NBC Keeps An Olympic Ring On It

Image via WikipediaNBC remains the network of the Olympic Games for the next decade, having paid more than four billion dollars to keep the American media rights through 2020.

The new deal includes the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, the 2016 Summer Games in Rio de Janiero, and two other future Games in sites yet to be determined.  NBC already has the rights to the 2012 London Summer Games.

Some have wondered if Comcast, the new owners of NBCUniversal, would pony up enough bucks to outbid ESPN and Fox.  They did.  Some have also wondered if the departure of Dick Ebersol as NBC sports chief would hurt their chances of retaining the Olympics.  They did not.  It was a matter of familiarity breeding content for the International Olympic Committee, who seem to be more than pleased to be working with the same U.S. TV partner they've had since 1988.

The merger of Comcast and NBC creates new possibilities for Olympic events to be found on the cable channels both entities own.  For instance, Versus would run hockey and basketball, and E! would carry gymnastics and figure skating.  That would leave CNBC and MSNBC to go back to news coverage instead of curling and soccer.

For those of you who have complained over the years that NBC holds the best events (gymnastics and figure skating) for its prime time telecasts, even though those events were held several hours earlier no matter what the time zone, the network has promised to change that.  We'll believe it when we see it.

Since the new contract extends to 2020, you might be wondering:  What will TV look like by then?  Will the Olympics remain relevant?  Will Bob Costas die in the anchor chair?  Will NBC become a relic of the past?