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While the world continues to debate whether the Tokyo Olympics should still take place, NBCUniversal is unveiling its massive coverage plans for the Summer Games, due to kick off next month. In what the company is calling the biggest media event ever, NBCUniversal will air more than 7,000 hours of coverage across two broadcast networks, six cable networks and its digital platforms.
While foreign fans won’t be permitted to attend the Games due to Covid-19, the NBC broadcast network will provide the bulk of programming, airing 17 nights of prime-time coverage and 250 hours of stories from the Games. Cable networks USA Network, CNBC, NBCSN, Olympic Channel and Golf Channel will air more than 1,300 hours of coverage throughout the summer. The company said more details about Peacock’s Olympics coverage would be released later.
“After a devastating year, the world comes together again, finally, in Tokyo this summer,” said Molly Solomon, executive producer and president, NBC Olympics Production, in a statement. “We are going to deliver the most comprehensive—and accessible—coverage for any sports event in history. The depth and breadth of our broadcasts will be unprecedented, showcasing once-in-a-generation athletes and storylines that will capture the incredible uniqueness of these Games and our times.”
Network by network breakdown
NBC usually airs the Opening Ceremony in prime time, on a delay, but NBCUniversal previously said that this year viewers can also catch the celebration live for the first time. The live broadcast of the Opening Ceremony from Tokyo will kick off at 6:55 a.m. ET on Friday, July 23, followed by a special edition of Today at 11 a.m. with reaction and athlete interviews.
This is the first time NBC will broadcast an Opening Ceremony live in the morning. Tokyo is 13 hours ahead of the East Coast, so the ceremony will begin at 8 p.m. in Japan, which is 7 a.m. ET.
NBC will broadcast its prime-time coverage and Prime Plus (formerly the late-night show) live across all time zones. It will feature some of the Games’ most popular sports, including swimming, gymnastics, track & field, diving and beach volleyball.
On the digital side, more than 5,500 hours of coverage will be available on NBCOlympics.com and through the NBC Sports app, with authentication, including all 41 sports and 339 medal events. The coverage also includes simul-streams of all the company’s linear channels and feeds from sessions from Olympic Broadcasting Services.
Telemundo Deportes is set to present the most extensive Spanish-language Olympic coverage with more than 300 hours of programming across Telemundo and Universo.
Programming kicks off on USA Network on July 21, two days before the Opening Ceremony, with a women’s soccer matchup between Team USA and Sweden at 4 a.m. USA is set to have 388.5 hours of programming in all, including round-the-clock coverage nearly every day.
Other sports on the network include swimming, cycling, basketball and water polo. This will be the eighth time USA Network has carried Olympic programming, the first in 2004.
CNBC will have 124.5 hours of coverage in prime time after financial and business programming wraps up, as well as some early-morning coverage. Fans can find sports like skateboarding, rowing, canoeing, archery and rugby on the business channel.
And even though NBCUniversal is sunsetting NBC Sports Network by the end of the year, the network will still air 440 hours of programming, the most of any NBCU network. Coverage kicks off with live softball on July 20 at 8 p.m., three days before the Opening Ceremony. NBCSN will also have sports like table tennis, fencing and equestrian.
Olympic Channel will be the home of the tennis and wrestling tournaments, with tennis coverage kicking off July 23. Wrestling begins on Aug. 1 and runs through Aug. 7. The channel will have 242 hours of total coverage.
For the second Summer Games in a row, Golf Channel will provide total coverage of the men’s and women’s golf competitions for a total of 111 hours.
Despite today’s announcement, there is still a question about whether the Games—which were already delayed a year due to the coronavirus—can go on as planned, given Japan’s slow vaccine rollout and a still-large number of severe Covid-19 cases in the country. However, the International Olympic Committee remains committed to holding the event.
