NBC may lose 200 Million / Vancouver Games

[macker]

Jeff Immelt was saying that NBC expects to lose an estimated $200 million on the Vancouver Games and without the games the network would be profitable. He referred to the Olympics as a "no margin" business. Better keep those NHL players in the Olympics after all. I guess Beijing was profitable. You obviously can't compare the two but I find that due to the time of year I tend to watch more of the Winter Olympics then I do the Summer. Maybe they better throw in MMA on Skis as a demonstration sport, and quick....

[Cowperson]

He referred to the Olympics as a "no margin" business.

Well, maybe he shouldn't have bid $200 million more than he had to then. Or maybe he should lose his job if he was the one responsible.

Or maybe that's a $200 million write-off and taxpayers are paying part of the debit.

I'm not sure I'd believe anything said by anyone in the entertainment business about losses.

Cowperson

[troutman]

Maybe if they produced less "up close and personal" bios, and showed actual sports, expenses might be less?

[Flabbibulin]

NBC paid 820mil for the television rights to 2010, but I'm pretty sure it was part of larger 2+ billion bid that included the 2012 games. Once all is said and done after 2012, I have a hard time believing NBC will be losing any money.

[Canada 02]

I wonder if there is an angle being played here, either pertaining to regulatory approval of the Comcast/NBC merger, or setting up the competition in bidding for the 2014 and 2016 Olympic TV rights

[mykalberta]

Why is this news. TV makes money on summer games, not winter games.

Who wants to watch speed skating, or skiiing, or cross country skiing, or skiing with the gun thing or any number of BS sports they have.

[jkstuart12]

Originally Posted by mykalberta

Why is this news. TV makes money on summer games, not winter games.

Who wants to watch speed skating, or skiiing, or cross country skiing, or skiing with the gun thing or any number of BS sports they have.

Me!

[Table 5]

Originally Posted by mykalberta

Who wants to watch speed skating, or skiiing, or cross country skiing, or skiing with the gun thing or any number of BS sports they have.

I love watching all of those.

[HPLovecraft]

I hate watching all of those.

[Table 5]

Good for you, but clearly there are many people around the world who disagree.

[Flashpoint]

Considering how many Canadian goals they missed during the last Olympics (I can recall 2) because their commercials ran long, I hope NBC not only loses 200 million, but also goes out of business, burns to the ground, and then sharts itself during Christmas dinner in front of everybody.

NBC is a horrible hockey broadcaster and I hate being forced to watch their garbage telecast for all the big games.

Although I suppose these days I can just stream the CBC off the internets, so maybe it doesn't matter.

[yads]

Originally Posted by Table 5

Good for you, but clearly there are many people around the world who disagree.

Correction, clearly there are many people in the US who disagree.

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by mykalberta

Why is this news. TV makes money on summer games, not winter games.

Who wants to watch speed skating, or skiiing, or cross country skiing, or skiing with the gun thing or any number of BS sports they have.

As opposed to dressage, horse jumping, sailing and modern pentathalon?

[Table 5]

Originally Posted by yads

Correction, clearly there are many people in the US who disagree.

Considering about half the U.S population tends to watch the winter Olympics, I'd say that's "many people". Just because NBC is losing money (and with their programming in the last few years, not sure why that's a surprise) on something that is expensive to produce and get rights for, it doesn't mean there is no interest for it. It's clearly not the Summer games, but it's no slouch.

[HPLovecraft]

Originally Posted by Table 5

Good for you, but clearly there are many people around the world who disagree.

And I would say quite clearly there are many around the world who would agree.

[Bring_Back_Shantz]

Originally Posted by HPLovecraft

And I would say quite clearly there are many around the world who would agree.

Dude, seriously!

NBC paid $800 million for this. Add to that the cost to actually produce the coverage, and the total cost to NBC is huge.

The fact that they are only losing $200 million is a testament to two things.

1) they overpaid to be the braodcaster
2) A company that paid $600 million could have conceiveably broke even on the venture. Anything that can justify that kind of expense is clearly a big event with A LOT of viewers.

[Table 5]

Originally Posted by HPLovecraft

And I would say quite clearly there are many around the world who would agree.

Not sure what your standards are, but when 3 billion people watch the Winter Olympics (which is how many watched the Turin games), I would say it's a pretty big deal.

Once again, people being interested in the Olympics and NBC losing money are not necessarily tied together.

[Bertuzzied]

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

As opposed to dressage, horse jumping, sailing and modern pentathalon?

Don't forget baseball!

Oh and rythmic gymnastics. Especially when Luongo and Burrows are doing the ribbon in their tights. I shouldn't really make fun of them. They are prob Canada's best hope at a gold in London.

[Huntingwhale]

Or Ping Pong.

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by Bertuzzied

Don't forget baseball!

Oh and rythmic gymnastics. Especially when Luongo and Burrows are doing the ribbon in their tights. I shouldn't really make fun of them. They are prob Canada's best hope at a gold in London.

can't forget about speed walking either, my god what an exciting event that is to watch