Report: TV Bid Exposes ‘Friction’ Between NBC And Longtime Olympics Boss, Dick Ebersol

by Mark Joyella | 10:03 am, April 18th, 2011

» 9 comments

One of the most enduring relationships in American television may be strained, according to a report in the New York Post. Dick Ebersol, the NBC legend who’s headed coverage of the Olympics since 2000 and every summer games since 1988 is in the process of negotiating coverage of the 2014 and 2016 games, creating “friction” between Ebersol and his new bosses from Comcast over costs. “This is a big test of what Dick’s role is,” said one source, talking about how free a rein new NBC Universal CEO Steve Burke will give to Ebersol,” reports the Post‘s Claire Atkinson.

The Post reports the current NBC bid for the games includes 17 days of coverage–and the possibility of losing money:

NBC Universal outbid competitors for the TV rights last time around, but Jeff Immelt, the CEO of General Electric, then the majority owner of the network, later admitted the Games had been a money loser. That’s something Comcast, NBC’s new cost-conscious owners, are keen to avoid.

Claire Atkinson, Dick Ebersol, NBC, New York Post, Olympics

http://twitter.com/SailRabbits Magister

Another bit from the linked story is that members of the International Olympic Committee favor live broadcasts, while Ebersol is sticking to the antiquated idea of packaging the Games to be broadcast in primetime. If I’m not mistaken, NBC’s numbers for the Games have been slipping over the years and a lot of it is due to their schmaltzy packaging and the fact that the internet doesn’t wait to reveal the winners.

Personally, I’d of the mind that NBC has been vastly overpaying for the Games. If trying to recoup their costs has prevented them from coming into the modern age, as they have claimed and if they’re just going to continue token livestreaming, it may be good that even if they successfully keep the rights, they decide to put someone else in charge.

NBCUniversal did well at one time, they have a good broadcast team and their ability to program multiple channels has only grown with the Comcast merger, but it’s a new century, a new media landscape and if the outsized bids have been holding them back, it may be time to give someone else a whirl.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Wesley-Smith/725105211 Wesley Smith

Ebersol has been running Olympics coverage into the ground for decades. He’s been using an essentially antiquated structure to lessening affect. By 2014 fans aren’t even going to need NBC or any US network for coverage of their favorite events. If we can’t view them through another English language network who IS streaming live, there will be hundreds of sites streaming coverage directly from the sites.

If I were in charge (which, of course, I will be.. I will be) I’d set up online a set of live feeds from each venue… maybe even a livecam. Then, when the broadcast goes live, I’d sell separate ads for the internet feed. Or I’d sell pay-per-view tickets based on each family of sports.

Then, 24-hours after an event, I’d post the entire thing on a special Olympics.Hulu.com site with possibly a smaller premium, maybe $1-2 for each event and $5-10 for the finals.
Nobodys_Stooge

Ebersol, Friend of OJ, must go. He has ruined NBC sports just like he tried to do to SNL back in the 80′s. Bounce him and don’t look back. As a comcast subscriber I believe I have the right to make these descisions.

Dick…You’re fired!
StewartIII

ChickaBOOMer| Burke’s Peerage: Not Close. No Cigar.
http://chickaboomer.blogspot.com/2011/04/nbc-olympics-not-close-no-cigar.html
WCinWI

The Olympics should move to an actual television station that will give it some credibility, like Fox. :)
KirbbDogg2000

funny I remember Jef Zucker braging about how the Olympics was bringing in the ratings and the money. don’t knock dick too much. If it wasn’t for him. we wouldn’t have had WWE wrestling on saturday nights back in the 80s.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Nick-Pirce/100000088233919 Nick Pirce

NBC Universal Lost $223 Million on Olympics
andthehorseyourodeinon

Ebersole is a pompous a hole. The kind of guy who would only meet with another ” corner office” guy, no one lower on the org chart. He has had his way around NBC for years and I am sure he is not adjusting well to tighter controls and oversite. Tough shit there ebersole. NBC has not had a good solid sports president since Art. Watson.
Newsjunky

Wow! Ebersol has a HUMONGOUS forehead!