EBERSOL RETURNS TO NBC SPORTS — AS A “SPECIAL ADVISER”

Just three months after resigning as head of NBC Sports and Olympics, Dick Ebersol is returning to the network as a special adviser, the New York Times reported today (Wednesday), citing several senior NBC executives. How his role will be different from what it was when he was officially running the unit was not spelled […]

NBC’S NEW OLYMPICS BOSS: EVERYTHING WILL BE LIVE

Departing from the strategy implemented by his predecessor Dick Ebersol, who insisted on airing the most popular Olympics events during primetime, NBC Sports Group President Mark Lazarus said on Tuesday that for the 2016 Summer Games in Rio, NBC “will make every event available on one platform or another live.” In a conference call with […]

NBC WINS OLYMPICS — THROUGH 2020

In a surprise announcement, the International Olympic Committee said today (Tuesday) that NBC has won U.S. rights to broadcast the next four Olympic Games. The network had been vying against Fox and ABC/ESPN and had been considered an unlikely prospect to win out. Its rivals had promised more live broadcasts, and NBC for the first […]

DICK EBERSOL QUITS NBC

Dick Ebersol has resigned as head of NBC Sports and Olympics, raising speculation that the network will not be so aggressive as it has been in the past at landing NFL telecasts and bidding on rights to future Olympic Games coverage. The New York Times reported on its website that while it appeared that Ebersol […]

NBC ICES $2-BILLION DEAL WITH NHL

In a deal that suggests that NBC Sports and Olympics chief Dick Ebersol is still firmly in the driver’s seat, the network has agreed to pay the National Hockey League $2 billion for rights to air its games over the next ten years. That amounts to $200 million a year compared to $75 million it […]

REPORT: EBERSOL AND COMCAST CLASH OVER OLYMPICS

NBC Sports and Olympics chief Dick Ebersol is locking horns with Comcast, NBC’s new owners, over the network’s bid for the 2014 and 2016 Olympics, the New York Post reported today (Tuesday). The newspaper quoted one source as saying, “This is a big test of what Dick’s role is.” Under previous owner GE, Ebersol had […]

NBC’S NFL COVERAGE SETS 14-YEAR RATINGS RECORD

Thursday night’s NFL football game between the Minnesota Vikings and the New Orleans Saints turned out to be the highest rated primetime game broadcast by any network in 14 years and the highest-rated regular season game ever broadcast on NBC, according to Nielsen Research. Some 27.5 million viewers tuned in, making it the most-watched regular-season […]

NBC PROMISES NOT TO MOVE SUPER BOWL TO PAY-TV

As federal regulators consider the possible antitrust implications of the NBC Universal-Comcast merger, NBC is assuring them that it will not move the Super Bowl and other major sports events from broadcast to cable TV if the merger is approved, MediaPost.com reported Thursday. The website said that it had obtained a summary of an August […]