• TVNewsCheck, Monday, January 11, 2010 11:29 PM

Dick Ebersol, Olympics executive producer, says NBC will lose money this year on the Winter Olympics for the first time, due to an increase in license rights, though he notes ad sales have picked up.

NBC paid $820 million for the rights to televise the Winter Games, according to the AP. That compares to the $613 million paid for the rights to televise the Olympics in Turin, Italy, in 2006. The head of NBC's parent company, GE's Jeffrey Immelt, told investors recently NBC would lose "a couple hundred million bucks" on the games. Ebersol also said that the International Olympic Committee will likely open up the bidding on the rights to the 2014 and 2016 games.

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