– The Associated Press

LAUSANNE, Switzerland – Bob Costas made the pitch and NBC met the price, outbidding Fox and ESPN by almost a billion dollars Tuesday to win U.S. television rights to four more Olympics and keep the games through 2020.

The result: a $4.38 billion knockout for NBC.

Despite a recent change in ownership, the sudden departure of longtime Olympic chief Dick Ebersol and an uncertain economy, NBC and its parent company, Comcast, defied speculation its grip on the Olympics was coming to an end.

“I can say the Olympics are really in their DNA,” International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge said. “We’ve been together with them for so many games with great success.”

Executives with direct knowledge of the proposals told The Associated Press that Fox bid $3.4 billion for four games and $1.5 billion for two, while ESPN offered $1.4 billion for two. They spoke on condition of anonymity because the IOC declined to say how much the other networks offered.

NBC has broadcast every Summer Olympics since 1988 and every Winter Games since 2002, and it was the network’s experience and familiarity with the IOC – as well as its money – that won over the Olympic body again.

“My message was, ‘we’ve done it well and we’d like to do it again,’ ” said Costas, who has hosted NBC’s coverage of eight Olympics.

NBC now has exclusive rights to the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, and the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, as well as the 2018 and 2020 Olympics, whose sites have not yet been chosen.