Ebersol: NBC expects to lose money on Olympics

AP on Yahoo ^ | 1/10/10 | AP

[NormsRevenge]

PASADENA, Calif. – NBC Universal says it expects to lose money on the upcoming Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

NBC Sports chief Dick Ebersol says advertising sales for the games have picked up over the past few months. He said the loss is more due to the heavy rights fee NBC paid to show the games. NBC won the rights to broadcast the Vancouver Olympics and the 2012 Summer Games in London for $2.2 billion.

[NormsRevenge]

maybe if they didn't put UberByte uhh Obermanic .. and Costa nonstop, more folks would tune in.

mslsdnbc

unnnngh

[JoenTX]

Haven’t they generally lost money on these over the last couple of decades...? I just assumed that.

That’s why I can’t understand why they continue to labor so hard to get them. Prestige?

[napscoordinator]

I don’t think NBC can lose much more money. They are behind Fox in ratings (Not Foxnews but Fox Network), they failed at the Jay Leno experiment and now if they lose Olympics (money) that will not be good. Now as for the olympics, I am looking forward to seeing some of it. I really enjoy watching them....not the summer olympics as much though.

[Gaffer]

I haven't watched an Olympics in years, maybe decades.....

Designer drugs, state sponsored full-time training, more designer undetectable drugs. IOC graft, greed, corruption, politics. Olympics Cities graft, greed , corruption, politics....all at taxpayer expense and LOSS.

The erstwhile idea of true competitive sport has become an effing joke in the Olympic manifestation today.

[max americana]

It’s a pre-arranged excuse. The Winter Olympics is in my ex-hometown Vancouver (Whistler), BC, Canada west coast time. If you look at the schedule from hockey to half-pipe snowboarding, it’s appealing to east coast people as well. Ice skating will draw in the viewers and will also be contingent if the US men’s Hockey team will advance in the medal rounds.

Of course, history has proven that Americans dont necc. like watching the Olympics. BTW, watch for the Americans to be boo’d (Vancouver makes Berkeley look like a GOP stronghold).

[trumandogz]

Yeah, the Salt Lake City Olympics prostitution scandal showed the world how corrupt the Olympics can be.

[NormsRevenge]

I prefer Victoria. haven’t been to Vancouver since the World Expo. a Northern ‘Tijuana’ in some ways is what I hear ;-)

[NormsRevenge]

Best Olympics for me.. ‘72 Austria.. spent a couple nights snuggled up with a cute cheerleader. this is when they didn’t have ‘spare the air’ days. had a nice fire going .. come to think of it, the EPA was an infant then Thanks to Nixon. ;-}

[Gaffer]

You know? That’s just exactly how much attention I’ve paid to Olympics in my older years....I don’t even know about Salt Lake....

[UCFRoadWarrior]

Sounds like the ad revenues wont be there....NBC paid too much for the rights.

This will be an issue for all sports in coming years. The TV revenue is not going to be there. Wonder if the NFL will get as much money in the next TV deal

I like watching the Winter Olympics, and plan to attend some of it in Vancouver. However, the Olympic movement is so corrupt now....but hey, that is with anything “global”.

Hoepfully a big USA medal haul. That will tick off the rest of the world ;)

[vg0va3]

I plan to help them too.

[LizardQueen]

The US coverage is abysmal anyway - all “human interest” BS stories and commercials, very little coverage of the actual sports.

We watch Olympics on Canadian TV - we’re lucky to be close enough to the border to get 4 channels from up there (2 are in French, but there’s always the mute button).

LQ

[chippewaman]

Call me crazy but I’m waiting to see the Olympic curling. I grew up near Canada and it was on Canadian TV quite a bit in the winter time. I really started to get into curling during the 2006 Winter Games. It takes a lot of brains to play this game. It’s like chess on ice. I wonder if it is fun to play.

[Dave346]

2.2 billion is a ridiculous amount for one summer and one winter olympics — no way they can cover that with ad revenue. I bet the next olympics will go for less because NBC can’t afford to keep paying this amount.

[incredulous joe]

Well, let’s see if you buy something for a 100 million then sell 50 million in advertising; you lose about 50 mil.

So, why is this so difficult for these braniacs to understand.

Sounds like they are taking lessons in balancing their checkbooks from Barack Obama??

[Mobties]

They could dump Olberman for a start. I suspect I'm not the only one to change channels or turn off the television altogether whenever he appears on NBC’s football coverage.

Maybe they could get “more cowbell” on the downhill and giant slalom by hiring Christopher Walken to do color commentary.

[chemengineer42]

The winter olympics are great, nothing beats short track speed skating and the mens downhill

[Revolting cat!]

I like men’s uphill races!

[xp38]

It was so good you mixed up either the year or location. :)

1972 Winter Olympics Sapporo Japan

1976 Winter Olympics Innsbruck Austria

[NormsRevenge]

Thanks! It was the Sapporo Games. I remember Klammer in the downhill.

Shows ya how much attention I was paying, lol She was 1 hot hockey cheerleader. another one that got away. :-)