The broadcasts of ''
Summer
Summer is the hottest of the four temperate seasons, occurring after spring and before autumn. At or centred on the summer solstice, the earliest sunrise and latest sunset occurs, daylight hours are longest and dark hours are shortest, wit ...
'' and ''
Winter
Winter is the coldest season of the year in polar and temperate climates. It occurs after autumn and before spring. The tilt of Earth's axis causes seasons; winter occurs when a hemisphere is oriented away from the Sun. Different cultur ...
Olympic Games
The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a multi ...
'' produced by ''
NBC Sports
NBC Sports is an American programming division of the broadcast network NBC, owned and operated by NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal and subsidiary of Comcast. The division is responsible for sports broadcasts on the network, and its ...
'' are shown on the various platforms of
NBCUniversal
NBCUniversal Media, LLC is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate corporation owned by Comcast and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, United States.
NBCUniversal is primar ...
in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
, including the
NBC broadcast network, NBC Sports app, NBCOlympics.com,
Peacock
Peafowl is a common name for three bird species in the genera '' Pavo'' and '' Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae, the pheasants and their allies. Male peafowl are referred to as peacocks, and female peafowl are r ...
,
Spanish language
Spanish ( or , Castilian) is a Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from colloquial Latin spoken on the Iberian peninsula. Today, it is a global language with more than 500 million native speakers, mainly in the ...
network
Telemundo
Telemundo (; formerly NetSpan) is an American Spanish-language terrestrial television network owned by NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises, a division of NBCUniversal, which in turn is owned by Comcast. It provides content nationally with pr ...
, and many of the company's
cable network
Networking cables are networking hardware used to connect one network device to other network devices or to connect two or more computers to share devices such as printers or scanners. Different types of network cables, such as coaxial cable, o ...
s. The event telecasts during the Olympics air primarily in the evening and on weekend afternoons on NBC with additional live coverage on the NBC Sports app and NBCOlympics.com, with varying times on its cable networks (such as after the close of the stock market day on
CNBC
CNBC (formerly Consumer News and Business Channel) is an American basic cable business news channel. It provides business news programming on weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., Eastern Time, while broadcasting talk s ...
, the early mornings on
MSNBC
MSNBC (originally the Microsoft National Broadcasting Company) is an American news-based pay television cable channel. It is owned by NBCUniversala subsidiary of Comcast. Headquartered in New York City, it provides news coverage and political ...
, and overnights on the
USA Network
USA Network (simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. It was originally launched in 1977 as Madi ...
). The commercial name of the broadcasting services is NBC Olympics.
The on-air title of the telecasts, as typically announced at the start of each broadcast and during sponsor billboards is always the official name of the games in question – for example, ''The Games of the XXIX Olympiad'' for the
2008 Summer Games
The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nat ...
. However, promotional logos may reflect the more common location-and-year name format, such as "Beijing 2008".
NBC has held the American broadcasting rights to the Summer Olympic Games since the
1988 games and the rights to the Winter Olympic Games since the
2002 games. In 2011, NBC agreed to a $4.38 billion contract with the
International Olympic Committee
The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swis ...
to broadcast the Olympics through the
2020 games, the most expensive television rights deal in Olympic history.
NBC then agreed to a $7.75 billion contract extension on May 7, 2014, to air the Olympics through the 2032 games. NBC also acquired the American television rights to the
Youth Olympic Games
The Youth Olympic Games (YOG) is an international multi-sport event for athletes between 15 and 18 years old, organized by the International Olympic Committee. The games are held every four years in staggered summer and winter events consiste ...
, beginning in
2014
File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wa ...
, and the
Paralympic Games
The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the ''Games of the Paralympiad'', is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of physical disabilities, including impaired muscle power and impaired ...
for the
2014
File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wa ...
,
2016
File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...
,
2018
File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...
, and
2020
2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...
editions. NBC announced more than 1200 hours of coverage for the 2020 games, called "unprecedented" by the
International Paralympic Committee
The International Paralympic Committee (IPC; german: Internationales Paralympisches Komitee) is an international non-profit organisation and the global governing body for the Paralympic Movement. The IPC organizes the Paralympic Games and func ...
. NBC is one of the major sources of revenue for the IOC.
NBC's coverage of the Olympics has been criticized for the tape delaying of events, spoiling the results of events prior to their own tape delayed broadcast of those events, editing of its broadcasts to resemble an emotionally appealing program meant to entertain rather than a straight live sports event,
and avoiding controversial subjects such as material critical of
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...
at the
2014 Olympics.
History
Early coverage
1964 Summer Olympics
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
televised its first Olympic Games in 1964, when it broadcast that year's
Summer Olympics
The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The ina ...
from
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.46 ...
. The network originally had intended to film the events from Tokyo but the
Syncom
Syncom (for "synchronous communication satellite") started as a 1961 NASA program for active geosynchronous communication satellites, all of which were developed and manufactured by the Space and Communications division of Hughes Aircraft Comp ...
team had a 1-hour test on the
Syncom 3
Syncom (for "synchronous communication satellite") started as a 1961 NASA program for active geosynchronous communication satellites, all of which were developed and manufactured by the Space and Communications division of Hughes Aircraft Compa ...
satellite and it was discovered that it can transmit up to two hours from the US to Japan as with signals from the
West Coast. NBC needed approval from the
FCC
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdictio ...
and it approved thus giving NBC satellite coverage of the Olympics thus avoiding flight expenses and tapes flown, NBC's telecast of the opening ceremonies that year marked the first
color broadcast televised live via
satellite
A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioiso ...
back to the United States.
The Olympic competition itself was broadcast in
black-and-white
Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey.
Media
The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...
. Through its use of the Syncom 3 satellite, a daily highlights package could be seen a few hours after the events took place; otherwise, videotape canisters were flown across the
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the conti ...
and were broadcast to American viewers the following day.
Serving as anchor was
Bill Henry, then
NBC News
NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, a division of NBCUniversal, which is, in turn, a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's v ...
Tokyo bureau chief, who had extensive experience in both print and broadcast news. Play-by-play commentators included
Bud Palmer
John Shove "Bud" Palmer (born John Palmer Flynn; September 14, 1921 – March 19, 2013) was an American professional basketball player. He was a member of the New York Knicks during the team's first three seasons in the Basketball Association of A ...
and
Jim Simpson, while former Olympians
Rafer Johnson
Rafer Lewis Johnson (August 18, 1934 – December 2, 2020) was an American decathlon, decathlete and film actor. He was the 1960 Olympic gold medalist in the decathlon, having won silver in 1956. He had previously won a gold in the 1955 Pan Amer ...
and
Murray Rose
Iain Murray Rose, (6 January 1939 – 15 April 2012) was an Australian swimmer, actor, sports commentator and marketing executive. He was a six-time Olympic medalist (four gold, one silver, one bronze), and at one time held the world records i ...
served as analysts.
1972 Winter Olympics
NBC first televised the Winter Olympic Games in
1972
Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using mean solar tim ...
.
Anchored by
Curt Gowdy
Curtis Edward Gowdy (July 31, 1919 – February 20, 2006) was an American sportscaster. He called Boston Red Sox games on radio and TV for 15 years, and then covered many nationally televised sporting events, primarily for NBC Sports and ABC S ...
, much of the coverage actually was broadcast live since
alpine skiing
Alpine skiing, or downhill skiing, is the pastime of sliding down snow-covered slopes on skis with fixed-heel bindings, unlike other types of skiing ( cross-country, Telemark, or ski jumping), which use skis with free-heel bindings. Whether ...
and
long track speed skating
Long-track speed skating, usually simply referred to as speed skating, is the Olympic discipline of speed skating where competitors are timed while crossing a set distance. It is also a sport for leisure. Sports such as ice skating marathon, ...
were held in the morning, which corresponded to
prime time
Prime time or the peak time is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for a television show. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to ...
on the East Coast of the U.S. Although NBC bought the TV rights from the Sapporo Olympics group, they didn't know that they had to make a deal with
NHK
, also known as NHK, is a Japanese public broadcaster. NHK, which has always been known by this romanized initialism in Japanese, is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee.
NHK operates two terrestr ...
for broadcast booths at each venue. By the time NBC found out, it was too late. The booths had been built and there were none to spare. Consequently, everyone worked off monitors.
A young sportscaster making his network television debut at
Sapporo
( ain, サッ・ポロ・ペッ, Satporopet, lit=Dry, Great River) is a city in Japan. It is the largest city north of Tokyo and the largest city on Hokkaido, the northernmost main island of the country. It ranks as the fifth most populous city ...
was a 26-year-old
Al Michaels
Alan Richard Michaels (born November 12, 1944) is an American television sportscaster currently working as the play-by-play announcer for '' Thursday Night Football'' on Prime Video and in an emeritus role for NBC Sports. He has worked on n ...
, who did hockey play-by-play during the games. Eight years later, he would call the famous 1980 "
Miracle On Ice
The "Miracle on Ice" was an ice hockey game during the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York. It was played between the hosting United States and the Soviet Union on February 22, 1980, during the medal round of the men's hockey tournam ...
" at that year's
Winter Games in
Lake Placid for
ABC Sports
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Televisi ...
. Other sportscasters utilized by NBC included
Jim Simpson,
Jay Randolph
A jay is a member of a number of species of medium-sized, usually colorful and noisy, passerine birds in the Crow family, Corvidae. The evolutionary relationships between the jays and the magpies are rather complex. For example, the Eurasian m ...
,
Billy Kidd
{{Infobox alpine ski racer
, name = Billy Kidd
, image = Billy Kidd skier 1970.jpg
, image_size = 220
, caption = Kidd after winning the world title in 1970
, birth_date = {{birth date and ag ...
,
Peggy Fleming,
Art Devlin, and
Terry McDermott
Terence McDermott (born 8 December 1951) is an English former football midfielder who was a member of the Liverpool team of the 1970s and early 1980s, in which he won three European Cups and five First Division titles. He was capped 25 times ...
.
1980 Summer Olympic boycott
NBC had won the U.S. broadcast rights for the
1980 Summer Olympics
The 1980 Summer Olympics (russian: Летние Олимпийские игры 1980, Letniye Olimpiyskiye igry 1980), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad (russian: Игры XXII Олимпиады, Igry XXII Olimpiady) and commo ...
, but when the
United States Olympic Committee
The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) is the National Olympic Committee and the National Paralympic Committee for the United States. It was founded in 1895 as the United States Olympic Committee, and is headquartered in Col ...
kept U.S. athletes home to honor the
boycott
A boycott is an act of nonviolent, voluntary abstention from a product, person, organization, or country as an expression of protest. It is usually for moral, social, political, or environmental reasons. The purpose of a boycott is to inflict so ...
announced by
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
* President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
Jimmy Carter
James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...
, the telecasts were greatly scaled back. In the end, what had been 150 hours of scheduled coverage, had substantially decreased to just a few hours. Highlights were fed to local NBC stations for use on their local newscasts. Many affiliates, however, refused to show the Olympic highlights on their local news or clear airtime for the few hours of coverage NBC did present.
NBC's extensive coverage was canceled before a prime time anchor had been named; it was said that ''
NBC Nightly News
''NBC Nightly News'' (titled as ''NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt'' for its weeknight broadcasts since June 22, 2015) is the flagship daily evening News broadcasting#Television, television news program for NBC News, the news division of the NB ...
'' anchor
John Chancellor
John William Chancellor (July 14, 1927 – July 12, 1996) was an American journalist who spent most of his career with NBC News. He is considered a pioneer in TV news. He served as anchor of the ''NBC Nightly News'' from 1970 to 1982 and continu ...
(who formerly served as a
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
bureau chief for NBC News), along with sportscasters
Bryant Gumbel
Bryant Charles Gumbel (born September 29, 1948) is an American television journalist and sportscaster, best known for his 15 years as co-host of NBC's '' Today''. He is the younger brother of sportscaster Greg Gumbel. Since 1995, he has hosted ...
and
Dick Enberg
Richard Alan Enberg (January 9, 1935 – December 21, 2017) was an American sportscaster. Over the course of an approximately 60-year career, he provided play-by-play of various sports for several radio and television networks, including ...
, were reportedly being considered for the prime time studio host role. Bryant Gumbel ultimately served as Seoul primetime host while Dick Enberg co-hosted the Ceremonies through the 1996 closing.
NBC Sports executive
Don Ohlmeyer
Donald Winfred Ohlmeyer Jr. (February 3, 1945September 10, 2017) was an American television producer and president of the NBC network's west coast division. He received notoriety for firing Norm Macdonald from ''Saturday Night Live'' in early ...
had originally commissioned to use
"1980", an instrumental theme written by
Herb Alpert
Herb Alpert (born March 31, 1935) is an American trumpeter who led the band Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass in the 1960s. During the same decade, he co-founded A&M Records with Jerry Moss. Alpert has recorded 28 albums that have landed on the ...
, for the network's planned coverage of the Summer Olympics in Moscow. It was used six years later as the official theme song for NBC's
telecast of the
1986 FIFA World Cup in Mexico.
1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul
NBC then bid for, and won, the rights to televise the
1988 Summer Olympics
The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...
. Due to American TV companies providing most of the revenue for the organizers, they agreed to schedule most of the team finals in the afternoon, which corresponded to prime time of the previous night in the United States (due to both South Korea being located near the western border of the
International Date Line
The International Date Line (IDL) is an internationally accepted demarcation on the surface of Earth, running between the South and North Poles and serving as the boundary between one calendar day and the next. It passes through the Pacific ...
, in addition to the differences in time zones.)
''
Today
Today (archaically to-day) may refer to:
* Day of the present, the time that is perceived directly, often called ''now''
* Current era, present
* The current calendar date
Arts, entertainment, and media Films
* ''Today'' (1930 film), a 1930 ...
'' co-anchor Bryant Gumbel was the prime time host that year;
Bob Costas
Robert Quinlan Costas (born March 22, 1952) is an American sportscaster who is known for his long tenure with NBC Sports, from 1980 through 2019. He has received 28 Emmy awards for his work and was the prime-time host of 12 Olympic Games from 19 ...
hosted the late-night telecasts while
Jane Pauley
Margaret Jane Pauley (born October 31, 1950) is an American television host, and author, active in news reporting since 1972. Pauley first became widely known as Barbara Walters's successor on the NBC morning show ''Today'', beginning at the ag ...
was one of the hosts of early-morning coverage. Gumbel and Dick Enberg were co-hosts for the opening and closing ceremonies.
Michael Weisman
Michael Paul Weisman (born January 13, 1950) is an American television producer, specializing in sports, news and entertainment programs.
Early life
Michael Weisman was born in Queens, NY, the middle of three children to Edward, who was a publici ...
led a team covering the 1988 Summer Olympics for the network. One of those employees was future NBC Entertainment and
CNN President
Jeff Zucker
Jeffrey Adam Zucker (born April 9, 1965) is an American former media executive. Between January 2013 and February 2022, Zucker was the president of CNN Worldwide. Zucker oversaw CNN, CNN International, HLN, and CNN Digital. He was previously ...
, who Weisman hired as a researcher.
Weisman considered producing the Olympics a challenge, saying, "my mandate is to shatter the mystique that only ABC can do the Olympics." Weisman assembled the "Seoul Searchers," a group of specialized sports reporters tasked with following breaking news during the Games. Some criticized the journalistic focus to the games. Weisman, however, defended the tone, saying "the criticism we hear is that people want to hear positive news . . . we are not the American team. We are clearly rooting for the American team, but we're not going to whitewash anything." Other ideas Weisman introduced for the Olympics included miniature “point of view cameras” for specific events such as the pole vault and gymnastics; the “Olympic Chronicles,” profiles which highlighted athletes and moments from Olympics past; and an Olympic soundtrack which included an original
Whitney Houston
Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer and actress. Nicknamed "Honorific nicknames in popular music, The Voice", she is Whitney Houston albums discography, one of the bestselling music artists ...
song, “
One Moment in Time”. NBC won seven Emmy Awards for their Olympic coverage.
A curious result was that, since in the United States, the
1988 NFL season
The 1988 NFL season was the 69th regular season of the National Football League. The Cardinals relocated from St. Louis, Missouri to the Phoenix, Arizona area becoming the Phoenix Cardinals but remained in the NFC East division. The playof ...
had just started,
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
would plug the holes (primarily play-by-play broadcasters) with well-known older broadcasters such as Curt Gowdy,
Ray Scott and
Merle Harmon
Merle Reid Harmon (June 21, 1926 – April 15, 2009) was an American sportscaster who was the play-by-play voice for five Major League Baseball teams, two teams in the American Football League and the World Football League's nationally syndicate ...
, among others.
Marv Albert
Marv Albert (born Marvin Philip Aufrichtig; June 12, 1941) is an American retired sportscaster. Honored for his work as a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame, he was commonly referred to as "the voice of basketball". From 1967 to 2004, he wa ...
was calling
boxing
Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...
during the Olympics alongside
Ferdie Pacheco
Fernando Pacheco Jimenez, M.D. (December 8, 1927 – November 16, 2017) known publicly as Ferdie Pacheco, was the personal physician and cornerman for world heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali as well as numerous other boxing champions. ...
. Meanwhile,
Don Criqui
Don Criqui (born October 1, 1940) is an American sportscaster.
He holds the record for longest-tenured NFL broadcaster in U.S. TV history, calling NFL football for 47 seasons (1967-2013) on NBC and CBS. Criqui's final NFL broadcast came on De ...
and
Bob Trumpy
Robert Theodore Trumpy Jr. (born March 6, 1945) is a former professional American football tight end who played for the Cincinnati Bengals from 1968 through 1977. He was a two-time National Football League Pro Bowler and a two-time American Footb ...
called
swimming
Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...
(alongside
Candy Costie-Burke for the
synchronized events and
John Naber
John Phillips Naber (born January 20, 1956) is an American former competitive swimmer, five-time Olympic medalist and former world record-holder in multiple events.
Born in Evanston, Illinois, Naber studied in England and Italy where his father ...
) and
volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Sum ...
(alongside
Chris Marlowe
Christian "Chris" Marlowe (born September 28, 1951) is an American professional sportscaster who resides in Denver, Colorado. He currently is the play-by-play announcer for the Denver Nuggets of the National Basketball Association in the fall, ...
) respectively.
Charlie Jones called
track and field
Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...
(alongside
Frank Shorter
Frank Charles Shorter (born October 31, 1947) is an American former long-distance runner who won the gold medal in the marathon at the 1972 Summer Olympics and the silver medal at the 1976 Summer Olympics. His Olympic success, along with the ac ...
and
Dwight Stones
Dwight Edwin Stones (born December 6, 1953) is an American television commentator and a two-time Olympic bronze medalist and former three-time world record holder in the men's high jump. During his 16-year career, he won 19 national championship ...
) and
Jimmy Cefalo
James Carmen Cefalo (born October 6, 1956) is an American journalist, news broadcaster and sports broadcaster, radio talk show host, Voice of the Miami Dolphins, businessman, wine enthusiast and former professional American football wide receiver ...
served as the daytime host.
Bob Costas
Robert Quinlan Costas (born March 22, 1952) is an American sportscaster who is known for his long tenure with NBC Sports, from 1980 through 2019. He has received 28 Emmy awards for his work and was the prime-time host of 12 Olympic Games from 19 ...
(as previously mentioned) and
Gayle Gardner
Gayle Gardner (born ca. 1950) is an American sportscaster who worked for ESPN and NBC Sports beginning in 1987 until 1993. Gardner is considered a pioneer in sports broadcasting, having been the first female sports anchor to appear weekly on a maj ...
were NBC's late night hosts.
Dick Enberg
Richard Alan Enberg (January 9, 1935 – December 21, 2017) was an American sportscaster. Over the course of an approximately 60-year career, he provided play-by-play of various sports for several radio and television networks, including ...
served as host for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies and called
men's basketball (alongside
Al McGuire
Alfred James McGuire (September 7, 1928 – January 26, 2001) was an American college basketball coach and broadcaster, the head coach at Marquette University from 1964 to 1977. He won a national championship in his final season at Marquette, a ...
) and
gymnastics
Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, s ...
(alongside
Mary Lou Retton
Mary Lou Retton (born January 24, 1968) is an American retired gymnast. At the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, she won a gold medal in the individual all-around competition, as well as two silver medals and two bronze medals. Her performanc ...
and
Bart Conner
Bart Wayne Conner (born March 28, 1958) is a retired American Olympic gymnast. As a member of the US men's gymnastics team at the 1984 Summer Olympic Games, Conner won two gold medals. He owns and operates the Bart Conner Gymnastics Academy in No ...
).
Jay Randolph
A jay is a member of a number of species of medium-sized, usually colorful and noisy, passerine birds in the Crow family, Corvidae. The evolutionary relationships between the jays and the magpies are rather complex. For example, the Eurasian m ...
called
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...
during the Olympics alongside
Jim Kaat
James Lee Kaat (; born November 7, 1938) is an American former professional baseball player and television sports commentator. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a left-handed pitcher for the Washington Senators / Minnesota Twins (–), ...
.
1992 and 1996 Summer Olympics
Just as his mentor
Roone Arledge had before over at
ABC,
Dick Ebersol
Duncan "Dick" Ebersol (; born July 28, 1947) is an American television executive and a senior adviser for NBC Universal Sports & Olympics. He had previously been the chairman of NBC Sports, producing large-scale television events such as the O ...
, who took over
NBC Sports
NBC Sports is an American programming division of the broadcast network NBC, owned and operated by NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal and subsidiary of Comcast. The division is responsible for sports broadcasts on the network, and its ...
in
1989
File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...
, decided to make the Olympics a staple of his network's sports television schedule. NBC continued its Summer Games coverage into the next decade, with both the
1992 Summer Olympics
The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...
in
Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
and the
1996 Summer Olympics
The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...
. For the 1992 games, Ebersol surprised even his own staff as well as everybody else by paying a then record $401 million for the 1992 games. The network then paid $456 million to broadcast the 1996 Olympics. Previously hosting late night coverage in Seoul,
Bob Costas
Robert Quinlan Costas (born March 22, 1952) is an American sportscaster who is known for his long tenure with NBC Sports, from 1980 through 2019. He has received 28 Emmy awards for his work and was the prime-time host of 12 Olympic Games from 19 ...
made his debut, as primetime host, in Barcelona. It is a role that he held through the Rio
2016 Summer Olympics
)
, nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams)
, athletes = 11,238
, events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines)
, opening = 5 August 2016
, closing = 21 August 2016
, opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer
, cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro de ...
.
Among the sportscasters that NBC utilized in 1992 were
Marv Albert
Marv Albert (born Marvin Philip Aufrichtig; June 12, 1941) is an American retired sportscaster. Honored for his work as a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame, he was commonly referred to as "the voice of basketball". From 1967 to 2004, he wa ...
,
Mike Fratello, and
Quinn Buckner
William Quinn Buckner (born August 20, 1954) is an American former professional basketball player and coach. He played collegiate basketball for the Indiana University Hoosiers, and won a national championship in 1976. He was a captain of both ...
on
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
,
Bob Trumpy
Robert Theodore Trumpy Jr. (born March 6, 1945) is a former professional American football tight end who played for the Cincinnati Bengals from 1968 through 1977. He was a two-time National Football League Pro Bowler and a two-time American Footb ...
,
Al Bernstein
Al Bernstein (born September 15, 1950) is an American sportscaster, writer, stage performer, recording artist, and speaker.
Journalism career
In the 1970s, Bernstein was a newspaperman, working at Lerner Newspapers in Chicago. He eventually be ...
, and
Beasley Reece
Beasley Young Reece, Jr. (born March 18, 1954, in Waco, Texas) is a former American football defensive back in the National Football League for the Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He played college football at North Texa ...
on
boxing
Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...
,
Tom Hammond
Thomas Taylor Hammond (born May 10, 1944) is an American sportscaster. Hammond is primarily known for his work with NBC Sports from 1984 to the present. Hammond is one of the network's staple on-air presenters, along with Bob Costas and Dan Hic ...
,
Charlie Jones Michele Mitchell, and
Wendy Lian Williams on
diving,
Terry Leibel and
Melanie Smith Taylor on
equestrian
The word equestrian is a reference to equestrianism, or horseback riding, derived from Latin ' and ', "horse".
Horseback riding (or Riding in British English)
Examples of this are:
*Equestrian sports
*Equestrian order, one of the upper classes in ...
,
Jim Donovan and
Seamus Malin on
soccer
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
,
John Tesh
John Frank Tesh (born July 9, 1952) is an American pianist and composer of pop music, as well as a radio host and television presenter. He hosts the ''Intelligence for Your Life'' radio show. In addition, since 2014, he has hosted ''Intelligen ...
, Greg Lewis,
Tim Daggett,
Elfi Schlegel
Elfi Schlegel (born 17 May 1964) is a sportscaster for NBC Sports and a former college and national champion gymnast from Canada. She is generally regarded as a top 50 Canadian gymnast of all time, and maybe even the 3rd best of the late 1970s ...
,
Wendy Hilliard,
Peter Vidmar
Peter may refer to:
People
* List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name
* Peter (given name)
** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church
* Peter (surname), a sur ...
, and
Julianne McNamara
Julianne Lyn McNamara (born October 11, 1965) is an American former artistic gymnast, who was born to Australians Jean and Kevin McNamara. She was the winner of the U.S. women's first individual event gold medal in Olympic history.
Career
McNa ...
on
gymnastics
Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, s ...
,
Joel Meyers
Joel Meyers is an American sportscaster who is the play-by-play announcer of the New Orleans Pelicans of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He also is the lead host of "Above the Rim", which airs weekdays from 10am-1pm ET on SiriusXM ...
on
rowing
Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically ...
, Charlie Jones,
Mary Wayte
Mary may refer to:
People
* Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name)
Religious contexts
* New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below
* Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...
, and
Mike O'Brien on
swimming
Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...
,
Al Trautwig
Alan Trautwig (born February 26, 1956) is a sports commentator who worked with MSG Network, ABC, NBC, NBC Sports Network, and USA Network. He most recently did pre-game and post-game shows for the New York Knicks and New York Rangers, as well a ...
and
Tracie Ruiz-Conforto on
synchronized swimming
Synchronized swimming (in British English, synchronised swimming) or artistic swimming is a sport where swimmers perform a synchronized choreographed routine, accompanied by music. The sport is governed internationally by FINA (the ''Fédérati ...
,
Bud Collins
Arthur Worth "Bud" Collins Jr. (June 17, 1929 – March 4, 2016) was an American journalist and television sportscaster, best known for his tennis commentary. Collins was married to photographer Anita Ruthling Klaussen.
Education
Collins was ...
,
Tracy Austin
Tracy Ann Austin Holt (born December 12, 1962) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. She won three Grand Slam titles: the women's singles titles at the 1979 and 1981 US Opens, and the mixed doubles title at the 1980 Wimbledon ...
,
Chris Evert
Christine Marie Evert (born December 21, 1954), known as Chris Evert Lloyd from 1979 to 1987, is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. Evert won 18 major singles titles, including a record seven French Open titles and a joint-record ...
, and
Vitas Gerulaitis
Vytautas Kevin Gerulaitis (July 26, 1954 – September 17, 1994) was an American professional tennis player, known as Vitas Gerulaitis. In 1975, he won the men's doubles title at Wimbledon, partnering with Sandy Mayer. He won the men's singles ...
on
tennis
Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball cov ...
, Tom Hammond,
Craig Masback
Craig Alford Masback (born 31 March 1955) is a retired American middle distance runner who specialized in the mile and 1500 meters, recording 30 sub-four-minute miles, including a best of 3:52.02, winning the U.S. Indoor Championships at the mile ...
, and
Dwight Stones
Dwight Edwin Stones (born December 6, 1953) is an American television commentator and a two-time Olympic bronze medalist and former three-time world record holder in the men's high jump. During his 16-year career, he won 19 national championship ...
on
track and field
Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...
,
Chris Marlowe
Christian "Chris" Marlowe (born September 28, 1951) is an American professional sportscaster who resides in Denver, Colorado. He currently is the play-by-play announcer for the Denver Nuggets of the National Basketball Association in the fall, ...
and
Paul Sunderland
Paul Benedict Sunderland (born March 29, 1952) is an American professional sportscaster who resides in Los Angeles, California. He worked as the indoor volleyball play-by-play announcer for NBC Olympics’ coverage of the 2016 Summer Olympics, ...
on
volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Sum ...
, Charlie Jones and Jim Kruse on
water polo
Water polo is a competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the ball into the opposing team's goal. The team with th ...
, and
Russ Hellickson
Russell Owen "Russ" Hellickson (born May 29, 1948) is an American former amateur wrestler and collegiate wrestling coach. Born in Madison, Wisconsin, Hellickson competed in the 1976 Summer Olympics for the United States, winning the silver medal ...
and
Jeff Blatnick on
wrestling
Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat s ...
.
Four years later in
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...
, NBC used as commentators Marv Albert,
Matt Goukas,
Magic Johnson
Earvin "Magic" Johnson Jr. (born August 14, 1959) is an American former professional basketball player. He is often regarded as the greatest point guard of all-time and has been compared with Stephen Curry. Johnson played 13 seasons in the ...
, and
Jim Gray on men's
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
,
Mike Breen
Michael Breen (born May 22, 1961) is an American play-by-play sports commentator for '' NBA on ABC'' and is the lead announcer for New York Knicks games on the MSG Network. Breen also calls NBA games for ESPN and was formerly a play-by-play anno ...
and
Cheryl Miller
Cheryl D. Miller (born January 3, 1964) is an American former basketball player. She was formerly a sideline reporter for NBA games on TNT Sports and also works for NBA TV as a reporter and analyst, having worked previously as a sportscaster f ...
on women's basketball,
Bob Papa, Al Bernstein, Beasley Reese on
boxing
Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...
, Charlie Jones and Bill Endicott on
canoeing
Canoeing is an activity which involves paddling a canoe with a single-bladed paddle. Common meanings of the term are limited to when the canoeing is the central purpose of the activity. Broader meanings include when it is combined with other act ...
, Al Trautwig, Phil Liggett, and
Paul Sherwen
Paul Sherwen (7 June 1956 – 2 December 2018) was an English professional racing cyclist and later a broadcaster on cycling, notably the Tour de France. He raced in seven editions of the Tour, finishing five, and gained a reputation for his abi ...
on
cycling
Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from ...
,
Dan Hicks and
Cynthia Potter
Cynthia "Cindy" Ann Potter (born August 27, 1950) is an American former Olympic diver and diving color commentator. She was a member of three Olympic diving teams, winning a bronze medal in the 3 m springboard in 1976.
Career
Diving
An 1 ...
on
diving,
Jim Simpson and Melanie Smith Taylor on
equestrian
The word equestrian is a reference to equestrianism, or horseback riding, derived from Latin ' and ', "horse".
Horseback riding (or Riding in British English)
Examples of this are:
*Equestrian sports
*Equestrian order, one of the upper classes in ...
, Jim Donovan and Seamus Malin on
soccer
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
, John Tesh, Tim Daggett, Elfi Schlegel, and Beth Ruyak on
gymnastics
Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, s ...
, Charlie Jones and Bill Endicott on
rowing
Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically ...
, Dan Hicks,
Summer Sanders
Summer Elisabeth Sanders (born October 13, 1972) is an American sports commentator, reporter, television personality, actress, former competition swimmer and Olympic champion from 1992.
Early life
Sanders was born in Roseville, California ...
,
Rowdy Gaines
Ambrose "Rowdy" Gaines IV (born February 17, 1959) is an American former competitive swimmer, U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame member, three-time Olympic gold medalist, and member of the International Swimming Hall of Fame. He is a swimming analyst for ...
, and Jim Gray on
swimming
Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...
, Don Criqui and Tracie Ruiz-Conforto on
synchronized swimming
Synchronized swimming (in British English, synchronised swimming) or artistic swimming is a sport where swimmers perform a synchronized choreographed routine, accompanied by music. The sport is governed internationally by FINA (the ''Fédérati ...
, Bud Collins and
Mary Carillo
Mary Carillo (born March 15, 1957) is an American sportscaster and former professional tennis player. She is an analyst for ''Tennis on NBC'' and a reporter for NBC Olympic broadcasts.
Career
Tennis
Carillo played on the women's professiona ...
on
tennis
Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball cov ...
, Tom Hammond, Dwight Stones, Craig Masback, and
Carol Lewis
Carol LeGrant Lewis (born August 8, 1963) is an American former track and field athlete who specialized in the long jump. She is the 1983 World Championship bronze medalist, and a 4-time US Champion. Her best long jump of 7.04 meters in 1985 is ...
on
track and field
Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...
, Chris Marlowe, Randy Rosenbloom (
beach
A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc s ...
), Paul Sunderland,
Kirk Kilgour
Kirk Kilgour (December 28, 1947 – July 10, 2002) was an American volleyball player.
Other Work
Kilgour also worked as a consultant on Extreme Ghostbusters
''Extreme Ghostbusters'' is an American animated television series based on the '' ...
(beach), and
Bill Walton
William Theodore Walton III (born November 5, 1952) is an American television sportscaster and former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for coach John Wooden and the UCLA Bruins, winning three consecutive national ...
on
volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Sum ...
, Don Criqui and Jim Kruse on
water polo
Water polo is a competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the ball into the opposing team's goal. The team with th ...
, Bob Trumpy and
Phil Simms
Phillip Martin Simms (born November 3, 1955) is an American former football quarterback who spent his entire 15-year professional career playing for the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL). He is currently a television sport ...
on
weightlifting
Weightlifting generally refers to activities in which people lift weights, often in the form of dumbbells or barbells. People lift various kinds of weights for a variety of different reasons. These may include various types of competition; pro ...
, and Russ Hellickson and Jeff Blatnick on
wrestling
Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat s ...
.
1992 Olympics Triplecast
In order to defray costs of airing the games, the network teamed up with
Cablevision
Cablevision Systems Corporation was an American cable television company with systems serving areas surrounding New York City. It was the fifth-largest cable provider and ninth-largest television provider in the United States. Throughout its e ...
for the
Triplecast. The service consisted of red, white, and blue channels that allowed the viewer to watch anything they wanted even before it aired in the network's primetime telecast. However, the service was a dismal failure losing $100 million and had only 200,000 subscribers. In addition, the main network's coverage was cannibalized to the extent it seemed that the main coverage was overproduced and that viewers knew some results about 10 hours before they were aired over the air on NBC. For Atlanta, NBC had no supplemental cable coverage.
1996 Olympic Park Bombing
As with Arledge in
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and ...
, Ebersol had to deal with
breaking news
Breaking news, interchangeably termed late-breaking news and also known as a special report or special coverage or news flash, is a current issue that broadcasters feel warrants the interruption of scheduled programming or current news in orde ...
during the Atlanta Games. During the
Centennial Olympic Park bombing
The Centennial Olympic Park bombing was a domestic terrorist pipe bombing attack on Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, Georgia, on July 27, 1996, during the Summer Olympics. The blast directly killed one person and injured 111 others; another ...
in 1996, NBC suspended its coverage of a
volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Sum ...
game and broadcast the news for several hours commercial-free. Like ABC's 1972
Munich coverage, the main primetime host (in 1972's case,
Chris Schenkel
Christopher Eugene Schenkel (August 21, 1923 – September 11, 2005) was an American sportscaster. Over the course of five decades he called play-by-play for numerous sports on television and radio, becoming known for his smooth delivery and ...
instead of
Jim McKay
James Kenneth McManus (September 24, 1921 – June 7, 2008), better known professionally as Jim McKay, was an American television sports journalist.
McKay was best known for hosting ABC's '' Wide World of Sports'' (1961–1998). His introd ...
) did not cover the bombing. That role went to both
Hannah Storm
Hannah Lynn Storen Hicks (born June 13, 1962), known professionally as Hannah Storm, is an American television sports journalist, serving as the anchor of ESPN's '' SportsCenter'' Face to Face. She was also host of the '' NBA Countdown'' pregame ...
and
Jim Lampley
James Lampley (born April 8, 1949) is an American sportscaster, news anchor, film producer, and restaurant owner. He was best known as a blow-by-blow announcer on ''HBO World Championship Boxing'' for 30 years. He also had covered a record 14 O ...
for the first half-hour before turning coverage over to ''
NBC Nightly News
''NBC Nightly News'' (titled as ''NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt'' for its weeknight broadcasts since June 22, 2015) is the flagship daily evening News broadcasting#Television, television news program for NBC News, the news division of the NB ...
'' anchor
Tom Brokaw
Thomas John Brokaw (; born February 6, 1940) is an American retired network television journalist and author. He first served as the co-anchor of ''The Today Show'' from 1976 to 1981 with Jane Pauley, then as the anchor and managing editor of '' ...
. Toward the end of the second hour of coverage, NBC had an exclusive as the network's Atlanta affiliate,
WXIA-TV
WXIA-TV (channel 11) is a television station in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by Tegna Inc. alongside MyNetworkTV affiliate WATL (channel 36). Both stations share studios at One Monroe Place on the north ...
, was in the process of interviewing
Janet Evans
Janet Beth Evans (born August 28, 1971) is an American former competition swimmer who specialized in distance freestyle events. Evans was a world champion and world record-holder, and won a total of four gold medals at the 1988 and the 1992 Ol ...
during the bombing.
Cable and satellite services become involved
To help offset the increasing costs of broadcast rights, NBC turned to
cable
Cable may refer to:
Mechanical
* Nautical cable, an assembly of three or more ropes woven against the weave of the ropes, rendering it virtually waterproof
* Wire rope, a type of rope that consists of several strands of metal wire laid into a hel ...
and
satellite
A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioiso ...
services to help provide additional coverage. Following the failure of the Triplecast pay-per-view experiment, NBC leaned on its growing slate of cable channels (particularly following then-parent
General Electric
General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable ene ...
's 2004 acquisition of
Vivendi Universal
Vivendi SE is a French mass media holding company headquartered in Paris. Widely known as the owner of Gameloft, Groupe Canal+, Havas, Editis, Prisma Media, Vivendi Village and Dailymotion, the company has activities in television, film, video ...
to form
NBC Universal
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are ...
) to provide supplementary coverage of Olympic events.
2000s
Olympic coverage in the 2000s changed in several ways:
* NBC became the sole U.S. rights holder for the Olympic Games for the entire decade. The network could rightly boast of being "America's Olympic Network" as it made the longest and most expensive commitment ever since the Olympics were first presented on television. For the 1996 Summer Olympics, and all Games from 2000 to 2008, NBC paid a total of $3.5 billion, mostly to the
International Olympic Committee
The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swis ...
but also to the
United States Olympic Committee
The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) is the National Olympic Committee and the National Paralympic Committee for the United States. It was founded in 1895 as the United States Olympic Committee, and is headquartered in Col ...
and local organizers. In 2006, NBC paid another $2.2 billion to purchase the rights to the
2010 Winter Olympics
)''
, nations = 82
, athletes = 2,626
, events = 86 in 7 sports (15 disciplines)
, opening = February 12, 2010
, closing = February 28, 2010
, opened_by = Governor General Michaëlle Jean
, cauldron = Catriona Le May DoanNancy Greene Wayne G ...
and
2012 Summer Olympics
The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, th ...
but lost $223 million on the 2010 broadcasts.
* High-definition coverage began in 2004.
* The rise of various
media platforms extended the reach and availability of Olympic Games coverage. NBC returned to supplemental cable/satellite coverage in
2000
File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...
, with some events airing on
CNBC
CNBC (formerly Consumer News and Business Channel) is an American basic cable business news channel. It provides business news programming on weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., Eastern Time, while broadcasting talk s ...
and
MSNBC
MSNBC (originally the Microsoft National Broadcasting Company) is an American news-based pay television cable channel. It is owned by NBCUniversala subsidiary of Comcast. Headquartered in New York City, it provides news coverage and political ...
; traditionally CNBC has mainly aired coverage of
boxing events. In
2004
2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO).
Events January
* January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight ...
, it added
USA Network
USA Network (simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. It was originally launched in 1977 as Madi ...
,
Bravo and
Telemundo
Telemundo (; formerly NetSpan) is an American Spanish-language terrestrial television network owned by NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises, a division of NBCUniversal, which in turn is owned by Comcast. It provides content nationally with pr ...
, all of which parent company
NBC Universal
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are ...
had acquired earlier in the decade. In
2006
File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro votes to declare independence from Serbia; The 2006 ...
,
Universal HD was added to the list of channels carrying the Games. Finally, in
2008
File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...
, events were
streamed
Streaming media is multimedia that is delivered and consumed in a continuous manner from a source, with little or no intermediate storage in network elements. ''Streaming'' refers to the delivery method of content, rather than the content it ...
live for the first time on the Internet through the NBCOlympics.com website (also in 2008,
Oxygen
Oxygen is the chemical element with the symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group in the periodic table, a highly reactive nonmetal, and an oxidizing agent that readily forms oxides with most elements ...
replaced Bravo as a supplemental network, and NBC launched
high-definition channels dedicated to the
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
and
soccer
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
competitions). The 2010 Games added then-
digital multicast network Universal Sports
Universal Sports was an American sports-oriented digital cable and satellite television network. It was owned as a joint venture between InterMedia Partners (which owned a controlling 92% interest) and NBCUniversal (which owned the remaining 8%). ...
, which carried analysis programs about events, while Oxygen and Bravo were completely excluded to maintain their schedules.
During the
2006 Winter Olympics
The 2006 Winter Olympics, officially the XX Olympic Winter Games ( it, XX Giochi olimpici invernali) and also known as Torino 2006, were a winter multi-sport event held from 10 to 26 February 2006 in Turin, Italy. This marked the second ...
, USA Network aired a daily studio program focusing on the
figure skating competitions
A figure skating competition is a judged sports competition in figure skating.
Types of figure skating competitions
International
International competitions sanctioned by the International Skating Union (ISU) are governed by the union's rules. ...
, ''Olympic Ice'', which was hosted by
Mary Carillo
Mary Carillo (born March 15, 1957) is an American sportscaster and former professional tennis player. She is an analyst for ''Tennis on NBC'' and a reporter for NBC Olympic broadcasts.
Career
Tennis
Carillo played on the women's professiona ...
and featured appearances by analysts and skaters such as
Dick Button
Richard Totten Button (born July 18, 1929) is an American former figure skater and skating analyst. He is a two-time Olympic champion (1948, 1952) and five-time consecutive World champion (1948–1952). He is also the only non-European man to h ...
(who hosted the viewer e-mail segment "Push Dick's Button"),
Jamie Sale and
David Pelletier
David Jacques Pelletier (born November 22, 1974) is a Canadian pairs figure skater. With his former wife Jamie Salé, he was the co-gold medal winner at the 2002 Olympic Winter Games. They shared the gold medal with the Russian pair Elena Be ...
.
Also during the 2006 games, most NBC affiliates introduced ''Olympic Zone'', an
access hour program leading into primetime coverage which airs Mondays through Saturdays during the games. Each edition is hosted locally and contains a mixture of network-produced and, if station resources allow, local segments profiling athletes from the area. A version of the program had been piloted by
KCRA
KCRA-TV (channel 3) is a television station in Sacramento, California, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by Hearst Television alongside Stockton-licensed MyNetworkTV affiliate KQCA (channel 58). Both stations share studios on T ...
Sacramento during the 2004 games.
Comcast acquisition of NBC (2011–2018)
In 2011,
Comcast
Comcast Corporation (formerly known as American Cable Systems and Comcast Holdings),Before the AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corpora ...
acquired majority control of NBC's parent company NBC Universal from
General Electric
General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable ene ...
(whose remaining interest Comcast later acquired in 2013); on June 6, 2011, NBCUniversal announced that it had acquired the television rights for the 2014, 2016, 2018 and 2020 Olympics, beating out
ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
/
ABC and
Fox. The entire package was worth $4.38 billion, making it the most expensive television rights deal in Olympic history. NBC paid $775 million for the
2014 Winter Olympics
, ''Zharkie. Zimnie. Tvoi'')
, nations = 88
, events = 98 in 7 sports (15 disciplines)
, athletes = 2,873
, opening = 7 February 2014
, closing = 23 February 2014
, opened_by = President Vladimir Putin
, cauldron =
, stadium = Fisht Olympi ...
in
Sochi
Sochi ( rus, Со́чи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg) is the largest resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi River, along the Black Sea in Southern Russia, with a population of 466,078 residents, up to 600,000 residents i ...
,
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...
, and $1.23 billion for the
2016 Summer Olympics
)
, nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams)
, athletes = 11,238
, events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines)
, opening = 5 August 2016
, closing = 21 August 2016
, opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer
, cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro de ...
in
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...
,
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
. NBC also paid $963 million for the rights to the
2018 Winter Olympics
, nations = 93
, athletes = 2,922 (1,680 men and 1,242 women)
, events = 102 in 7 sports (15 disciplines)
, opening =
, closing =
, opened_by = President Moon Jae-in
, cauldron = Kim Yun-a
, stadium = Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium
, wint ...
(in
Pyeongchang
Pyeongchang (; in full, ''Pyeongchang-gun'' ; ) is a county in the province of Gangwon-do, South Korea, located in the Taebaek Mountains region. It is home to several Buddhist temples, including Woljeongsa. It is about east southeast of Se ...
, South Korea) and $1.45 billion for the
2020 Summer Olympics
The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July.
Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...
(which were to be held in
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.46 ...
,
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...
but were later postponed to 2021 as a result of the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
).
In response to criticism it received during previous Olympics, NBC also announced that beginning in
2012
File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...
, it planned to broadcast all events live through either television or digital platforms. Additionally, the NBC Sports Network (NBCSN; formerly Versus, which became a part of NBC Sports following the acquisition) also added coverage of the Olympics beginning with the 2012 London Games, with an emphasis on team sports, for the duration of the network's existence.
NBCSN became the highlighted cable network for coverage, replacing both USA Network, which would maintain their regular entertainment schedule during the games. The 2012 Summer Olympics also saw Universal HD removed from the company's cable/satellite coverage. Bravo aired supplemental coverage (mainly the tennis tournament) in place of Oxygen, with Universal Sports again solely providing analysis and pay television providers again carrying dedicated HD basketball and soccer networks.
The 2014 Winter Olympics again saw NBCSN as the highlighted cable network, though NBCUniversal's cable networks had additional complications due to NBC's weekend coverage of the
Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...
, which usually aired on NBCSN but was instead moved to USA Network due to the Olympics, and some coverage of the games usually seen on CNBC replaced with the first night of the
Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show
The Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show is an all-breed conformation show, traditionally held annually at New York City's Madison Square Garden.
The Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show is one of a handful of benched shows in the United States. Dogs ...
because of the yearly conflict with USA's ''
WWE Monday Night Raw''. A new online-network called "Gold Zone," which features rolling coverage of events in the style of
NFL Network
NFL Network (occasionally abbreviated on-air as NFLN) is an American sports-oriented pay television network owned by the National Football League (NFL) and is part of NFL Media, which also includes NFL.com, NFL Films, NFL Mobile, NFL Now and NF ...
's
RedZone Channel and
ESPN Goal Line
ESPN Goal Line & ESPN Bases Loaded was a gametime-only cable channel operated by ESPN which operated from the start of the 2010 college football season until the end of the 2019 college football season. The channel was active during two college ...
(and has been by coincidence hosted by
Andrew Siciliano
use both this parameter and , birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) -->
, death_place =
, death_cause =
, body_discovered =
, resting_place =
, resting_place_coordinates = ...
, who also hosts the
NFL Sunday Ticket
NFL Sunday Ticket is an out-of-market sports package that broadcasts National Football League (NFL) regular season games unavailable on local affiliates. It carries all regional Sunday afternoon games produced by Fox and CBS. The ideal custome ...
-exclusive version of RedZone for
DirecTV
DirecTV (trademarked as DIRECTV) is an American multichannel video programming distributor based in El Segundo, California. Originally launched on June 17, 1994, its primary service is a digital satellite service serving the United States. I ...
), was also launched to provide coverage of the Games, which was retained for 2016's coverage.
In 2016, NBC began to offer
4K content on a delayed basis through participating service providers (particularly
DirecTV
DirecTV (trademarked as DIRECTV) is an American multichannel video programming distributor based in El Segundo, California. Originally launched on June 17, 1994, its primary service is a digital satellite service serving the United States. I ...
,
Dish Network
DISH Network Corporation (DISH, an acronym for DIgital Sky Highway) is an American television provider and the owner of the direct-broadcast satellite provider Dish, commonly known as Dish Network, and the over-the-top IPTV service, Sling ...
, and
Xfinity
Comcast Cable Communications, LLC, doing business as Xfinity, is an American telecommunications company and division of Comcast Corporation used to market consumer cable television, internet, telephone, and wireless services provided by the c ...
), downconverted from
8K footage filmed by
NHK
, also known as NHK, is a Japanese public broadcaster. NHK, which has always been known by this romanized initialism in Japanese, is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee.
NHK operates two terrestr ...
and OBS, with
HDR and
Dolby Atmos
Dolby Atmos is a surround sound technology developed by Dolby Laboratories. It expands on existing surround sound systems by adding height channels, allowing sounds to be interpreted as three-dimensional objects with neither horizontal, nor verti ...
support. 86 hours of event footage was offered.
NBC affiliate
WRAL-TV
WRAL-TV (channel 5) is a television station licensed to Raleigh, North Carolina, United States, serving as the NBC affiliate for the Research Triangle area. It is the flagship station of the locally based Capitol Broadcasting Company, which h ...
in
Raleigh, North Carolina
Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the seat of Wake County in the United States. It is the second-most populous city in North Carolina, after Charlotte. Raleigh is the tenth-most populous city in the Sout ...
also carried this content via their experimental
ATSC 3.0
ATSC 3.0 is a major version of the ATSC standards for television broadcasting created by the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC).
The standards are designed to offer support for newer technologies, including HEVC for video channels of u ...
digital
Digital usually refers to something using discrete digits, often binary digits.
Technology and computing Hardware
*Digital electronics, electronic circuits which operate using digital signals
** Digital camera, which captures and stores digital ...
signals.
With the
re-introduction of golf to the Olympics,
Golf Channel
Golf Channel (also verbally referred to as simply Golf) is an American sports television network owned by the NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. Founded in Birmingham, Alabama, it is currently based out of NBC S ...
was added to NBC's coverage, with
Golf Channel on NBC
Golf telecasts have aired on NBC since 1954, with some of its earliest telecasts having included the 1954 U.S. Open, and the first televised coverage of the Ryder Cup in 1959.
Presently, NBC televises around 8 PGA Tour events per-season, alte ...
providing production resources for the two tournaments on behalf of OBS.
The primetime block of NBC's coverage in 2016 also featured
Descriptive Video Service
Audio description, also referred to as a video description, described video, or more precisely called a visual description, is a form of narration used to provide information surrounding key visual elements in a media work (such as a film or te ...
through the
SAP channel for the first time since the
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdicti ...
was allowed to require broadcasters to expand their production and access to described programming for the blind and visually impaired (though live sporting events were not required under the guidelines, so NBC's effort is entirely voluntary).
On July 15, 2017,
Universal HD was relaunched as a localized version of
Olympic Channel
Olympic Channel is an over-the-top Internet television service operated by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). It was launched on August 21, 2016, alongside the closing of the 2016 Summer Olympics. The service aims to maintain year-round ...
, airing coverage of Olympic sports outside of the Games.
Mike Tirico era, emphasis on live coverage (2018–present)
In February 2017, Bob Costas stepped down as the main host of NBC's coverage, being replaced by former ESPN personality
Mike Tirico
Mike Tirico (; born December 13, 1966) is an American sportscaster. He is currently the NFL play-by-play announcer on NBC's ''Sunday Night Football'', having replaced Al Michaels in 2022. From 2006 to 2015, Tirico served as a play-by-play anno ...
.
On March 28, 2017, NBC announced that it would adopt a new format for its primetime coverage of the
2018 Winter Olympics
, nations = 93
, athletes = 2,922 (1,680 men and 1,242 women)
, events = 102 in 7 sports (15 disciplines)
, opening =
, closing =
, opened_by = President Moon Jae-in
, cauldron = Kim Yun-a
, stadium = Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium
, wint ...
, with a focus on live coverage in all time zones to take advantage of Pyeongchang's 14-hour difference with U.S. Eastern Time, and to address criticism of its previous tape delay practices. As before, the primetime block began at 8:00 p.m ET/5:00 p.m PT, and unlike previous Olympics, was available for streaming. Event sessions in
figure skating
Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, when contested at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic disciplines are me ...
were deliberately scheduled with morning sessions so that they could air during primetime in the Americas (and in turn, NBC's coverage; due to the substantial fees NBC has paid for rights to the Olympics, the IOC has allowed NBC to have influence on event scheduling to maximize U.S. television ratings when possible; NBC agreed to a $7.75 billion contract extension on May 7, 2014, to air the Olympics through the 2032 games, is also one of the major sources of revenue for the IOC).
Coverage took a break in the east for late local news, after which coverage continued into "Primetime Plus", which featured additional live coverage into the Eastern late night and Western primetime hours. This was then followed by an encore of the ''Primetime'' block. NBCSN also once broadcast live primetime blocks, and revived ''Olympic Ice'' to serve as a pre-show for figure skating coverage (hosted by
Liam McHugh
Liam McHugh (born ) is an American television sportscaster. He is a studio host for Turner Sports coverage of the NHL. He previously worked on NBC Sports coverage of the NHL as well as Notre Dame Fighting Irish football and ''NBC Sunday Night F ...
and
Tanith White from Pyeongchang), alongside a digital-exclusive post-show hosted by
Krista Voda
Krista Voda Kelley (born May 31, 1974) is an American sportscaster who covers auto racing as the play-by-play announcer for the ARCA Menards Series on MAVTV. She previously worked for ''NASCAR on Fox'' and '' NASCAR on Speed'' from 2003 to 2014 ...
from NBC Sports' headquarters.
On February 19, 2018, NBC began airing the ''Fallon Five'', an abbreviated version of ''
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jimmy Fallon that airs on NBC. The show premiered on February 17, 2014, and is produced by Broadway Video and Universal Television. It is the seventh incar ...
'', during the primetime block for the remaining weekdays of the Games.
=2020 Summer Olympics
=
NBCUniversal integrated its
Peacock
Peafowl is a common name for three bird species in the genera '' Pavo'' and '' Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae, the pheasants and their allies. Male peafowl are referred to as peacocks, and female peafowl are r ...
streaming service into coverage beginning with the
2020 Summer Olympics
The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July.
Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...
. It carried a special "Tokyo Now" channel during the Games, featuring the studio programs ''Tokyo Live'' (event coverage and medal ceremonies), ''Tokyo Gold'' (an hour-long highlight show recapping the previous day's events), ''On Her Turf at the Olympics'' (a daily program focusing on news and highlights involving women at the Games), ''Tokyo Tonight'' (which featured whiparound coverage in primetime hosted by former
ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
personalities
Kenny Mayne
Kenny Mayne (born ) is an American sports media personality who is best known for his work on ESPN from 1994 to 2021. He appeared as host of ''Kenny Mayne's Wider World of Sports'' on ESPN.com, and he appeared as a weekly contributor to '' Sun ...
and
Cari Champion
Cari Champion (born June 1, 1978) is an American broadcast journalist and television personality. She is the host of The Cari Champion Show on Amazon Prime Video Sports Talk. She has worked as an anchor and reporter for the Tennis Channel and as ...
), and ''Olympic Highlights with
Snoop Dogg
Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. (born October 20, 1971), known professionally as Snoop Dogg (previously Snoop Doggy Dogg and briefly Snoop Lion), is an American rapper. His fame dates back to 1992 when he featured on Dr. Dre's debut solo single, " ...
and
Kevin Hart
Kevin Darnell Hart (born July 6, 1979) is an American comedian and actor. Originally known as a stand-up comedian, he has since starred in Hollywood films and on TV. He has also released several well-received comedy albums.
After winning se ...
'' (a half-hour highlight show with a unconventional and comedic tone). Peacock also carried coverage of selected men's basketball, gymnastics, and track and field events. For the first time, Olympic Channel was incorporated into live event coverage, with a particular focus on the
tennis
Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball cov ...
and
wrestling
Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat s ...
competitions.
Due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
(which had already prompted the Games to be postponed by one year to 2021) and biosecurity protocols, NBC sent a significantly smaller amount of employees to Tokyo than it usually did for previous Summer Olympics. While commentators were present in Tokyo for flagship events such as athletics, the majority of commentators called events remotely from NBC Sports' headquarters in
Stamford, Connecticut
Stamford () is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut, outside of Manhattan. It is Connecticut's second-most populous city, behind Bridgeport. With a population of 135,470, Stamford passed Hartford and New Haven in population as of the 202 ...
. Due to
social distancing
In public health, social distancing, also called physical distancing, (NB. Regula Venske is president of the PEN Centre Germany.) is a set of non-pharmaceutical interventions or measures intended to prevent the spread of a contagious dis ...
and remote production protocols, NBC's staff was largely divided among the headquarters, other NBC facilities (such as
30 Rockefeller Plaza
30 Rockefeller Plaza (officially the Comcast Building; formerly RCA Building and GE Building) is a skyscraper that forms the centerpiece of Rockefeller Center in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Completed in 1933, the 66-s ...
, and those of CNBC, Telemundo, and in some cases,
Sky Sports
Sky Sports is a group of British subscription sports channels operated by the satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It ...
in Great Britain), and a nearby hotel in Stamford, while makeshift commentary booths had to be constructed in storage areas of the Stamford building. Meanwhile in Tokyo, NBC used the Hilton Tokyo Odaiba hotel as a broadcast location, with Mike Tirico anchoring from an outdoor set on a balcony overlooking
Tokyo Bay
is a bay located in the southern Kantō region of Japan, and spans the coasts of Tokyo, Kanagawa Prefecture, and Chiba Prefecture. Tokyo Bay is connected to the Pacific Ocean by the Uraga Channel. The Tokyo Bay region is both the most populou ...
. Telemundo employed a
virtual set
On-set virtual production (OSVP) or also known as virtual production or virtual studio is a technology for television and film production in which LED panels are used as a backdrop for a set, on which video or computer generated imagery can be d ...
at its headquarters in Miami, which was modeled after NBC's main indoor set in Tokyo.
2022 Winter Olympics
The scheduling of the Games impacted the U.S. broadcast rights to the
Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the gam ...
, the championship game of the
National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the majo ...
(NFL) and historically the
most-watched television broadcast in the United States annually. The rights to the game rotate between
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
,
Fox, and long-time Olympic broadcaster
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
; to prevent the Games from
competing
Competition is a rivalry where two or more parties strive for a common goal which cannot be shared: where one's gain is the other's loss (an example of which is a zero-sum game). Competition can arise between entities such as organisms, indivi ...
for viewership and advertising sales with
Super Bowl LVI
Super Bowl LVI was an American football game played to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2021 season. The National Football Conference (NFC) champion Los Angeles Rams defeated the American Football Conference ...
—which was scheduled for 13 February 2022 at Los Angeles'
SoFi Stadium
SoFi Stadium () is a 70,240-seat sports and entertainment indoor stadium in the Los Angeles suburb of Inglewood, California, United States. SoFi occupies the former site of the Hollywood Park Racetrack, from Los Angeles International Airport an ...
—CBS and NBC announced in March 2019 that they would swap the rights for Super Bowl LVI and
LV (2021), so that both the 2022 Winter Olympics and Super Bowl LVI would be broadcast by NBC. In a break from the established practice of airing
premieres or special episodes of television series after the Super Bowl to take advantage of its large audience, NBC aired its
prime time
Prime time or the peak time is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for a television show. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to ...
coverage for Day 10 of the Games immediately following the game. Furthermore, the NFL's new media rights beginning in 2023 (which extends the Super Bowl rotation to four networks) codifies this scenario, with all of NBC's future Super Bowl games being in Winter Olympic years (2026, 2030, and 2034).
Due to COVID-19 protocol (including China's strict
zero-COVID
Zero-COVID, also known as COVID-Zero and "Find, Test, Trace, Isolate, and Support" (FTTIS), is a public health policy that has been implemented by some countries during the COVID-19 pandemic.Anna Llupià, Rodríguez-Giralt, Anna Fité, Lola Ála ...
policy), NBC once again sent a smaller contingent of staff to Beijing, and all events were called remotely from its various facilities. Mike Tirico anchored the opening weekend of the Games (including the opening ceremony) from Beijing, but traveled back to the United States on February 8 for logistical reasons, with the remainder of the Games (with exceptions) being anchored from Stamford. After that night's coverage was guest hosted by
Craig Melvin
Craig Delano Melvin (born May 20, 1979) is an American broadcast journalist and anchor at NBC News and MSNBC. In August 2018, he became a news anchor on NBC's ''Today'' and, in October 2018, a co-host of ''Today Third Hour'' before being made p ...
and
Maria Taylor, Tirico returned the following night.
He then traveled to Los Angeles to host NBC's coverage of Super Bowl LVI, over Super Bowl weekend, Tirico anchored the primetime block from an outdoor studio outside
SoFi Stadium
SoFi Stadium () is a 70,240-seat sports and entertainment indoor stadium in the Los Angeles suburb of Inglewood, California, United States. SoFi occupies the former site of the Hollywood Park Racetrack, from Los Angeles International Airport an ...
, before returning to Stamford for the remainder of the Games.
All events were streamed live on Peacock Premium.
Hours of coverage
Traditionally, NBC has primarily televised marquee sports in its Olympic coverage. When the network added coverage on its cable partners in 2000, it opened space to televise other sports. 2004 marked the first year that they televised all 28 sports in the Summer Games.
In 2008, aided with online streaming, NBC aired many of the events held at the summer games live.
Music
Since 1992, the main theme of NBC's Olympics coverage has been "
Bugler's Dream", a composition by
Leo Arnaud that was previously used by
ABC as the main theme of its Olympics coverage since 1964. Since the
1996 Summer Olympics
The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...
, this theme has been played in a
medley
Medley or Medleys may refer to:
Sports
*Medley swimming, races requiring multiple swimming styles
* Medley relay races at track meets
Music
* Medley (music), multiple pieces strung together
People
* Medley (surname), list of people with this n ...
with
John Williams
John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932)Nylund, Rob (15 November 2022)Classic Connection review '' WBOI'' ("For the second time this year, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic honored American composer, conductor, and arranger John Williams, who w ...
' "
Olympic Fanfare and Theme
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) uses icons, flags and symbols to elevate the Olympic Games. These symbols include those commonly used during Olympic competition—such as the flame, fanfare and theme—as well as those used throughout ...
", which was originally composed for the
1984 Summer Olympics
The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the sec ...
in Los Angeles. Williams has composed other secondary themes for the Olympics and NBC's telecasts, including "The Olympic Spirit" (which was used as the main theme in
1988
File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Bicenten ...
, NBC's first year as rightsholder, before "Bugler's Dream" was reinstated the following Olympiad), "Summon the Heroes" (a piece written for the
opening ceremony
An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly-constructed location or the start of an event. in
1996
File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 800, causing the plane to crash and killing everyone o ...
),
and "
Call of the Champions
''Call of the Champions'' is a fanfare for orchestra and choir composed by John Williams for the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah. Premiering at the Opening Ceremony on February 8, 2002, it began with the call by the Mormon Tabernacle ...
" (which was written for the
2002 Winter Olympics
The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Salt Lake 2002 ( arp, Niico'ooowu' 2002; Gosiute Shoshoni: ''Tit'-so-pi 2002''; nv, Sooléí 2002; Shoshoni: ''Soónkahni 2002''), was an internationa ...
).
Since 1996, NBC has used the
Randy Edelman
Randy Edelman (born June 10, 1947) is an American musician, producer, and composer for film and television. He began his career as a member of Broadway's pit orchestras, and later went on to produce solo albums for songs that were picked up by ...
-composed theme song from the short-lived
Fox series ''
The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr.'' during its coverage. NBC had commissioned Edelman to compose theme music for its
National Football League coverage (stemming from its prior use of a portion of his score for the film ''
Gettysburg'' for its coverage of the
Breeder's Cup), and the theme was included in a portfolio of work Edelman had sent the network. Edelman felt that the track "seemed to have the right spirit. It's got a very flowing melody, it's triumphant, and it has a certain warmth. And it has at the end of it, what all television things like this have, a 'button,' an ending flourish that works really well if they need to chop it down into a 15-second thing." Senior creative producer Mark Levy felt that the works that Edelman had scored, as with John Williams, shared the "proportion and emotion" of the Olympics.
Since 2002, NBC had used music from the soundtrack of the sports film ''
Remember the Titans
''Remember the Titans'' is a 2000 American biographical sports film produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and directed by Boaz Yakin. The screenplay, written by Gregory Allen Howard, is based on the true story of coach Herman Boone, portrayed by Denze ...
'' as part of its closing credits sequence for the Olympics
Yanni
Yiannis Chryssomallis ( el, Γιάννης Χρυσομάλλης; born November 14, 1954), known professionally as Yanni ( ), is a Greek-American composer, keyboardist, pianist, and music producer.
Yanni continues to use the musical shorthan ...
's "In Celebration of Man", a piece that CBS had declined an offer to use at the
1992 Winter Olympics
)
, nations = 64
, athletes = 1,801 (1313 men, 488 women)
, events = 57 in 6 sports (12 disciplines)
, opening = 8 February 1992
, closing = 23 February 1992
, opened_by = President François Mitterrand
, cauldron ...
, was used during a preview special for the 1992 Summer Olympics; NBC's Olympics producer at the time was friends with the musician. Although NBC did not use it during the Games, the song later became NBC's theme music for
USGA
The United States Golf Association (USGA) is the United States national association of golf courses, clubs and facilities and the governing body of golf for the U.S. and Mexico. Together with The R&A, the USGA produces and interprets the rules ...
golf
Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible.
Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...
championships, and
The Open Championship
The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later t ...
from 2016 to 2019.
During the
2008 Summer Olympics
The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nat ...
, NBC briefly revived "
Roundball Rock
"Roundball Rock" is a musical score composed by John Tesh and used for '' The NBA on NBC'' from 1990 until 2002. NBC played the theme 12,000 times during their run. Tesh came up with the melody while at a hotel and called his answering machine ...
", the
John Tesh
John Frank Tesh (born July 9, 1952) is an American pianist and composer of pop music, as well as a radio host and television presenter. He hosts the ''Intelligence for Your Life'' radio show. In addition, since 2014, he has hosted ''Intelligen ...
-composed theme music of the former ''
NBA on NBC'', as theme music during coverage of the
basketball tournaments.
NBC has utilized other
popular music
Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Fu ...
during its Olympics coverage as well. "
Home
A home, or domicile, is a space used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for one or many humans, and sometimes various companion animals. It is a fully or semi sheltered space and can have both interior and exterior aspects to it. ...
", the debut single of ''
American Idol
''American Idol'' is an American singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It aired on Fox from June 11, 2002, to ...
''
season 11 winner
Phillip Phillips, was used for a segment introducing women's gymnastics at the
2012 Summer Olympics
The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, th ...
. The segment rejuvenated interest in the song, causing it to re-enter the
''Billboard'' Hot 100, and eventually peak at #9. It marked the first time a song had ever made two separate top 10 runs on the Hot 100 in a single calendar year.
Prior to the 2016 Summer Olympics, NBC released a promotional video with Olympics highlights set to
Katy Perry
Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson (born October 25, 1984), known professionally as Katy Perry, is an American singer, songwriter, and television personality. Known for her influence on modern pop music and her campy style, she has been referred to ...
's recently released single "
Rise
Rise or RISE may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional entities
* '' Rise: The Vieneo Province'', an internet-based virtual world
* Rise FM, a fictional radio station in the video game ''Grand Theft Auto 3''
* Rise Kujikawa, a vide ...
".
"
This Is Me
This Is Me may refer to:
Albums
* ''This Is Me'' (Charlie McDonnell album), 2010
* ''This Is Me'' (Heather Peace album), 2010
* ''This Is Me'' (Jully Black album), or the title song, 2005
* ''This Is Me'' (Kierra Sheard album), or the titl ...
" from the soundtrack of ''
The Greatest Showman
''The Greatest Showman'' is a 2017 American biographical musical drama film directed by Michael Gracey in his directorial debut, written by Jenny Bicks and Bill Condon and starring Hugh Jackman, Zac Efron, Michelle Williams, Rebecca Ferguson, ...
'' was also used during NBC's coverage of the
2018 Winter Olympics
, nations = 93
, athletes = 2,922 (1,680 men and 1,242 women)
, events = 102 in 7 sports (15 disciplines)
, opening =
, closing =
, opened_by = President Moon Jae-in
, cauldron = Kim Yun-a
, stadium = Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium
, wint ...
.
For the 1992 Barcelona Games, NBC also commissioned John Tesh to compose a separate theme for its late night show; variants of this theme were used during the weeks leading up to the Games as the network's theme for coverage of the
United States Olympic Trials.
Criticism
Accusations of bias
While every respective country's broadcast is biased towards the home athletes to a certain extent, NBC has faced scrutiny for allegedly focusing more on American athletes and less on other athletes from other countries, especially during the network's tape delayed primetime coverage. This has proven to be unfounded and indeed NBC has been considered more inclusive of other countries' athletes than other countries' Olympic broadcasters. NBC's focus on U.S. athletes has been the subject of a series of studies which have shown NBC places a heavier emphasis on U.S. athletes during the Summer Games than during the Winter Games. When the NBC 2014 primetime Olympic broadcast was compared to those broadcast in Canada by the
CBC, it was determined that CBC placed more emphasis, by a statistically significant margin, on Canadian athletes than NBC placed on U.S. athletes. Furthermore, such countries as Russia (broadcasters
Channel One and
Match TV
Match TV (russian: Матч ТВ) is a Russian federal sports channel owned by Gazprom Media.
The channel began broadcasting on November 1, 2015 and was created in accordance with the order of Russian president Vladimir Putin, with the assista ...
), focus solely on its own athletes, ignoring events where they do not participate.
By contrast, NBC often devotes considerable coverage to favorite foreigners such as
Usain Bolt
Usain St. Leo Bolt, , (; born 21 August 1986) is a retired Jamaican sprinter, widely considered to be the greatest sprinter of all time. He is the world record holder in the 100 metres, 200 metres, and 4 × 100 metres relay.
An eight-ti ...
.
Tape delay and formatting of coverage
NBC's tape delayed primetime coverage has faced major criticism for many years. Unlike live coverage where viewers can see the events uninterrupted in real time, NBC's tape delaying practices allow for cutting away to commercials and inserting segments profiling American athletes participating in the respective event being shown, which adds even further delay. In 1992, Terry O'Neil, then-executive producer of NBC Sports, coined the phrase "plausibly live" to describe their practice of making the taped broadcasts appear as if they were being aired live.
During the
2000 Summer Olympics
The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 ( Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from ...
, every event shown on NBC and its cable channels was shown on a tape delay due to the time difference between the United States and
Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mounta ...
,
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...
, with the exception of the
Men's Gold Medal basketball game. The massive tape delay led to heavy criticism, as some events aired some 16 hours after they were completed, which gave would-be viewers more than enough time to learn the results themselves from competing outlets (including, ironically, NBC's morning show ''
Today
Today (archaically to-day) may refer to:
* Day of the present, the time that is perceived directly, often called ''now''
* Current era, present
* The current calendar date
Arts, entertainment, and media Films
* ''Today'' (1930 film), a 1930 ...
''). Indeed, early numbers showed Sydney to be one of the lowest-rated Olympics in the United States since
Mexico City in 1968, and 21% lower than
1988
File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Bicenten ...
—the next most recent games to have been held in late-September rather than July and August. Due to the scheduling, the Games also had to compete with a busy period for domestic sports, including the start of the
NFL and
college football
College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football in the United States, American football rules first gained populari ...
seasons (a ''
Monday Night Football
''ESPN Monday Night Football'' (abbreviated as ''MNF'' and also known as ''ESPN Monday Night Football on ABC'' for simulcasts) is an American live television broadcast of weekly National Football League (NFL) games currently airing on ESPN, ...
'' game was only barely beaten by Olympics coverage one night), and the final weeks of the
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (A ...
regular season.
Because of these tape delay and editing practices, and NBC Sports executives' responses to these criticisms, they have been accused of treating the Olympics more like
reality television
Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1 ...
, as opposed to a conventional telecast of sports.
For example, during the
2012 Summer Olympics
The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, th ...
, NBC Sports chairman Mark Lazarus stated that the reason why they cut from their primetime coverage of Russia's
Ksenia Afanasyeva
Ksenia Dmitrievna Afanasyeva (russian: Ксения Дмитриевна Афанасьева; born 13 September 1991) is a retired Russian artistic gymnast who competed at the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics. She is the 2011 world champion on flo ...
's fall during the
women's gymnastics artistic team all-around was "in the interest of time". However, ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' noted that Afanasyeva's entire routine was only 1 minute and 38 seconds long, and critics claimed that the real reason for the edit was to create drama and uncertainty over whether the U.S. team would defeat the Russian team in the final round.
And during the
2014 Winter Olympics
, ''Zharkie. Zimnie. Tvoi'')
, nations = 88
, events = 98 in 7 sports (15 disciplines)
, athletes = 2,873
, opening = 7 February 2014
, closing = 23 February 2014
, opened_by = President Vladimir Putin
, cauldron =
, stadium = Fisht Olympi ...
, NBC continued to promote for its primetime coverage Russian figure skater
Evgeni Plushenko
Evgeni Viktorovich Plushenko (, born 3 November 1982) is a Russian former figure skater. He is a four-time Olympic medalist (2006 gold, 2014 team gold, 2002 & 2010 silver), a three-time World champion (2001, 2003, 2004), a seven-time European ...
at the
men's singles event even though he had to withdraw hours earlier due to injury.
During a press event held before the
2016 Summer Olympics
)
, nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams)
, athletes = 11,238
, events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines)
, opening = 5 August 2016
, closing = 21 August 2016
, opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer
, cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro de ...
, chief marketing officer
John Miller addressed the formatting of its primetime coverage, stating that the Olympics were "not about the result,
utabout the journey. The people who watch the Olympics are not particularly sports fans. More women watch the Games than men, and for the women, they're less interested in the result and more interested in the journey. It's sort of like the ultimate
reality show
Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...
and
mini-series
A miniseries or mini-series is a television series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. "Limited series" is another more recent US term which is sometimes used interchangeably. , the popularity of miniseries format ...
wrapped into one."
Miller's remarks were ridiculed by the media: Linda Stasi of the ''
New York Daily News
The New York ''Daily News'', officially titled the ''Daily News'', is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, NJ. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in ...
'' considered Miller's statement to be "sexist nonsense" and representative of a "pandering, condescending view of the millions of women viewers".
Sally Jenkins of ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...
'' said that NBC had often been successful with its "packaging" of the Olympics, and that it was "not inherently sexist for them to say that women have some different viewing habits and interests than men". At the same time, she argued that it was "insulting" for NBC to cater its tape delayed broadcasts towards a "''
Ladies' Home Journal
''Ladies' Home Journal'' was an American magazine last published by the Meredith Corporation. It was first published on February 16, 1883, and eventually became one of the leading women's magazines of the 20th century in the United States. In ...
'' crowd", as it alienates conventional sports fans, and harmed the ability to grow a year-round audience for both women's sports and Olympic sports.
In an interview with ''
Slate
Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...
'', former NBC personality
Dwight Stones
Dwight Edwin Stones (born December 6, 1953) is an American television commentator and a two-time Olympic bronze medalist and former three-time world record holder in the men's high jump. During his 16-year career, he won 19 national championship ...
stated that he had left the network due to a history of conflicts with producers over the direction of its track and field coverage. In particular, Stones stated that NBC's producers had downplayed field events because track events were easier to "package" due to being more consistent in their structure. He went on to argue that "Field is 50 percent of the name and 43 percent of the events. And for it to be ignored and belittled the way it has been at the network of the Olympics for the United States through 2032 is a disgrace and a disservice. And I don't see it changing anytime soon with the people that are running that place and the people that are producing the sport."
Reeves Wiedman of ''
The New Yorker
''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
'' argued that NBC's style of coverage focuses too much on the athletes as characters, rather than on the technical aspects of sports that are not typically prominent on U.S. television outside of the Olympics. In particular, he explained that coverage of gymnastics was "hindered by an outdated image of gymnasts as teen-age pixies bouncing around the screen" and "encourages us to look at swimmers as some of the world's premier athletes, and the gymnasts as the world's most coordinated beauty-pageant contestants". Wiedman added that "the idea that viewers staying up late into the night to watch a sport they barely understand have little interest in learning more about it seems wrong-headed", and that "only a very small number of Americans can tell the difference between a
Produnova
The handspring double salto forward tucked, known as a Produnova in women's artistic gymnastics and a Roche in men's artistic gymnastics, is a vault consisting of a front handspring onto the vaulting horse and two front somersaults in a tucked p ...
and an
Amânar" or know that coaches "pore over the
IFG.html" ;"title="International Federation of Gymnastics">IFG">International Federation of Gymnastics">IFG/nowiki> Code with the same zeal that Bill Belichick
William Stephen Belichick (; born April 16, 1952) is an American professional football coach who is the head coach of the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL). Additionally, he exercises extensive authority over the Patri ...
, the New England Patriots
The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...
' head coach, scours the NFL rule book for trick formations that push up against the boundary of the sport's regulation".
Geoff Baker of ''The Seattle Times
''The Seattle Times'' is a daily newspaper serving Seattle, Washington, United States. It was founded in 1891 and has been owned by the Blethen family since 1896. ''The Seattle Times'' has the largest circulation of any newspaper in Washington ...
'' described NBC's coverage this way:
On the other hand, under NBC's influence, some marquee events have been deliberately scheduled to allow live broadcasts in U.S. primetime, regardless of the local time where the Games are actually held. This has been apparent in Olympics held in Asia-Pacific countries, where marquee events such as swimming (in 2008 and 2020) and figure skating (in 2018 and 2022) were held in the morning rather than the evening. Athletes were required to adjust to these changes, especially if they practiced in the morning, while the scheduling of swimming in 2008 drew the ire of the BBC—as they fell in the early-morning hours in the United Kingdom. Some events at the 2016 Summer Olympics
)
, nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams)
, athletes = 11,238
, events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines)
, opening = 5 August 2016
, closing = 21 August 2016
, opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer
, cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro de ...
in Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...
were scheduled as late as 11:00 p.m. or midnight Brasília Time
Time in Brazil is calculated using standard time, and the country (including its offshore islands) is divided into four standard time zones: UTC−02:00, UTC−03:00, UTC−04:00 and UTC−05:00.
Time zones
Fernando de Noronha time (UTC− ...
(which is an hour ahead of Eastern time), to accommodate both NBC and Rede Globo
TV Globo (, "Globe TV", or simply Globo), formerly known as Rede Globo, is a Brazilian free-to-air television network, launched by media proprietor Roberto Marinho on 26 April 1965. It is owned by media conglomerate Grupo Globo. The TV stati ...
—the main Brazilian rightsholder. Globo had deliberately chosen not to preempt its primetime telenovela
A telenovela is a type of a television serial drama or soap opera produced primarily in Latin America. The word combines ''tele'' (for "television") and ''novela'' (meaning "novel"). Similar drama genres around the world include '' teleserye'' ...
lineup during the Olympics, as they are the highest-rated programs on Brazilian television.
2010 Winter Olympics
Although the 2010 Winter Olympics
)''
, nations = 82
, athletes = 2,626
, events = 86 in 7 sports (15 disciplines)
, opening = February 12, 2010
, closing = February 28, 2010
, opened_by = Governor General Michaëlle Jean
, cauldron = Catriona Le May DoanNancy Greene Wayne G ...
were being held in Vancouver
Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. ...
—located in the Pacific Time Zone
The Pacific Time Zone (PT) is a time zone encompassing parts of western Canada, the western United States, and western Mexico. Places in this zone observe standard time by subtracting eight hours from Coordinated Universal Time ( UTC−08:00 ...
, which is three hours behind the Eastern Time Zone
The Eastern Time Zone (ET) is a time zone encompassing part or all of 23 states in the eastern part of the United States, parts of eastern Canada, the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico, Panama, Colombia, mainland Ecuador, Peru, and a smal ...
, as previously done with their Olympic coverage, NBC delayed the broadcast of high-profile events held during the day to air in prime time. As a result, almost none of the popular alpine events were shown live. NBC executives explained that this was done because of the higher viewership
Audience measurement measures how many people are in an audience, usually in relation to radio listenership and television viewership, but also in relation to newspaper and magazine readership and, increasingly, web traffic on websites. Sometim ...
with coverage in the evening hours. Nevertheless, the 2010 Winter Olympics were assumed to be a financial disaster for NBC, as the network was expected to lose about $200 million after overpaying for the broadcasting rights.[ ]
This tape delay practice, even for major events, became increasingly frustrating with viewers, especially with the increased usage of social networking
A social network is a social structure made up of a set of social actors (such as individuals or organizations), sets of dyadic ties, and other social interactions between actors. The social network perspective provides a set of methods for ...
and websites (including the official Vancouver 2010 site and NBC's Olympic website) posting results in real time. This especially held true for viewers in the Pacific
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...
, Mountain
A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher ...
, Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...
and Alaska Time Zone
The Alaska Time Zone observes standard time by subtracting nine hours from Coordinated Universal Time ( UTC−09:00). During daylight saving time its time offset is eight hours ( UTC−08:00). The clock time in this zone is based on mean solar ...
s, where events were delayed even further by three to six hours or more. The usage of tape delays were particularly frustrating for those in the Pacific Time Zone, as Vancouver not only lies in that time zone, but is in extremely close proximity to the United States – just north of the United States border (with Vancouver being an approximately 2½-hour drive from Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region o ...
). As a result, NBC was just beginning its coverage of the games at 7:30 p.m. Pacific Time in Seattle (over NBC affiliate KING-TV
KING-TV (channel 5) is a television station in Seattle, Washington, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by Tegna Inc. alongside Everett-licensed independent station KONG (channel 16). Both stations share studios at the Home Plate ...
), while the actual ceremony was deep into the artistic portion of the event.
As a result, these practices spurred outrage from viewers and media analysts voicing their opinions on the internet and even raising concerns from politicians. This controversy came mere days following the controversial resolution of the 2010 ''Tonight Show'' host and timeslot conflict, which further damaged NBC's already broken image.
In the past, American viewers who lived close to the Canada–US border were able to get around waiting for NBC to air an event by watching Olympic coverage on CBC Television
CBC Television (also known as CBC TV) is a Canadian English-language broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster. The network began operations on September 6, 1952. Its French- ...
. However, rights to the 2010 games in Canada moved over to CTV
CTV may refer to:
Television
* Connected TV, or Smart TV, a TV set with integrated internet
North America and South America
* CTV Television Network, a Canadian television network owned by Bell Media
** CTV 2, a secondary Canadian televisio ...
, which was not available on many cable systems in the northern U.S. due to programming redundancies during primetime between CTV and the American broadcast networks.
2012 Summer Olympics
At the 2012 Summer Olympics
The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, th ...
, NBC offered live streaming coverage on its Olympics website through a partnership with YouTube
YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
, which provided the opportunity to see all events live. NBC also used a mixture of live and tape delayed coverage for its television broadcast due to London being five hours ahead of the Eastern Time Zone
The Eastern Time Zone (ET) is a time zone encompassing part or all of 23 states in the eastern part of the United States, parts of eastern Canada, the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico, Panama, Colombia, mainland Ecuador, Peru, and a smal ...
. Events contested earlier in the day were able to be shown live on one of the NBCUniversal-owned cable networks. However, events that traditionally draw better ratings, such as swimming, artistic gymnastics, and track and field, were still tape delayed and aired during prime time on NBC. Those events drew their traditionally high ratings, but arguments were lodged about not having the option to watch these events live on television.
Furthermore, members of the U.S. Military were forced to watch the delayed NBC feed despite being within a few hours of the time zones of the event. American Forces Network
The American Forces Network (AFN) is a government television and radio broadcast service the U.S. military provides to those stationed or assigned overseas. Headquartered at Fort George G. Meade, Maryland, AFN's broadcast operations, which ...
was contractually hindered by Department of Defense Department of Defence or Department of Defense may refer to:
Current departments of defence
* Department of Defence (Australia)
* Department of National Defence (Canada)
* Department of Defence (Ireland)
* Department of National Defense (Philipp ...
regulations only allowing American feeds of broadcasts to ensure a feel of the broadcast that could be had in the U.S. Additionally, AFN had an agreement with the International Olympic Committee and NBC to only use NBC feeds of the event. Many soldiers in Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
felt slighted by the delays, given comparable local country stations aired the Olympics live on public television feeds as some events aired late at night or early in the morning on AFN.
In a Gallup Poll
Gallup, Inc. is an American analytics and advisory company based in Washington, D.C. Founded by George Gallup in 1935, the company became known for its public opinion polls conducted worldwide. Starting in the 1980s, Gallup transitioned its ...
held during the 2012 Olympics, many indicated that they did not mind the tape delaying for the nighttime window. However, the complaint lodged by the subjects in the poll was that NBC should show the events live on one of their networks, as well as show it in prime time on NBC.
2014 Winter Olympics
For its coverage of the 2014 Winter Olympics
, ''Zharkie. Zimnie. Tvoi'')
, nations = 88
, events = 98 in 7 sports (15 disciplines)
, athletes = 2,873
, opening = 7 February 2014
, closing = 23 February 2014
, opened_by = President Vladimir Putin
, cauldron =
, stadium = Fisht Olympi ...
, NBC streamed every competition live. However, only existing cable and satellite customers, subscribing to packages that include NBC's sister cable networks could access the service. The Canadian Press
The Canadian Press (CP; french: La Presse canadienne, ) is a Canadian national news agency headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. Established in 1917 as a vehicle for the time's Canadian newspapers to exchange news and information, The Canadian Pre ...
reported that frustrated viewers were purchasing VPN
A virtual private network (VPN) extends a private network across a public network and enables users to send and receive data across shared or public networks as if their computing devices were directly connected to the private network. The be ...
services to access Canadian IP address
An Internet Protocol address (IP address) is a numerical label such as that is connected to a computer network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication.. Updated by . An IP address serves two main functions: network interface ident ...
es so they could stream CBC Sports
CBC Sports is the division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for English-language sports broadcasting. The CBC's sports programming primarily airs on CBC Television, CBCSports.ca, and CBC Radio One. (The CBC's French-langu ...
' live coverage instead (which is normally free for those in Canada).
This time, some events that traditionally draw higher ratings were first aired live on one of NBC's sister cable networks (such as NBCSN), and then a tape delayed version was broadcast on NBC in primetime. For coverage of the popular figure skating events, there were two sets of commentators: Terry Gannon
Terrance Patrick Gannon (born November 1, 1963, in Joliet, Illinois) is a sportscaster for NBC Sports and the Golf Channel, currently announcing golf, gymnastics, and figure skating.
Gannon played basketball for North Carolina State University ...
, Tara Lipinski
Tara Kristen Lipinski (born June 10, 1982) is an American former competitive figure skater, actress, sports commentator and documentary film producer. A former competitor in women's singles, she is the 1998 Olympic champion, the 1997 World ...
and Johnny Weir
John Garvin Weir (; born July 2, 1984) is an American figure skater and television commentator. He is a two-time Olympian (representing the United States in the 2006 and 2010 Winter Olympics, respectively), the 2008 World bronze medalist, a t ...
announced NBCSN's live broadcast; and Tom Hammond
Thomas Taylor Hammond (born May 10, 1944) is an American sportscaster. Hammond is primarily known for his work with NBC Sports from 1984 to the present. Hammond is one of the network's staple on-air presenters, along with Bob Costas and Dan Hic ...
, Scott Hamilton and Sandra Bezic
Sandra Marie Bezic (born April 6, 1956) is a Canadian pair skater, figure skating choreographer, and television commentator. With her brother Val Bezic, she won the Canadian Figure Skating Championships from 1970 to 1974 and placed ninth at the 1 ...
anchored the tape delayed coverage on NBC. Invariably, comparisons were made between the two announcing teams; the NBCSN team of Weir and Lipinski received critical acclaim, and were ultimately named NBC's lead commentary team for figure skating later that year.
NBC was criticized over the way its tape delayed primetime coverage handled the news of Russian figure skater Evgeni Plushenko
Evgeni Viktorovich Plushenko (, born 3 November 1982) is a Russian former figure skater. He is a four-time Olympic medalist (2006 gold, 2014 team gold, 2002 & 2010 silver), a three-time World champion (2001, 2003, 2004), a seven-time European ...
's withdrawal from competition due to injury. Hours after he announced his withdrawal, NBC continued to air promotions for its primetime show still stating that he would skate in the event.
2016 Summer Olympics
''Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' specifically criticized NBC for its tape delay practices in regards to the Women's artistic team all-round competition in its primetime broadcast, having effectively relegated most of the competition to air past 11:00 p.m. ET/PT, barring a short portion focusing on the vault and uneven bars events at the top of the primetime broadcast, in favor of the swimming competitions of the night. It was noted that "in the midst of a highly anticipated story that had already been ruined for many viewers via the Internet, it felt egregious to push the biggest story of the night to past 11 p.m.", and that NBC was trying to "juice the numbers" by doing so.
2018 Winter Olympics
On March 28, 2017, NBC announced that it would air live coverage in primetime for the 2018 Winter Olympics across all time zones, citing the "communal experience" and the ubiquity of social media as justification for this change.
The Asian American Journalists Association
The Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit educational and professional organization based in San Francisco, California with more than 1,500 members and 21 chapters across the United States and Asia. The current presi ...
, among other Asian groups, has criticized NBC for officially having its announcers deliberately use an incorrect pronunciation of the host city Pyeongchang
Pyeongchang (; in full, ''Pyeongchang-gun'' ; ) is a county in the province of Gangwon-do, South Korea, located in the Taebaek Mountains region. It is home to several Buddhist temples, including Woljeongsa. It is about east southeast of Se ...
(by pronouncing the "-chang" like "bang" instead of correctly saying it like "chong") because, according to Mark Lazarus, chairman of NBC Broadcasting and Sports, this incorrect pronunciation is "cleaner".
The top anchors of NBC News
NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, a division of NBCUniversal, which is, in turn, a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's v ...
were also sent to cover the Olympics, which meant that they were unable to cover the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting
On February 14, 2018, 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz opened fire on students and staff at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in the Miami suburban town of Parkland, Florida, murdering 17 people and injuring 17 others. Cruz, a former student at ...
in Parkland, Florida
Parkland is a suburban city, 42 miles northwest of Miami, in northern Broward County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of Parkland was 34,670. Parkland is part of the Miami metropolitan area, which was home to 6,166 ...
which occurred on February 14. Therefore, while rivals ABC News
ABC News is the news division of the American broadcast network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast '' ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include morning news-talk show '' Good Morning America'', '' ...
, CBS News
CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio service CBS. CBS News television programs include the '' CBS Evening News'', '' CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs '' CBS News Sunday Morning'', '' 60 Minutes'', and '' 4 ...
, CNN and Fox News
The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is o ...
were able to send their top anchors and reporters on-site to cover this domestic breaking news story, NBC News had to send relatively unknown reporters to cover the shooting.
2020 Summer Olympics
In its handling of Simone Biles
Simone Arianne Biles (; born March 14, 1997) is an American artistic gymnast. Her seven Olympic medals tied with Shannon Miller for the most Olympic medals won by an American gymnast. Having won 25 World Championship medals, she is the most de ...
' withdrawal from the Women's artistic team all-around final, NBC's morning show ''Today'' discussed the event but was not allowed to show video footage, and the event was shown as-live during NBC's primetime broadcast. ''Slate'' argued that since the network had intensely emphasized Biles during its promotion of the Games, it was "a bit rich for NBC to report on the psychological pressures faced by Biles without also reflecting on the ways in which its choice to make Tokyo the Simone Games surely intensified those pressures", and that "by rejecting the network’s laurels and proceeding on her own terms, Biles is finally writing her own story." Biles's actions were praised and compared to that of other nations' athletes (especially China's) who are "over-determined" to win at any cost. Biles, on the other hand, showcased that the new U.S. approach to the Olympics is focused on athletes' well-being rather than only winning.
Opening and closing ceremonies
NBC has repeatedly received criticism for how it broadcasts the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympics, including its frequent refusals to broadcast them live in any form (including online stream) until Tokyo 2020, citing the requirement to add "context" to the telecasts, the removal of ceremony content from these tape delayed broadcasts, as well as the quality of their on-air commentary.
2010 closing ceremony
During the closing ceremony of the 2010 Winter Olympics, NBC went into an intermission of coverage at the end of the cultural section at 10:30 p.m. ET to broadcast the premiere episode of '' The Marriage Ref'', and broadcast the remaining portion of the ceremonies on tape delay at 11:35 p.m. after late local newscasts. This spawned outbursts from upset viewers, especially on Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
.
During the remaining portion after the "intermission," several performances were also cut, including French Canadian
French Canadians (referred to as Canadiens mainly before the twentieth century; french: Canadiens français, ; feminine form: , ), or Franco-Canadians (french: Franco-Canadiens), refers to either an ethnic group who trace their ancestry to Fren ...
singer Garou's performance of Jean-Pierre Ferland
Jean-Pierre Ferland, (born June 24, 1934, in Montreal, Quebec) is a Canadian singer and songwriter.
Life and career
Ferland began work with Radio-Canada in 1956 as an accountant, but his career there was short lived. Shortly after, he began ...
's "Un peu plus haut, un peu plus loin"; three minutes of commercials were shown in place of his performance.
2012 opening ceremony
NBC faced a barrage of criticism following its broadcast of the 2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony
The opening ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics took place on the evening of Friday 27 July 2012 in the Olympic Stadium, London, during which the Games were formally opened by Queen Elizabeth II. As mandated by the Olympic Charter, the pr ...
. British news media lambasted NBC's decision to cut a tribute to the victims of the July 7, 2005 London bombings. NBC spokesman Greg Hughes said:
The commentary – particularly that of Meredith Vieira
Meredith Louise Vieira (born December 30, 1953) is an American broadcast journalist and television personality. She is best known as the original moderator of the daytime talk show '' The View'' (1997–2006), the original host of the syndicated ...
and Matt Lauer
Matthew Todd Lauer (; born December 30, 1957) is an American former television news personality, best known for his work with NBC News. After serving as a local news personality in New York City on WNBC, his first national exposure was as the ne ...
– was also criticized as "ignorant" and "banal". They admitted to not knowing who World Wide Web
The World Wide Web (WWW), commonly known as the Web, is an information system enabling documents and other web resources to be accessed over the Internet.
Documents and downloadable media are made available to the network through web se ...
inventor Sir Tim Berners-Lee
Sir Timothy John Berners-Lee (born 8 June 1955), also known as TimBL, is an English computer scientist best known as the inventor of the World Wide Web. He is a Professorial Fellow of Computer Science at the University of Oxford and a profess ...
was, mistakenly claimed that the actual Queen of the United Kingdom
The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the constitutional form of government by which a hereditary sovereign reigns as the head of state of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies (the Bailiwi ...
had parachuted into the stadium with James Bond
The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...
(as opposed to a body double
In filmmaking, a double is a person who substitutes FOR another actor such that the person's face is not shown. There are various terms associated with a double based on the specific body part or ability they serve as a double for, such as stunt ...
), and described Madagascar
Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...
as "a country associated with a few animated movies". Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...
was introduced as a former penal colony
A penal colony or exile colony is a settlement used to exile prisoners and separate them from the general population by placing them in a remote location, often an island or distant colonial territory. Although the term can be used to refer to ...
, and a joke about the former despotic dictator, Idi Amin
Idi Amin Dada Oumee (, ; 16 August 2003) was a Ugandan military officer and politician who served as the third president of Uganda from 1971 to 1979. He ruled as a military dictator and is considered one of the most brutal despots in modern w ...
, was used to describe Uganda
}), is a landlocked country in East Africa
East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...
by Bob Costas. Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...
was introduced with comments about the March 2012 incident at the H.H. The Amir of Kuwait International Shooting Grand Prix in Kuwait
Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...
, in which the mock Kazakhstan anthem from the film ''Borat
''Borat! Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan'' (Kazakh language, Kazakh / Russian language, Russian: ''Борат'') (also stylized as ''BORДT'', or simply ''Borat'') is a 2006 mockumentary black come ...
'' was mistakenly played for gold medallist Maria Dmitrenko, and another Eastern European country introduced as having no chance of winning medals in that year's Olympics.
NBC also found itself on the defensive over its tape delayed broadcast of the Opening Ceremony. American viewers took to Twitter to express their dismay at having to wait 3½ hours (6½ hours in the Pacific Time Zone) to see the opening event of the London Olympics. Most of the Twitter posts centered around NBC not offering online streaming of the Opening Ceremonies for U.S. viewers who wanted to watch the event live. Americans were forced to watch online streams of the ceremonies provided by either the BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
if they elected to watch it live. These failings were picked up during the NBC broadcast by Twitter users with the
#nbcfail.
NBC spokesman Christopher McCloskey said:
Despite these issues, the Nielsen ratings for the coverage set a record for an Olympics held outside of the United States. The ceremonies drew a 23.0 rating, which was a 7% increase over the 2008 Opening Ceremony in Beijing.
outlets like Twitter, NBC made a last-minute decision to reverse course and stream the closing ceremony live on NBCOlympics.com. However, when it aired on television, the ceremony was heavily edited for time. The ceremony in London lasted three hours, eight minutes and ten seconds; NBC's broadcast of the closing ceremony, by comparison, featured more than 51 minutes and 23 seconds of cuts – 27% of the entire closing ceremony, including the medal ceremony for the men's marathon, a tribute thanking the Olympic volunteers, a ballet sequence featuring
that accompanied the extinguishing of the Olympic flame, and musical performances by
.
'' and late local newscasts. Again, American viewers expressed their dismay using social media.
'' in September 2012: "So here is the balance NBC has to consider: The Who, ''Animal Practice.''
. I'm sure you'd be the first to attest,
".
, and refused to broadcast it live on any platform. NBC Sports chairman Mark Lazarus explained that the delay was so they could "put context to it, with the full pageantry it deserves".
NBC's most significant cuts included the removal of the taking of the Olympic oaths, and an entire passage discussing discrimination and equality was removed from IOC President
's speech.
Like in 2012, NBC streamed the closing ceremony in Sochi live on NBCOlympics.com, but also cut several portions during its tape delayed primetime telecast. This time, NBC decided against interrupting its coverage midway through the ceremony like it did in 2010 and 2012, and instead aired its scheduled sneak preview episode of the sitcom ''
'' after the broadcast at 10:30 p.m. Eastern Time. However, that meant that NBC only scheduled a two-hour window for their tape delayed coverage of the ceremony, between a 90-minute documentary on
that aired from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. Eastern, and the ''Growing Up Fisher'' preview.
would feature more live coverage than previous years due to the fact that it occurred in a location that is only one hour ahead of the
. It began at 7:00 p.m. ET, but was delayed to 8:00 p.m. ET/PT for the U.S. audience, resulting in the ceremony airing on an hour delay on the east coast, and a four-hour delay on the west. NBC cited a need to provide "context" for the ceremony's contents, as the network viewed the opening ceremony to be an entertainment event rather than sports content.
NBC was ultimately criticized for this tape delay, as well as the large amount of advertising it aired (which the ''
'' calculated that it had aired six breaks amounting to 14 minutes of commercials in the first 40 minutes of the ceremony alone.
Unlike in 2012, viewership for the opening ceremonies via NBC went down to an average of 19.5 million viewers between 8 and 11 PM, a 32% decrease.
in Rio was also tape delayed to 8:00 p.m. ET/PT, preceded by an hour-long recap show (''Rio Gold''). Similarly to Sochi, the closing ceremony's lead-out—a preview of the
'', aired at 10:30 p.m.
At least 38% of the ceremony was cut from the NBC broadcast, including portions of the entry of athletes (although ''
'' noted that this portion took "a really, really long time"), a three-minute long montage of highlights from the Games, the medal presentation for the Men's marathon (despite American athlete
having won a bronze medal in the event), the inauguration of new IOC members, and a speech by organizing committee president
.
For the first time, NBC announced that it planned to offer a live stream of the opening ceremony. Mark Lazarus cited the ongoing criticism of NBC's decisions to tape delay the ceremonies, as well as changing "consumer behavior", as justification for the decision; Pyeongchang is 14 hours ahead of U.S. Eastern Time. The NBC network, however, also carried its traditional tape delayed broadcast in primetime, without any additional tape delays to other time zones west of Eastern Time.
During the parade of nations, NBC commentator
that has been so important to their own transformation." The statement received immediate backlash in South Korea for being insensitive and ignorant to the
. NBC issued an apology and Cooper Ramo resigned.
Like its previous coverage, NBC had a live stream of the closing ceremony without any commentary, and then its traditional tape delayed coverage in primetime, without additional tape delays to the other time zones west of Eastern Time.
In January 2020, NBC announced that it planned to stream the ceremonies of the 2020 Summer Olympics live on
. On February 10, 2021, NBC announced that it would televise the opening ceremony live on broadcast television in all U.S. time zones, along with primetime encores. NBC stated that "following the unprecedented challenges presented by the global pandemic, the world will come together in Tokyo for what could be the most meaningful and anticipated Opening Ceremony ever. Given the magnitude of this event, we want to provide viewers with as many ways to connect to it as possible, live or in primetime."
In late 2021, NBC announced that like the Tokyo Summer Games, it would air the opening ceremony of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics live on NBC on the morning of February 4, 2022 with a replay of the ceremony in primetime as well. NBC's broadcast of the opening ceremony was criticized as taking a "both-sides approach" to the issue of the alleged human rights abuses in China.
being a breakthrough games for international media coverage, helping significantly boost overall audience shares for British broadcaster
, no Paralympics events were shown live on television in the United States. International Paralympic Committee President
criticized North American broadcasters, and NBC specifically, for having fallen behind the times and said that the
would scrutinize its broadcast partners more carefully in the future. "If the values fit, we've got a chance. If they don't we'll go somewhere else," he said.
In September 2013, NBC subsequently acquired the rights to the
Paralympics, and announced plans to air a combined 116 hours of coverage from both Games. Craven praised NBC's decision to devote a relatively larger amount of airtime to future Paralympics, sharing his hope that U.S. audiences would be "as captivated and emotionally enthralled as the billions around the world who tuned in to London 2012 last summer."
. During the post-event interview, as Miller became increasingly emotional, Cooper repeatedly questioned him about his late brother Chelone, who had died the previous April at the age of 29, until Miller broke down in tears and was unable to continue the interview. For her pressing of the issue, Cooper was described as having badgered Miller. NBC also received criticism for keeping the cameras on Miller, who sagged on the railing and cried without speaking, for more than a full minute, despite having had several hours in which to edit the footage before airing it.
his fans should "be gentle" with Cooper, as it was "not at all her fault," and "she asked the questions every interviewer would have." The following morning on ''Today'', Miller reiterated his support for Cooper, saying, "I have known Christin a long time, and she's a sweetheart of a person. I know she didn't mean to push. I don't think she really anticipated what my reaction was going to be, and I think by the time she realized it, it was too late. I don't blame her at all."
, who had been filling in for Bob Costas while the latter was ill, had engaged in inappropriate and unwanted sexual behavior with subordinates during the Games. This was one of the factors that led to his termination from NBC on November 29, 2017.
—the sanctioning body of boxing at the Olympics. He cited limited coverage as part of NBC's televised broadcasts, as well as the network's refusal to invite him back, after having called out questionable officiating during a controversial bout between
in 2012. The next day, it was reported that AIBA would remove several referees and judges from the competition under suspicion that they were not making decisions "at the levels expected".
As Hungarian swimmer
won a gold medal and broke a world record during the 400-meter individual medley,
credited a man as responsible for breaking the world record and winning the gold medal. There was no reference to who the "man" was, although some on social media angrily speculated that Hicks was alluding to
's then-husband, Shane Tusup (who was also the coach of the Hungarian Swimming Team). The comment from Hicks was criticized as sexist. Hicks later said "It is impossible to tell Katinka's story accurately without giving appropriate credit to Shane, and that's what I was trying to do." He also added that "with live TV, there are often times you look back and wished you had said things differently." The next day,
. On air, Trautwig stated that Ron Biles and Nellie Biles are Simone's grandparents that adopted her and her sister in 2001. Later on, Trautwig tweeted that Ron and Nellie were actually her parents, to which fans on Twitter started the hashtag, #FireTrautwig. Trautwig later apologized, stating "I regret that I wasn't more clear in my wording on the air. I compounded the error on Twitter, which I quickly corrected. To set the record straight, Ron and Nellie are Simone's parents."
On August 9, some viewers became upset on Twitter after commentator Cynthia Potter failed to mention that British diver
was a well known gay athlete, as Potter was focused on the replays. NBC later made a statement to ''
'' that "with more than 11,000 athletes at the Games, it isn't always possible to identify every competitor's significant other, regardless of their sexual orientation." Later, the partner of Brazilian volleyball player
, Liliane Maestrini, was referred to by commentator Chris Marlowe as her "husband". It led to confusion and dismay for some viewers as Larissa and Liliane are both female and are a same-sex couple. NBC later apologized stating that "Liliane is Larissa's wife."
, suggesting that her marriage to Manuel Veith was affecting her performance.
During the
, NBC prematurely cut away from the competition to return to figure skating, while commentators acknowledged on-air multiple times that Veith had won the gold medal. However, snowboarder
would overtake Veith in an upset victory, beating her by one hundredth of a second. Ledecká had recently begun a career in alpine, and had been considered an underdog in the competition. NBC eventually returned to the event to report on the final result, with commentator Dan Hicks remarking "Well, these are the Olympics, and anything can happen."
NBC received numerous requests from human rights groups in the United States to not broadcast the
. NBC has not commented on the requests of the human rights groups. Despite the pressure from outside groups, NBC went ahead with broadcasting the Winter Games. On December 6, 2021, President
announced the US would diplomatically boycott the 2022 Winter Games. The diplomatic boycott had no effect on athlete participation or on NBC's broadcast of the games, which would have been affected had a full boycott had been put in place. In the lead up to the games, NBC came under criticism, particularly from right-wing media personalities, for continuing to promote their broadcast of the games despite both the diplomatic boycott and the controversy surrounding the alleged mistreatment of the Uyghur population in China.
launched a campaign called "Not one minute", encouraging Americans to boycott NBC's broadcast of the games. Some US senators including
endorsed this campaign.