NBC Sports

Mondo Times editors    Boulder Colorado USA

Posted at 3:01pm on Wednesday, January 20th, 2010

NBC Expects to Lose $200 Million on Winter Olympics

The New York Times reported on January 19, 2010:

"In June 2003, executives from NBC, ESPN and Fox gathered at the International Olympic Committee’s headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, to bid for the television rights to the 2010 Winter Games, which had not yet been awarded to Vancouver, and the 2012 Summer Games, which would be given to London.

NBC approached the competitive bidding as the comfortable incumbent, having acquired the rights to every Olympics from 2000 to 2008 for $3.5 billion in one-on-one talks with the I.O.C. that excluded rival networks.

NBC was a much stronger network then, in second place in prime time, not fourth, as it is now. Jay Leno and Conan O’Brien were where they belonged in late night.

The I.O.C. made it clear to the networks that it wanted $2 billion for the 2010 and ’12 rights.

Fox didn’t bite; it offered $1.3 billion. ESPN proposed a revenue share.

And NBC? It met the I.O.C.’s expectations, agreeing to pay $820 million for Vancouver and $1.18 billion for London. And General Electric, its parent company, offered $200 million extra for a global sponsorship."

The full story:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/20/sports/olympics/20sandomir.html

Mondo Times editors    Boulder Colorado USA

Posted at 10:55am on Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009

ADT Skills Challenge Intros 'Reverse Scramble' to TV Golf With 8 PGA Tour Pros Competing on NBC

"PALM BEACH, Fla., December 22, 2009 -- A new competitive format, the "Reverse Scramble," will make its national television debut when the 2009 ADT Skills Challenge airs on NBC Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 26 and 27. It is the only golf on network television that final weekend of the year.

Four teams -- Fred Couples/Hunter Mahan, Kenny Perry/J.B. Holmes, Brandt Snedeker/Boo Weekley and Nick Price/Fred Funk -- will square off in the situational shot-making competition with $800,000 at stake. For the first time, the 18th annual event will include a culminating, single-hole competition played as a "Reverse Scramble."

Contrary to the traditional "Scramble" format, the rules of the "Reverse Scramble" call for the opposing team to select which shot its rival twosome must play, adding a new dimension to the competition. The format is especially conducive to the ADT Skills Challenge TV production approach, which showcases the personalities of the players, all of whom wear microphones.

It was taped in October at The Breakers in Palm Beach."

Mondo Times editors    Boulder Colorado USA

Posted at 3:40pm on Thursday, June 4th, 2009

The NBC Sports show "Football Night in America" has added former NFL head coach Tony Dungy and former player Rodney Harrison as analysts for the 2009-2010 season. Dungy coached the Indianapolis Colts, while Harrison was a safety with the New England Patriots. The show has dropped ex-Pittsburgh Steeler Jerome Bettis.

Eric Kallgren    Boulder, Colorado USA

Posted at 3:12pm on Monday, February 2nd, 2009

On February 1, 2009, when Super Bowl XLII was played, the Hollywood Reporter reported that NBC Sports pulled in $206 million on Super Bowl ads:

"NBC Sports scored a major victory with its record $206 million in ad revenue from Sunday's Super Bowl game.

It also brought in $261 million, also a record, for the full day including the pre- and postgame shows.

That's nothing to sniff at, considering that the ad economy -- even for the most-watched television day of the year -- tanked in a major way soon after NBC Sports finished the Beijing Olympics.

NBC Universal CEO Jeff Zucker and NBC Sports & Olympics chairman Dick Ebersol hailed the sales efforts, which under NBC Sports ad sales chief Seth Winter had worked last spring and early summer to bring in the majority of the sales. NBC reported selling 85% of its Super Bowl inventory by Labor Day, which is also noteworthy considering it had to sell the Beijing Olympics during that period as well."