NBC Wins Olympic Bid, Promises Full Live Coverage

Wednesday, 08 June 2011 | by Pat's Picks

It’s the Olympics…live! NBC just won the exclusive US media rights to broadcast four more Olympics after beating out bids from Fox and ESPN. As part of the deal, the network agreed to air every event live, says the New York Times, an acknowledgement of the kerfuffle caused by 2010’s tape-delay drama. Insiders were unsure whether NBC’s new(ish) parent Comcast would be up to sign on for four more Games, especially considering their $223 million-loss broadcasting the 2010 Winter Games. But Olympic officials were floored by the network’s offer of $4.38 billion. Fox offered up $3.4 billion for all four Games; ESPN offered $1.4 billion for the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, and the 2016 Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro.

If you read my Mediate column back in February of 2010, entitled “NBC Tape Delay, You Still Suck” you’d know I’m not a fan.