Oz Olympic push no match for NBC. The perils of the 24-hour news clock in the News Corporation empire… A hopeful News Limited boosted the chances of stablemate Fox TV getting four Olympic broadcasts for the US market this morning in The Australian: “News Corporation’s Fox Sports has made an aggressive pitch for the US television rights for four Olympics, in a deal that could be worth more than $US4 billion ($3.74bn).

Problem was, as the empire’s Wall Street Journal reported, the International Olympic Committee signed a deal overnight with NBC to continue its Olympic broadcasts:

“NBCUniversal continued its Olympic sweep, winning the rights to televise the next four Olympic Games through 2020, according to people familiar with the matter.

“The International Olympic Committee is scheduled to announce the deal later on Tuesday.

“The media company offered more than $4 billion for the rights to four consecutive Olympic Games beginning in 2014, according to one of the people familiar with the matter, beating out News Corp’s Fox, which also bid for four games, and ESPN.”

— Glenn Dyer

Phone hacking: News of the World apologises to Miller

“The News of the World on Tuesday issued a detailed formal apology for phone hacking for the first time, to actor Sienna Miller. A lawyer for News Group Newspapers, the News International subsidiary that publishes the News of the World, read a statement in the high court expressing regret for intercepting voicemail messages intended for Miller.” — The Guardian

FCC backs away from aiding US media

“Two years ago, the FCC and FTC launched reviews of the media industry with an eye toward changes in laws or tax code that could help struggling traditional media companies. Since then, the federal government’s interest in helping the newspaper industry appears to be waning. On Thursday, the Federal Communications Commission will release its long-awaited report on the ‘Future of Media,’ but according to people who have seen the voluminous document, it holds little more than minor suggestions for rule changes, such as requiring broadcasters to put more information online.” — The Wall Street Journal

Recession claims two Colorado dailies

“Two small Colorado daily newspapers have closed their doors, victims of a bad economy. The Vail Mountaineer and the Denver Daily News. Both were owned by Former Vail Daily owner Jim Pavelich.” — Newspaper Deathwatch

The media tourist’s guide to the world

“Traveling to a distant land, and wondering where you’ll get the news in your new spot? Or hear of a breaking story across the world and want to get the local take? Newspaper Map is a great place to start. It’s a searchable, zoomable, color-coordinated map of about 10,000 newspapers across the globe—available online and as a mobile app.” — Columbia Journalism Review