LOS ANGELES, Dec. 16 (UPI) -- Dick Ebersol has a deal with NBC to continue as chairman of NBC Sports & Olympics through 2012, network head Bob Wright said Tuesday.
The agreement covers the five upcoming Olympics, which NBC owns exclusive rights to.
"Dick Ebersol is clearly one of the most talented executives and producers in this business," said Wright, chairman and chief executive officer of NBC and vice chairman of General Electric.
"His guidance over the years has been invaluable to me personally and to every division of the company, and we look forward to continuing to benefit from his experience and leadership."
Wright said Ebersol has done more than anyone else to make the Olympics the most valuable franchise in TV.
Ebersol, who first worked on an Olympics telecast 36 years ago, said doing the Olympics is the only reason he keeps working in TV sports.
"The Olympics continue to be my fountain of youth and have been a passion of mine since I was 19 and dropped out of Yale to work at the 1968 Grenoble Winter Games as television's first Olympic researcher," he said.
The 2004 Summer Games in Athens will be Ebersol's eighth Olympics overall and fifth as executive producer of NBC's coverage.
