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The present will go on at NBC subsequent month regardless of the numerous political and pandemic-related issues related to the 2022 Olympic Winter Video games in Beijing.
Community executives confirmed as a lot on Wednesday in a video presentation in lieu of the customary pre-Olympics information convention, one which detailed probably the most sophisticated, intensive protection plan in Winter Video games historical past.
Even within the absence of reporters, NBC host Mike Tirico did press Molly Solomon, president of NBC Olympics manufacturing, on the controversial geopolitical backdrop of the Video games and the way the community plans to deal with it.
“We’re going to be specializing in telling the tales of Staff USA and masking the competitors,” she stated, “however the world as everyone knows is a extremely sophisticated place proper now, and we perceive there are some troublesome points concerning the host nation.
“Our protection will present perspective on China’s place on this planet and the geopolitical context wherein these Video games are being held. However the athletes do stay the centerpiece of our protection.”
NBC has employed a journalist and a cultural historian who’re consultants on China to work with Tirico, and NBC Information will likely be on website to cowl potential developments. However politics are usually not NBC’s solely problem.
There are the acquainted time zone gymnastics of a bunch metropolis 13 hours forward of New York, and because of COVID-19, venues principally will likely be empty of spectators and there will likely be no energetic NHL gamers within the hockey event.
In all, NBC Common plans greater than 2,800 hours of protection from Feb. 2-20 – a time-frame that overlaps Tremendous Bowl LVI on Feb. 13, which NBC additionally will carry.
The Opening Ceremony on NBC and its Peacock streaming service will likely be proven reside on the morning of Feb. 4, then once more in prime time that night time.
Beijing’s time zone will enable NBC to indicate some occasions reside in prime time that happen within the morning in China. That features going instantly from Tremendous Bowl protection to reside bobsled and skating finals in Beijing.
NBC’s broadcast mothership may have 18 nights of prime-time protection – not together with Tremendous Bowl Sunday.
Peacock will stream all NBCUniversal protection on its premium tier, an essential milestone within the “direct-to-consumer” evolution of reside sports activities for pay TV “cord-cutters.”
NBCOlympics.com and the NBC Sports activities App will present reside occasions for many who authenticate as TV subscribers.
With NBCSN having closed for enterprise on Dec. 31, the corporate’s cable networks for the Video games will likely be USA Community and CNBC, which can carry almost 500 hours of protection.
USA Community would be the Video games’ major cable dwelling, with almost 400 hours, together with all 15 sports activities. CNBC may have round 80 hours of protection, principally within the night and primarily centered on curling and hockey.
Among the many stars NBC hopes will entice viewers are Shaun White (snowboarding), Chloe Kim (snowboarding), Nathan Chen (determine skating), Mikaela Shiffrin (snowboarding) and the U.S. ladies’s hockey staff.
4-time Olympic skier Lindsey Vonn will be a part of NBC as an analyst.
NBC Sports activities chairman Pete Bevacqua stated the expertise gained masking the pandemic-delayed Tokyo Video games final summer time will assist this time.
As for the problem of carrying each the Olympics and Tremendous Bowl on the identical day, he stated, “If we will’t get excited for that, we’re in all probability within the fallacious enterprise. So I believe it’s incredible.”
To accommodate the reside occasions, NBC once more will broadcast its primetime Olympics present reside throughout all U.S. time zones.
The plan for Tremendous Bowl Sunday on NBC is to cowl the Olympics from 8 a.m. to midday, then change to Tremendous Bowl pregame protection, then return to Beijing after the sport.
As for Tirico, the plan is for him to host in Beijing till Feb. 10, then fly to Los Angeles, the place he’ll host Olympics reveals on Feb. 11 and 12, then the Tremendous Bowl on Feb. 13, earlier than returning to China.
As was the case for the Tokyo Video games, the COVID-reduced footprint on website will result in a better one at NBC Sports activities’ Stamford, Connecticut, headquarters, the place greater than 1,000 folks engaged on the Olympics will likely be primarily based.
Like different networks, NBC has refined and improved its distant manufacturing over the previous two years.
Stated Bevacqua, “Proper or wrongly, for good or for dangerous, we’ve been coping with reside sports activities throughout a pandemic for 18 months.”
Neil Finest first labored at Newsday in 1982, returned in 1985 after a detour to Alaska and has been right here since, specializing in excessive faculties, school basketball, the NFL and most just lately sports activities media and enterprise.
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