NBC says its Olympics U.S. ad sales set record for winter games

(Adds details on coverage)

Feb 8 (Reuters) - U.S. national advertising sales for the Olympics in Pyeongchang have surpassed $900 million, a record for the Winter Games, U.S. broadcaster NBC Sports Group said in a statement on Thursday.

"We look forward to adding to this milestone as the drama of the Games unfolds over the next few weeks," said Dan Lovinger, executive vice president of advertising sales for NBC Sports Group, a unit of Comcast Corp.

Live sporting events remain attractive to advertisers because they keep viewers tuned in during commercials rather than skipping them when they watch on demand.

NBC is producing more than 2,400 hours of coverage over 18 days from the games in Pyeongchang, South Korea. Olympic figure skating competition will be aired on Thursday night, and opening ceremonies will be shown on Friday. (Reporting by Lisa Richwine; Editing by Frances Kerry and Jonathan Oatis)

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