This comes from NBC and its Olympics media guide for 2012. This is one interesting chart that the network made and it contains the rights fees for all of the Olympics televised in the United States dating back to 1960. CBS aired both set of Games, Winter and Summer in 1960. You can see for the Winter Olympics in Sqauw Valley, CA, CBS paid a mere $50,000 to air just 15 hours of coverage. And for the Rome Summer Olympics, CBS paid a bit more, just under $400,000. And back in 1960, CBS had to fly film from Rome and have Jim McKay narrate the action. Much different than today’s production of the London Games which we will be able to see most everything in real time.
And you can note the way the rights fees have grown to the point where NBC is paying over $1 billion for the London Olympics.
Up until 1998, the Winter and Summer Olympics were bid separately. Until 1992, the Winter and Summer Olympics were held in the same calendar year and then in 1994, they were separated.
NBC set the tone by bidding for the 2000 and 2002 Olympics, wanting both Summer and Winter Olympiads. The 2002 Salt Lake Olympics were the first Winter Games NBC broadcast dating back to 1972 in Sapporo, Japan. And then NBC made a daring proactive bid for the 2004, 2006 and 2008 Olympics without the International Olympic Committee obtaining envelopes from ESPN/ABC, Fox or CBS.
So you can see the history of the rights as they have increased over the years. In 2011, NBC obtained the Olympics from 2014 through 2020, four sets of Olympiads for a total of $4.38 billion.
Take a look at the rights fees for the Olympics dating back to 1960 and the networks that broadcast them.
U.S. COVERAGE OF THE OLYMPIC GAMES
| Year | Games | Location | Network | Hours | Rights Fees |
| 1960 | Winter | Squaw Valley | CBS | 15 | $50,000 |
| Summer | Rome | CBS | 20 | $394,000 | |
| 1964 | Winter | Innsbruck | ABC | 17.25 | $597,000 |
| Summer | Tokyo | NBC | 14 | $1.5 million | |
| 1968 | Winter | Grenoble | ABC | 27 | $2.5 million |
| Summer | Meixco City | ABC | 43.75 | $4.5 million | |
| 1972 | Winter | Sapporo | NBC | 37 | $6.4 million |
| Summer | Munich | ABC | 62.75 | $7.5 million | |
| 1976 | Winter | Innsbruck | ABC | 43.5 | $10 million |
| Summer | Montreal | ABC | 76.5 | $25 million | |
| 1980 | Winter | Lake Placid | ABC | 53.25 | $15.5 million |
| Summer | Moscow | NBC | 150* | $87 million | |
| 1984 | Winter | Sarajevo | ABC | 63 | $91.5 million |
| Summer | Los Angeles | ABC | 180 | $225 million | |
| 1988 | Winter | Calgary | ABC | 94.5 | $309 million |
| Summer | Seoul | NBC | 179.5 | $300 million | |
| 1992 | Winter | Albertville | CBS/TNT | 116 | $243 million |
| Summer | Barcelona | NBC | 161 | $401 million | |
| 1994 | Winter | Lillehammer | CBS/TNT | 119.5 | $300 million |
| 1996 | Summer | Atlanta | NBC | 171 | $465 million |
| 1998 | Winter | Nagano | CBS/TNT | 123.8 | $375 million |
| 2000 | Summer | Sydney | NBC | 442 | $705 million |
| 2002 | Winter | Salt Lake City | NBC | 375.5 | $545 million |
| 2004 | Summer | Athens | NBC | 1210 | $793 million |
| 2006 | Winter | Turin | NBC | 416 | $613 million |
| 2008 | Summer | Beijing | NBC | 3,600 | $894 million |
| 2010 | Winter | Vancouver | NBC | 835 | $820 million |
| 2012 | Summer | London | NBC | 5,535 | $1.18 billion |
| 2014 | Winter | Sochi | NBC | TBD | |
| 2016 | Summer | Rio | NBC | TBD | |
| 2018 | Winter | Pyeongchang | NBC | TBD | |
| 2020 | Summer | TBD | NBC | TBD |
There you have it on the breakdown. 2012 marks the seventh consecutive Olympiad that the networks of NBCUniversal are airing dating to 2000. Again, from NBC’s Olympics media guide, a quick breakdown of how NBC obtained the Olympics from 2000 through 2020.
- In August 1995, NBC paid $1.2 billion to acquire the exclusive U.S. broadcasting rights to both the 2000 Games in Sydney ($705 million) and the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City ($545 million).
- In December 1995, NBC and the IOC constructed a record-breaking $2.3 billion agreement granting NBC the exclusive U.S. media rights to the 2004 Summer Olympics ($793 million), the 2006 Winter Games ($613 million) and the 2008 Summer Olympics ($894 million). It marked the first time that the same network has been awarded the rights to five consecutive Olympics.
- In June 2003, NBC paid $2 billion for the exclusive U.S. media rights to the 2010 Winter Games ($820 million) and the 2012 Summer Olympics ($1.181 billion).
- In June 2011, the IOC announced that it awarded the U.S. media rights to the 2014, 2016, 2018 and 2020 Olympic Games to NBCUniversal for $4.38 billion. At the conclusion of the 2020 Summer Olympics, NBC will have broadcast 17 Olympic Games and 11 consecutive.
You can see how NBC has valued the Olympics and managed to keep them in the fold.
