Olympics on NBC

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The Olympics on NBC is a sports telecast that airs on NBC Sports. The telecast runs for 17 days primarily in the evening and weekend afternoons. The Winter Olympic Games are normally televised in February in non-leap, even years, next in 2010. The Summer Olympic Games are normally televised in August in leap years, next in 2008.

Contents

[edit] History

NBC first televised the Winter Olympic Games in 1972[1]. The 1964 Summer Olympics were the first Summer Olympics televised by NBC[1]. NBC has televised every Summer Olympics since 1988 and every Winter Olympics since 2002.

[edit] Hours of Coverage

Year Host Hours of Coverage
1964 Summer Tokyo, Japan 45 minutes daily[2]
1972 Winter Sapporo, Japan 37[2]
1980 Summer Moscow, Russia primarily highlights[2]
1988 Summer Seoul, South Korea 179.5[3]
1992 Summer Barcelona, Spain 161[4]
1996 Summer Atlanta, Georgia 171[5]
2000 Summer Sydney, Australia 441.5[5]
2002 Winter Salt Lake City, Utah 375.5[6][7]
2004 Summer Athens, Greece 1210[5][8]
2006 Winter Torino, Italy 416[6][9]
2008 Summer Beijing, China 3600[3]

NBC televised the opening ceremonies of the 1964 Summer Olympics. This was the first color broadcast televised live via satellite[10]

[edit] Commentators

Year Prime-Time Host
1964 Summer Bill Henry
1972 Winter Curt Gowdy
1980 Summer Dick Enberg
1988 Summer Bryant Gumbel
1992 Summer Bob Costas
1996 Summer Bob Costas
2000 Summer Bob Costas
2002 Winter Bob Costas
2004 Summer Bob Costas
2006 Winter Bob Costas
2008 Summer TBA

In 1992, Bob Costas, who served as the late-night host in 1988, assumed the role as prime-time host. Costas has continued in that role through at least 2006. Another of NBC's host is Jim Lampley. Lampley has served as late-night host in 1992, 1996 and 2006. He was the daytime host in 2004 and 2006. During 2000 and 2002, he hosted cable coverage. If he hosts Olympics coverage in 2008, it will be his 14th Olympic assignment (including work for ABC, CBS and TNT), more than any other commentator[11]. Hannah Storm also hosted four Olympics (late-night: 1992 and 1996, daytime: 2000 and 2002) for NBC.

[edit] Sports Televised

Traditionally, NBC has televised marquee sports. When NBC added television coverage on its cable partners in 2000, it allowed them to televise other sports. 2004 would be the first year that they televised all 28 sports[12]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b Olympics and Television
  2. ^ a b c The World Comes Together in Your Living Room: The Olympics on TV
  3. ^ a b NBC's Coverage Captures the Color, but Not the Fun
  4. ^ Bidding for the Olympics on TV
  5. ^ a b c NBC's Olympic Coverage from Athens
  6. ^ a b NBC ANNOUNCES UNPRECEDENTED COVERAGE OF THE 2006 TORINO OLYMPIC WINTER GAMES
  7. ^ Includes 207 hours on CNBC and MSNBC
  8. ^ Includes 226 hours on NBC, 133.5 hours on MSNBC, 111 hours on CNBC, 122 hours on Bravo, 49 hours on USA and 169.5 hours on Telemundo
  9. ^ Includes 182.5 hours on NBC and 233.5 hours on CNBC, MSNBC and USA
  10. ^ Television Sports Milestones: A Chronology of an Industry
  11. ^ JIM LAMPLEY
  12. ^ Volleyball Well Represented by NBC's Around-the-Clock Olympic TV Coverage

[edit] References