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Wikipedia
Duncan "Dick" Ebersol [1](pronounced /ˈɛbərsɒl/; born July 28, 1947) is an American television executive and the Chairman of NBC Universal Sports & Olympics. Ebersol is best known for producing large scale television events, especially the Olympics for NBC [2]
He is married since 1981 to actress Susan Saint James. They have two surviving children (a son, Teddy, predeceased them); Saint James has two children from a previous marriage.
On April 27, 2009, the six “Commissioners of American Sport” – Roger Goodell (NFL), David Stern (NBA), Bud Selig (MLB), Gary Bettman (NHL), Tim Finchem (PGA Tour) and Brian France (NASCAR) – were part of a presentation that concluded with Muhammad Ali awarding Ebersol the Emmy Award for Lifetime Achievement from the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.[3] Known for his ability to amass large television audiences, Ebersol has produced eight of the top 10 most-watched television events in U.S. history.[4][5][6]
Beginning in 1967, at the age of twenty, Ebersol began his long history with the Olympics when he temporarily dropped out of Yale University to join Roone Arledge and ABC Sports as television’s first-ever Olympic researcher. In 1989, Ebersol returned to NBC as president of NBC Sports.[7][8][9]He served as executive producer for the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games, his first Olympics since Munich in 1972 for ABC.[10]
In 1993, he secured the rights to the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics.[11] In August 1995, he acquired the rights for the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney and the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. It marked the first time that rights for consecutive Olympics were awarded at the same time. Later that same year, he spearheaded NBC Sports' acquisition of the exclusive media rights for the 2004 and 2008 Summer Olympics, and the 2006 Winter Olympics. The agreements marked the first time that the same network had been awarded the rights to five consecutive Olympics.[12][13][14]
In 2003, Ebersol led NBC to acquire the exclusive U.S. media rights to the 2010 Winter Games and the 2012 Summer Olympics.[15][16]
In addition to sports, Ebersol, along with Lorne Michaels, whom he hired, conceived and created Saturday Night Live. As an independent producer, he created Emmy Award-winning programs such as Friday Night Videos and Later with Bob Costas, Ebersol served as senior vice president of NBC News.[17] His influence with Lorne led to the late 90's firing of Norm MacDonald in favor of Colin Quinn, a move that is still seen as a disaster by fans of SNL.
Ebersol has often been in the top 10 honorees on The Sporting News' annual list of the 100 most powerful sports figures, including in 1996 when he was named the Most Powerful Person in Sports.[18] In 1992, Ebersol was awarded the Olympic Order, an honor periodically bestowed by the International Olympic Committee to recognize remarkable contributions to the Olympic Movement.[19]
In 2005, Ebersol was inducted into both the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame and the Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame[20][21]
In 2008, NBC won the Peabody Award for its coverage of the Beijing Opening Ceremony along with Chinese film director Zhang Yimou, who served as the event’s creative director.[22] At the 2009 SportsBusiness Journal awards ceremony, Ebersol won Sports Executive of the Year and NBC Sports won Best in Sports Television.[23]
Ebersol has headed NBC Sports since May 1, 1989, when he was named president of the division and was promoted to Chairman, NBC Sports & Olympics in June 1998.[24][25][26]
In December 2003, Ebersol agreed to a nine-year contract to continue running NBC Sports & Olympics through 2012.[27] He assumed his current title as Chairman of NBC Universal Sports & Olympics in May 2004 when NBC and Universal merged.[28]
Ebersol produced:
- the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008 (the most-watched event in U.S. television history with a record 215 million viewers)
- the Vancouver Olympic Winter Games in 2010 (second-most watched Winter Olympics in history with 190 million viewers)
- Super Bowl XLIII in February 2009 produced, at the time, the largest-single audience in U.S. television history with a record 152 million viewers.[29][30][31][32][33] It is currently the second-most viewed program of all time.[34] The Super Bowl milestone was made possible in 2005 when Ebersol spearheaded the effort to return the NFL to NBC by negotiating a six-year agreement that included moving the NFL primetime broadcast package from Monday night to Sunday night, flexible scheduling for the first time ever, and Super Bowls in 2009 and 2012.[35][36]
Ebersol's early tenure at NBC Sports was highlighted by a string of sports-property acquisitions and renewals, including the NFL, NBA, Notre Dame football and MLB, through the formation of the joint-venture Baseball Network.[37] During the 1995-96 television season, for the only time in history, the World Series, Super Bowl, NBA Finals and Summer Olympics were telecast by the same network. It was following this run in 1996 that The Sporting News named Ebersol the “Most Powerful Person in Sports.”[38] By January 1998, NBC had become the home of four Super Bowls in six years.[39]
Interspersed with sports accomplishments is entertainment television. In 1974, he joined NBC as Director of Weekend Late Night Programming. It was in 1975 that Ebersol and Michaels conceived and developed Saturday Night Live. Named as Vice President of Late Night Programming at age 28, Ebersol became NBC's first-ever vice president under the age of 30. After a brief departure, he returned to SNL in 1981 as executive producer and remained until 1985, spanning the Eddie Murphy and Billy Crystal eras.[40][41]
In 1983, Ebersol formed No Sleep Productions, an independent production company that created Emmy Award-winning NBC shows Friday Night Videos and Later with Bob Costas. Together with Vince McMahon, Ebersol produced Saturday Night's Main Event.[42] When Ebersol left “SNL” in 1985, he devoted his time to his production company until rejoining NBC in 1989.[43]
In May 2010, Ebersol was the commencement speaker at Sacred Heart University for its graduating class of 2010. He was presented with aDoctor of Humane Letters by University President Anthony J. Cernera.ref
[edit]Selected list of shows produced by Ebersol
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