Time Warner Cable announced yesterday that it has
signed an agreement with NBC "to carry the network's main
feed as well as cable channels CNBC and MSNBC through 2008."
The deal includes NBC's Olympic coverage of the Summer and
Winter Games through 2008. NBC will offer extended coverage
of the Olympics on its cable channels CNBC and MSNBC
starting with the Sydney Games in September (AP, 5/18).
SMOOTH OPERATORS: Meanwhile, AD AGE's Wayne Friedman
writes that local cable operators "are near sellout levels
of their allocated commercial TV time" for the Sydney Games
on CNBC and MSNBC. Cable operators carrying the Sydney
Games are given three minutes of ad time per hour to sell,
or a total of 1,700 30-second spots over the course of the
two-week event. Although NBC cable execs "wouldn't
disclose" how much ad revenue local cable affils could make
from Olympic sales, one media buyer "estimates that NBC's
goal could be anywhere from" $50-80M. But while local ad
sales are "booming" for cable operators, Friedman notes
"it's a small consideration" since many of them "had to
double their carriage fees for MSNBC and CNBC in order to
get the Games." NBC execs said that overall, the net "has
sold at least" $700M in advertising. NBC execs said the net
has sold 80% of its target for the Games, but some media
buyers say that figure means the net is "lagging behind,"
with only five months left before the Games (AD AGE, 5/15).
