They have signed a deal with the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) which gives them exclusive rights to the IAAF World Athletics Series for the period 2011 to 2013.
 
The deal includes next year's World Championships in Daegu, South Korea, the last major event before the London 2012 Olympics.

It means that the BBC, who had shown every World Championships since they were launched at Helsinki in 1983, have the rights to show Britain's leading domestic meetings but will be unable to cover the flagship event of the year in the build-up to London 2012.

The BBC enjoyed outstanding viewing figures during the European Championships in Barcelona earlier this year, where the British winners included Mo Farah in the 5,000 and 10,000 metres and Jessica Ennis in the heptathlon, with audiences of up to four million.

Channel 4 has confirmed it will show almost 50 hours of coverage of the 2011 IAAF World Championships that take place next August in Daegu, including all evening sessions and a daily highlights programme in prime time.

Channel 4 has also committed marketing and promotional support to its broadcasts and has agreed to produce a high quality domestic feed from Daegu, where Jamaica's Usain Bolt is expected to defend the three titles he won at the last year World Championships in Berlin in 2009.



Channel 4’s status as a commercially funded terrestrial channel will also provide additional commercial opportunities for IAAF’s marketing partners for the duration of the contract.

Other events in the World Athletics Series include the 2012 World Indoor Championships in Istanbul and the 2013 World Championships in Moscow.
 
David Abraham, Channel 4’s chief executive, said: "This is an exciting opportunity for Channel 4 and will complement perfectly our coverage of the London 2012 Paralympic Games. 

"The 2011 IAAF World Athletics Championships provides a strong platform to showcase our innovative approach to sport. 

"I’m looking forward to working with the IAAF to broadcast a really engaging event."

It is a major setback for BBC, who appear to have paid the price for its failure to show the World Indoor Championships from Doha earlier this year, which made the IAAF doubt their commitment to the sport.
 
Lamine Diack, the President of the IAAF, said: "This is excellent news.

"And underlines the important work that IEC is doing to secure free to air coverage in major television markets, with deals that also reflect the inherent value of our sport. 

"We would like to express our gratitude to IEC for this breakthrough deal.

"The IAAF family will find Channel 4, to be a dynamic and vibrant terrestrial channel.

"Not only does it deliver strong ratings but it is particularly popular amongst the younger 16-34 year old age group, which fits in perfectly with the IAAF’s current and future development strategy."

Channel 4 previously had a £4 million ($6 million) four-year domestic contract for British athletics but it was ended halfway through in 1998 when the newly-formed UK Athletics - who replaced the British Athletic Federation, who went bankrupt - did a deal with the BBC.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


Related stories
August 2010: London 2012 partners to sponsor Channel 4 Paralympics coverage
July 2010: Exclusive - Channel 4 promising record coverage for London 2012 Paralympics
January 2010: BBC snubbed as Channel 4 awarded London 2012 Paralympic broadcast rights