Former Olympians, Duncan Armstrong and Jane Flemming, will support Ray Hadley who heads up the 2GB team in Athens for the 2004 Olympic Games. Joining them will be reporters, Justin Kelly, Anthony Clark and Zoe Allebone.

In the Sydney radio market, 2GB won the broadcast rights after securing a deal with the Seven Network. The IOC sold TV and radio rights together to Seven. The ABC, 2UE and 2GB all submitted bids for radio rights, and 2GB obtained commercial and non-commercial broadcast rights for Athens, Beijing in 2008 and the Winter Olympics in Turin in 2006.

In Melbourne, the new all sport station, SEN 1116, has won local broadcast rights (subject to approval by the IOC) by the Macquarie Network.

SEN GM, Danny Staffieri, told radioinfo, “SEN will send a Melbourne team to Athens to give a Melbourne focus to the coverage. We are excited by the prospect of bringing to our audience live to air sporting broadcasts.”

Southern Cross Radio, GM, Graham Mott, said 3AW had not bid for the games as an individual station. “Southern Cross had bid as group” he said, “two years ago and lost as a group. 2GB paid far too much.

“Although they made numerous offers for us to take the games in Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth, we were not about to set up a quasi network with 2GB”, Mr Mott said.