
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, January 20, 1994                   TAG: 9401200028
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

CBS EARNS '98 OLYMPICS BROADCAST

CBS Sports will continue its growing Winter Olympics tradition in 1998, announcing Wednesday its acquisition of the U.S. telecast and radio rights for the 1998 Games in Nagano, Japan.

The Nagano Games will be the third Winter Olympics aired in succession by CBS, which will televise 119 hours from Lillehammer, Norway, from Feb. 12-27. CBS will pay $375 million for the Nagano rights, up from the $295 million the network paid for the Lillehammer Games.

"The price is a good one for us," said CBS Sports president Neal Pilson via media conference call Thursday. "We're very comfortable with that. The Olympic Games in February, during a high-viewing period, the sweeps, do extremely well for CBS and its affiliates."

Pilson pointed out that the average rights fee for the three consecutive Winter Games on CBS is less than the $309 million ABC paid for its last Winter Olympics, in 1988 at Calgary.

CBS, stung by its loss of National Football League rights to Fox after 38 years of pro football telecasts, came to an agreement with the International Olympic Committee after its $375 million bid was above the minimum expected by the IOC.

"We lost football, but we're certainly committed to sports, and CBS will be there every Saturday and Sunday with sports programming," network president Larry Tisch said at a news conference.

ABC and NBC already had announced they would not bid for the Nagano Games. The IOC did not consider a Fox bid after the CBS offer was within the expected range for the rights.

The most ever paid for any Olympics is $456 million by NBC for the 1996 Atlanta Summer Games.

Rick Gentile, CBS Sports senior vice president of production, said he expected the network's schedule and number of hours for the Nagano Games would approximate those at the '92 Albertville Games and in Lillehammer next month.

Pilson said CBS has the option to sell a portion of the Nagano rights to a cable network or in another form for "supplemental distribution." Turner Broadcasting is paying CBS $25 million for 45 hours of weekday coverage from Lillehammer.

The 2000 Summer Games will be held in Sydney, Australia. Those TV rights will be awarded in two years.

by CNB