????索契冬季奧運(yùn)會(huì)期間，你觀看了多少場(chǎng)賽事,？你是通過什么途徑觀看的,？通過電視,、平板電腦,、臺(tái)式機(jī)還是智能手機(jī)？

????對(duì)于美國(guó)全國(guó)廣播公司(NBC)來說,，第二個(gè)問題或許更加重要,。我們消費(fèi)體育轉(zhuǎn)播的方式正在迅速演變，但無論我們?cè)?8年后采用什么方式觀看奧運(yùn)賽事或精彩時(shí)刻,，“孔雀”公司（孔雀為NBC臺(tái)標(biāo)——譯注）的高管們相信我們依然會(huì)收看,。事實(shí)證明，他們很有信心,。就在上周,，NBC斥資77.5億美元，將這家廣播電視網(wǎng)擁有的奧運(yùn)會(huì)獨(dú)家報(bào)道權(quán)延長(zhǎng)到了2032年,。

????是的,，2032年距現(xiàn)在還有18年，但許多竭力渲染這筆交易所涉時(shí)間長(zhǎng)度的新聞報(bào)道都沒有指出一個(gè)事實(shí)：它僅僅是把當(dāng)前轉(zhuǎn)播合同往后延續(xù)了10年,。NBC曾于2011年投資43.8億美元,，購(gòu)買了截至2020年的奧運(yùn)會(huì)獨(dú)家轉(zhuǎn)播權(quán)。2011年簽署的轉(zhuǎn)播權(quán)合同涉及4屆奧運(yùn)會(huì)（索契,，里約熱內(nèi)盧,，平昌和東京），時(shí)長(zhǎng)9年,，并創(chuàng)下了一項(xiàng)紀(jì)錄——奧運(yùn)會(huì)歷史上最昂貴的轉(zhuǎn)播權(quán)交易,。這筆新展期合同的涵蓋期限為10年，包括6屆奧運(yùn)會(huì)（3屆夏季,，3屆冬季）,，交易價(jià)格也大大超過前者。

????但它是不是有史以來持續(xù)時(shí)間最長(zhǎng)的體育轉(zhuǎn)播交易呢,？答案是否定的,，但它已經(jīng)非常接近,。2010年，哥倫比亞廣播公司(CBS)與特納體育公司(Turner Sports)咬緊牙關(guān),，與全美大學(xué)生體育協(xié)會(huì)(NCAA)簽署了一項(xiàng)為期14年,，價(jià)值108億美元的男子籃球錦標(biāo)賽轉(zhuǎn)播合同。相較于NBC的奧運(yùn)轉(zhuǎn)播權(quán)交易,，這筆合同的時(shí)間更長(zhǎng),，成本更高。去年,，ESPN簽署了一項(xiàng)從2015年開始生效,、為期11年的美國(guó)網(wǎng)球公開賽(U.S. Open)獨(dú)家轉(zhuǎn)播權(quán)合同。這筆交易比NBC新簽署的奧運(yùn)轉(zhuǎn)播權(quán)展期合同更長(zhǎng),，但成本沒有可比性,，僅為8.25億美元。（自1968年以來,，美網(wǎng)的轉(zhuǎn)播權(quán)一直歸CBS所有,；2011年，這家廣播電視網(wǎng)將轉(zhuǎn)播合同續(xù)簽至2014年,。）

????當(dāng)前的全美橄欖球聯(lián)盟(NFL)轉(zhuǎn)播合同只比NBC的奧運(yùn)轉(zhuǎn)播權(quán)展期合同短一點(diǎn)點(diǎn),。2011年，NBC,、?？怂闺娨暰W(wǎng)(Fox)和CBS相繼把各自的NFL轉(zhuǎn)播權(quán)合同延長(zhǎng)了9年，延續(xù)至2022年,。它們此前擁有截止2013年的轉(zhuǎn)播權(quán),。NFL現(xiàn)在每年能夠從這三家電視網(wǎng)身上獲取合計(jì)20億美元的轉(zhuǎn)播權(quán)銷售收入，新一輪合同進(jìn)一步推升了轉(zhuǎn)播費(fèi)用,。這些新展期合同是電視史上持續(xù)時(shí)間最長(zhǎng)的NFL轉(zhuǎn)播權(quán)交易,，CBS, Fox和美國(guó)廣播公司(ABC)此前曾簽署過一項(xiàng)為期8年（1998年至2005年）的轉(zhuǎn)播權(quán)合同。

????事實(shí)上,，比NBC的奧運(yùn)會(huì)之戀更為持久的轉(zhuǎn)播合作關(guān)系一直存在,。比如，自1970年以來,，CBS一直是職業(yè)高爾夫巡回賽(PGA Tour)的主要轉(zhuǎn)播機(jī)構(gòu),。從1956年開始，這家電視網(wǎng)每年都在轉(zhuǎn)播美國(guó)名人賽(The Masters）——CBS經(jīng)常重復(fù)一個(gè)神圣的口號(hào)：“這是一項(xiàng)無可比擬的傳統(tǒng)賽事”,。但美國(guó)名人賽每次只給予轉(zhuǎn)播方一年的合同,。而自從1988年（夏季奧運(yùn)會(huì)）和2002年（冬季奧運(yùn)會(huì)）以來，NBC一直在轉(zhuǎn)播奧運(yùn)賽事,。

????NBC一舉拿下直至2032年的奧運(yùn)會(huì)獨(dú)家轉(zhuǎn)播權(quán),，的確是勇氣可嘉的大手筆,，但我們完全沒必要大驚小怪。此舉在很大程度上是出于品牌和聲譽(yù)的考慮,；NBC深知作為奧運(yùn)會(huì)獨(dú)家轉(zhuǎn)播機(jī)構(gòu)的價(jià)值,，就算它往往是一筆虧損的生意：轉(zhuǎn)播2010年溫哥華冬奧會(huì)讓這家電視網(wǎng)虧損了2.23億美元，到了2012年倫敦奧運(yùn)會(huì),，它也只是收支相抵,。去年冬天的索契奧運(yùn)會(huì)終于開始盈利，但《商業(yè)周刊》(Businessweek )的一則頭條新聞以戲謔的口吻寫道,，那點(diǎn)利潤(rùn)“充其量也只是個(gè)銅牌”,。

????How much of the Winter Olympics in Sochi did you watch? And how -- on a television, tablet, desktop computer, or phone -- did you watch them?

????It's the second question that may prove more important to NBC (CMCSA). The way we consume broadcast sports is evolving rapidly, but regardless of how we'll tune in to Olympic events or highlights in 18 years, executives at "the Peacock" are confident that we will still tune in. So confident, in fact, that they spent $7.75 billion this week to extend the network's exclusive coverage of the event until 2032.

????Yes, that's 18 years from now -- though many news stories playing up the length of the deal fail to acknowledge that it's really just a 10-year extension of NBC's $4.38 billion contract, inked in 2011, to cover the Olympic Games through 2020. That was a four-event (Sochi, Rio, Pyeongchang, Tokyo), nine-year deal, and a record one at that -- the most expensive rights deal in the history of the Olympics. The new extension, at 10 years and including six Games (three in the summer, three in the winter) and at higher cost, tops that.

????But is it the longest duration sports-broadcast deal ever? The answer is no -- but it's close. In 2010, CBS and Turner Sports coughed up for a 14-year, $10.8 billion deal with NCAA to broadcast the NCAA men's basketball tournament. That's more years, and more money, than this NBC gambit. Last year, ESPN (DIS) signed an 11-year deal to show U.S. Open tennis exclusively, starting in 2015. That deal is longer than NBC's new Olympic extension, but the cost isn't comparable: $825 million. (Previously, CBS (CBS) had shown the U.S. Open since 1968; in 2011, it renewed its contract through 2014.)

????Today's NFL broadcast contracts are just barely shorter than NBC's Olympic extension. In 2011, NBC, Fox, and CBS all signed nine-year extensions of their NFL broadcast packages. Each network had rights through 2013 and extended those rights to 2022. The NFL was making nearly $2 billion a year, in total, from its deals with those three networks, and those fees went up with the new round of contracts. Those renewals were the longest agreements for NFL rights in television history, besting the eight-year deals that CBS, Fox, and ABC had signed for 1998 to 2005.

????And there have been longer-lasting relationships than the one between NBC and the Olympic Games. CBS, for example, has been the primary broadcaster of PGA Tour events since 1970. It has shown The Masters ("A tradition like no other" is the network's oft-repeated, hallowed slogan) every single year since 1956. (But The Masters operates only on one-year contracts.) NBC has only been the home of the Olympics since 1988 (for the Summer Games) and 2002 (for the Winter Games).

????The fact that NBC was so game to own coverage of the Games until 2032 shouldn't be a shock. Much of this is about branding and reputation; NBC sees value in being the sole network associated with them, even though it has often been a losing business proposition: The network lost $223 million on the 2010 Vancouver Games, and only broke even on the 2012 London Games. (The Sochi Games this past winter turned a profit, though a Businessweek headline jokingly called the profit "bronze at best.")