Comcast's NBC: Ad sales for Rio Olympics could set records
After a slow period last year, TV ad sales for this summer's Olympics in Rio de Janeiro are going "extraordinarily well" and could break records, a top NBC Sports official said on Thursday.
After a slow period last year, TV ad sales for this summer's Olympics in Rio de Janeiro are going "extraordinarily well" and could break records, a top NBC Sports official said on Thursday.
Comcast Corp.-owned NBCUniversal expects at least $1 billion in revenue and ad sales, which are eclipsing the pace of the London games in 2012, NBC Sports sales chief Seth Winter said in a conference call.
NBC needs to get to $1.2 billion to break even, because that's what it agreed to pay for the games when it won the TV rights in 2011.
Ad bookings accelerated in the last several weeks, Winter said, confirming talk in the media industry that sales had gone through a soft patch last year.
Some big TV ad contracts - in the $25 million to $50 million range - have landed in recent weeks, Winter said. He did not disclose specific advertisers, but said strong categories include autos, fast food, technology, and financial services.
Advertisers seemed excited about the large inventory of live broadcasts for the 2016 summer games, which runs from Aug. 5 to Aug. 21, Winter said.
Rio de Janeiro will be just one hour ahead of Eastern Daylight Time in August, which means that NBC won't have to air middle-of-the-night competitions in a tape-delay format, as it did for the Beijing Olympics in 2008.
NBC Sports plans to broadcast more live hours of games than ever, partly because of the minimal time difference and partly because of new sports.
Seven-a-side rugby will debut. Golf also will be played at this year's Olympics for the first time in more than 100 years. NBC owns the Golf Channel, which will carry many hours of Olympics golf.
The $1 billion in revenue is composed of advertising sold through the NBC national network, NBCUniversal cable networks, and the media company's digital properties. The $1 billion does not include TV ad sales on local NBCUniversal-owned NBC TV stations, such as NBC10.
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