I just heard on CCTV9 that CCTV has just received the internet rights to the Beijing Olympics. It’s not too surprising that CCTV will have ‘net rights, since they have the TV rights already, but it will be fun to see people watching the Olympics on their cellphones.

I can’t find anything on the CCTV web site that confirms it, but The People’s Daily Online posted this a few hours ago.

The International Olympic Committee(IOC) announced on Tuesday that CCTV.com, a part of Chinese state broadcaster CCTV, has been awarded the internet and mobile platform exhibition rights within China for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

As a member of the Asian Broadcasting Union, CCTV has already acquired over-the-air TV rights for the Beijing Games.

No details about the deal was released, while the IOC said it selected CCTV.com because it could work closely with its television arm and fully exploit digital broadcast rights on a number of platforms.

“By granting digital rights to CCTV. com, the IOC believes CCTV.com’s digital team will work closely with the broadcast team at CCTV to develop joint executions across media platforms. This will ensure Chinese Olympic fans have access to the best possible Olympic coverage in 2008,” Richard Carrion, a member of the IOC’s TV rights and new media commission, was quoted as saying by an IOC statement.

Via Daily Online (English version)