NBC awarded rights to series of Olympics

LAUSANNE, Switzerland, June 7 (UPI) -- NBCUniversal has been awarded the U.S. broadcast rights for the Olympic Games through 2020, the International Olympic Committee said Tuesday.

The IOC said NBCUniversal won the rights "across all media platforms, including free-to-air television, subscription television, Internet and mobile." The value of the package covering Winter Games in 2014 and 2018 and Summer Games in 2016 and 2020 is $4.38 billion.

NBC in 2003 won the rights to air the 2012 Olympic Games in London for about $2.2 billion.

The committee said in a release that it based its decision on a "long-term broadcast strategy aimed at ensuring broadcast of the Olympic Games of the highest quality, maximizing exposure across all available media platforms and securing the financial future of the Olympic Games and the Olympic Movement."

By the end of the agreement, NBC will have shown events from 17 Olympics Games. NBC first broadcast the Olympics in 1964 from Tokyo. The network has shown each Summer Olympics since 1988 and each Winter Games since 2002.

The IOC said the announcement comes at the end of two days of meetings in which NBCUniversal, Fox and ESPN submitted proposals.

The 2014 Winter Games are scheduled for Sochi, Russia, and the 2016 Summer Olympics are to be contested in Rio de Janeiro. The locations for the 2018 and 2020 Games are yet to be determined.