German state TV to show 230 hours of live Winter Games programming

Berlin (dpa) - German state broadcasters ARD and ZDF are to show around 230 hours of live programming from the Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang next February, they said in Berlin on Tuesday.The channels will provide television, radio and online reporting from the Games in South Korea although due to time restrictions, the complete programme will not be shown live. Figure skating, short-track skating, snowboarding and ice hockey are to be given highlights.ARD and ZDF agreed live coverage of the Olympic Games between 2018 and 2024 after agreeing a deal with European rights holders Discovery/Eurosport for a sub-licence in August.A first round of negotiations in late 2016 failed to reach agreement and Discovery originally said the Games would be shown free to air on its own Eurosport channel.Discovery Communications, which bought Eurosport in 2014, won the European rights in 2015 for the four summer and winter Olympics from 2018 to 2024, paying the International Olympic Committee some 1.3 billion euros (1.5 billion dollars).