The BBC has secured the television, radio and digital broadcasting rights for the next four Olympic Games. According to BBS Sport, in an agreement finalized with the International Olympics Committee (IOC), the BBC will cover the Winter Olympics in Sochi and Pyeongchang in 2014 and 2018 respectively. The 2016 Summer Games in Rio and the Olympics in 2020 also fall under the new broadcasting contract. "It's terrific news," said BBC director-general Mark Thompson. The BBC is about to undertake its most comprehensive coverage of an Olympic Games yet, with live broadcasts of every Olympic sport from every venue throughout the 19 days of London 2012. There will 2,500 hours of live Olympic sporting action, more than 1,000 hours more than Beijing 2008. The new agreement extends an unbroken run of the BBC broadcasting Olympic Games stretching back to Rome 1960. The first Olympics to be broadcast on the BBC came from London in 1948. The London Olympics get under way later this month, with the opening ceremony taking place on Friday, July 27. No host city has yet been named for the 2020 Games. Istanbul, Tokyo and Madrid are the three candidates, with the IOC due to make its selection in Buenos Aires on September 7, 2013.