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By Bloomberg

Discovery Communications Inc. is paying 1.3 billion euros ($1.4 billion) for exclusive European broadcast rights to air the next four Olympics Games on platforms from TVs to tablets.

Discovery will mostly air the games through its Eurosport channel, except for Russia, to an audience estimated at around 700 million people, Discovery and the International Olympic Committee said on Monday. The announcement is the first time a media company has held all the European rights, said Discovery, which expects the contract to be cash-flow positive.

Discovery, which counts cable-TV billionaire John Malone as a chief investor, is aiming for 65 percent of revenue from its international business in three years. The owner of TV channels TLC and Animal Planet has been vocal about buying more programming and using its Eurosport channel to broadcast exclusive sporting rights, spending more than $2 billion on content last year.

“This is a transformative deal for us and gives us an even bigger footprint,” Chief Executive Officer David Zaslav said by telephone from Lausanne, Switzerland, where the deal with the IOC was signed. “To own these rights on every platform is critical. This is a commitment for the next decade and over that time we’ll be seeing more people consuming content on devices and smartphones.”

Discovery has committed to share at least 200 hours of the summer games, and 100 hours of the winter games with free-to-air television companies, according to the IOC. The committee also requires that blue-ribbon events such as the opening ceremony and the 100 meters sprint final to be on free-to-air television.