NBCU Secures $1 Billion-Plus in Olympics Ad Revenue

BEIJING, August 8: NBC
Olympics has surpassed $1 billion in advertising for the Beijing Olympic Games,
which kick off today and run through August 24.

Sales were boosted by NBC
Universal’s prime-time coverage of the U.S. Olympics Trials for swimming,
gymnastics and track and field, as well as successful ratings for the U.S. Open
and Wimbledon on NBC, along with the Super Bowl.

"We've always said
that the Olympics is one of the most powerful properties in all of
television," said Seth Winter, the senior VP of sales and marketing for
NBC Sports & Olympics. "While we are thrilled with this milestone, we
still expect to write more business as the games begin and great stories
continue to evolve."

NBCU, broadcasting its
record 11th Olympics, will present an unprecedented 3,600 hours of coverage,
including nearly 2,900 live hours in total, featured on seven NBC Universal
networks—NBC, USA, MSNBC, CNBC, Oxygen, Telemundo and Universal
HD—as well as NBCOlympics.com. The online coverage includes some 2,200
total hours of live streaming video.

NBC holds the exclusive
U.S. media rights to the Olympic Games through 2012, which includes Vancouver
2010 and London 2012.

—By Kristin
Brzoznowski