Former NBC boss praises Games
Published:Tuesday | July 31, 2012 | 12:00 AM
The cigar gave him away. The man puffing away in the sun outside the International Broadcasting Centre in Olympic Park? None other than longtime NBC Olympic boss Dick Ebersol.
Ebersol isn't running the show anymore, but he's back as an adviser with the network and likes what he sees in London so far.
"I think they're doing a great job," said Ebersol, who unexpectedly quit as NBC Sports chairman last year when negotiations on a new contract broke down.
Close ties
Ebersol was in charge when London won the bid seven years ago and still has a close affinity with the city and organising chief Sebastian Coe. These are the first games in two decades on NBC without him at the helm.
Ebersol said he's especially pleased with NBC's ratings for the opening ceremony, an audience of 40.7 million people, a record for any Summer or Winter Olympics, topping the previous mark of 34.9 million from the opening in Beijing in 2008.
NBC holds the US Olympic rights through 2020.