Olympic television is a relatively recent happening. Taped coverage of the Winter Games started in 1960. Live telecasts began with the 1972 Games in Sapporo, Japan. Here is the escalation of rights fees: (See page C1 in today's paper for a complete TV guide to the Winter Olympics.)
Year Location Network Rights Fees
1960 Squaw Valley, Calif. CBS $50,000
1964 Innsbruck, Austria ABC $597,000
1968 Grenoble, France ABC $2,500,000
1972 Sapporo, Japan NBC $6,400,000
1976 Innsbruck, Austria ABC $10,000,000
1980 Lake Placid, N.Y. ABC $15,500,000
1984 Sarajevo, Yugoslavia ABC $91,500,000
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1988 Calgary, Canada ABC $309,000,000
1992 Albertville, France CBS $243,000,000
1994 Lillehammer, Norway CBS $300,000,000
1998 Nagano, Japan CBS $375,000,000