• January 11, 2006

NBC Universal will air a record 416 hours of Winter Olympics coverage next month, up 11 percent from the Salt Lake City games four years ago. The games from Torino, Italy will run Feb. 10-26 on NBC, USA, MSNBC, CNBC, NBC HD and Universal HD. Since 2002, NBC has added USA and the two HD channels to its Olympic outlets.

NBC says it has sold more than 90 percent of its available Olympic inventory and aims to bring in $900 million--up 22 percent from Salt Lake. The network says 30-second spots are going for $700,000, although prime-time costs are likely to go down with significant commitments in multiple day parts and on multiple networks.

Top Torino advertisers include Anheuser-Busch, Visa, Coca-Cola, General Motors, and AT&T. Many are veteran Olympic advertisers that have deals with NBC covering multiple Olympics; NBC has the broadcast rights through the Summer Games in London in 2012.

--David Goetzl