of new providers, including streaming services, who may require consent from Ofcom to show exclusive live coverage of a listed event. However, existing contractual arrangements will not be affected, which includes the arrangements in place with WBD and the BBC up to and including the 2032 Summer Olympic Games.
The aim of the updated regime for a “multisport event” such as the Olympics is to secure that an adequate level of live coverage is widely available to audiences across the UK for free. Our statement sets out our decisions for implementing the changes to the listed events regime, including how we propose to define “adequate live coverage” of multisport events like the Olympic Games. We are inviting comments on our proposal to make Regulations reflecting these decisions by 5pm on Monday 2 March 2026.
[1] The latest version of the list of events (as of 4 February 2026) was published on 25 April 2022 by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (as it then was).