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AMY ROSENFELD JOINS NBC SPORTS AS SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, OLYMPICS & PARALYMPICS PRODUCTION

June 6, 2022 By admin

SVP Joe Gesue to Oversee Olympic & Paralympic, Editorial, Partnerships and Programming

STAMFORD, Conn. – June 6, 2022 – NBC Sports announced today that Amy Rosenfeld has been named Senior Vice President, Olympics & Paralympics Production. Rosenfeld will oversee NBC Sports’ Olympics and Paralympics production in the host city as well as the growing at-home operation. She reports to Executive Producer and President, NBC Olympics & Paralympics Production, Molly Solomon, and will work alongside NBC Olympics Coordinating Director Mike Sheehan. Rosenfeld begins her new role today.

Rosenfeld has extensive big-event production experience having overseen numerous large-scale international sporting events for ESPN, including its critically acclaimed coverage of the men’s and women’s soccer World Cups, the X Games, Indy 500, and many more. She also produced soccer and curling at four Olympic Games for NBC Sports and was the lead production executive responsible for the launch and daily operation of the ACC Network since 2019.

“Amy will help us rethink and manage the increasingly complex, two-continent approach to producing coverage of Paris 2024 and beyond,” said Solomon. “Her collaborative and curious nature has always made her a best-in-class colleague. We can’t wait for her to bring her talent and insight to NBC Sports.”

The hiring of Rosenfeld allows Joe Gesue – Senior Vice President, NBC Olympics & Paralympics Editorial, Partnerships and Programming & Executive Editor — to oversee programming, editorial and partnerships. In his new role, Gesue will work closely with NBC Olympics & Paralympics President Gary Zenkel on project management, strategy, and relationships as well as sales partnerships. He will supervise Olympic and Paralympic programming, continue as Executive Editor, and remain a key contributor to the Olympic primetime show. Hired as an Olympic researcher in 1994, Gesue has spent 28 years in various Olympic and Paralympic production and editorial roles for NBC Sports. He has led Olympic production since London 2012.

“Joe’s knowledge of the Olympics and Paralympics is unparalleled, and this new role makes our organization even stronger as we reimagine our systems and processes for what lies ahead in the next chapter of NBC Sports’ Olympic and Paralympic coverage,” added Solomon.

NBCUniversal has U.S. media rights to the Olympic Games through 2032, which are scheduled for Paris (2024), Milan Cortina (2026), Los Angeles (2028) and Brisbane (2032). The host city for the 2030 Winter Olympics has not been chosen yet.

For more on Amy Rosenfeld, click here. For more on Joe Gesue, click here.

–NBC SPORTS–

Filed Under: NBC, Olympics, Uncategorized

SUMMER OF SPEED! NBC SPORTS TO PRESENT 17 TRACK & FIELD MEETS INCLUDING FIRST-EVER OUTDOOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS HOSTED IN U.S. AND U.S. OUTDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS

May 27, 2022 By admin

90+ Hours of T&F Coverage This Summer Across NBC, Peacock, USA Network and CNBC

More Than 65 Hours of World Championships Coverage, including 7 NBC Primetime Hours, From University of Oregon’s Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon

U.S. Outdoor Championships Determines Which Athletes Will Represent U.S. at World Championships

Prefontaine Classic Coverage Begins Saturday

Sydney McLaughlin, Athing Mu, Noah Lyles, Fred Kerley, Grant Holloway and Many More Olympians to Compete this Summer Across NBC Sports

STAMFORD, Conn. – May 27, 2022 – It’s the summer of speed as NBC Sports will present 17 meets and 90+ hours of live track & field coverage this summer, including the first-ever outdoor World Championships hosted in the U.S., the U.S. Outdoor Championships, and Diamond League events from Eugene, Ore., Paris, Monaco and more. The expansive coverage will be spread across NBC, Peacock, USA Network and CNBC.

A full summer of track & field coverage begins this Saturday, May 28, with the world-renowned Diamond League Prefontaine Classic from Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., which will also host the World Championships, from July 15-24, and the U.S. Outdoor Championships, from June 24-26.

2022 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

Seeing as this is the first time in history that the outdoor World Championships is being held in the United States since its inception in 1976, it’s fitting that NBC Sports will present more than 65 hours of coverage this summer, including seven hours of primetime coverage on the NBC broadcast network. This will be the first outdoor World Championship meet since 2019 (the 2021 meet was postponed due to COVID) and is expected to include Olympians, world record holders, and global medalists dueling for world titles.

Coverage will be spread across NBC, Peacock, USA Network, and CNBC from July 15-24. Additional programming details will be announced soon.

2022 U.S. OUTDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS

NBC Sports is set to present six hours of coverage of the U.S. Outdoor Championships across NBC, Peacock, USA Network, and CNBC from June 24-26. This national championship meet will be held at Hayward Field, with the top athletes in the U.S. all vying for spots on the prestigious team that will be sent to compete at the World Championships later that summer.

How To Watch – Friday, June 24 – Sunday, June 26 (all times ET)

    • TV – NBC, USA Network, CNBC
    • Streaming – Peacock, NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app

 

Date                            Platform                                             Time (ET)

Friday, June 24           CNBC                                                 10 p.m. – 12 a.m.

 

Saturday, June 25        NBC, Peacock                                    4-6 p.m.

 

Sunday, June 26          NBC, Peacock                                    4-5 p.m.

Sunday, June 26          USA Network                                     5-6 p.m.

2022 DIAMOND LEAGUE SCHEDULE/PREFONTAINE CLASSIC

NBC Sports will present the entire Diamond League schedule – track & field’s international series of prestigious meets – this summer, with the Prefontaine Classic being held on Saturday, May 28 from Hayward Field. Live coverage begins Saturday at 4 p.m. ET on CNBC and Peacock, followed by a live 90-minute show on NBC and Peacock at 4:30 p.m. ET.

Multiple Olympic medalists, such as Fred Kerley, Noah Lyles, Ryan Crouser, Valarie Allman, Raevyn Rogers, Courtney Frerichs, and Emma Coburn are expected to compete, along with Olympians Erriyon Knighton, Trayvon Bromell, Ajee Wilson, Cole Hocker, and more.

NBC Sports’ Paul Swangard will call the event, joined by four-time Olympic medalist Ato Boldon, four-time Olympic gold medalist Sanya Richards-Ross, Olympic decathlon silver medalist Trey Hardee, and two-time Olympian Kara Goucher as analysts, and Lewis Johnson as a reporter.

How to Watch – Saturday, May 28

    • TV: NBC, CNBC
    • Streaming: Peacock, NBCSports.com, NBC Sports app

 

Time (ET) Platform
4-4:30 p.m. CNBC, Peacock
4:30-6 p.m. NBC, Peacock

Along with the Prefontaine Classic, NBC Sports will broadcast the remaining 10 Diamond League meets across NBC, Peacock, and CNBC with more than 55 hours of coverage. Additional programming details will be announced soon.

2022 DIAMOND LEAGUE SCHEDULE

Meet                                       Date                                        Platform

Prefontaine Classic                 May 28                                    NBC, CNBC, Peacock

Rabat                                       June 5                                      CNBC, Peacock

Rome                                      June 9                                      CNBC, Peacock

Oslo                                         June 16                                    CNBC, Peacock

Paris                                        June 18                                    CNBC, Peacock

Stockholm                               June 30                                    CNBC, Peacock

Chorzow                                 August 6                                  CNBC, Peacock

Monaco                                   August 10                                CNBC, Peacock

Lausanne                                 August 26                                CNBC, Peacock

Brussels                                   September 2                            NBC, CNBC, Peacock

Zurich                                     September 7-8                         CNBC, Peacock

 

-NBC SPORTS-

Filed Under: Diamond League, NBC, Olympics, Track and Field, Uncategorized

NBCUNIVERSAL’S 2022 BEIJING OLYMPICS – THE MOST EXTENSIVE WINTER GAMES PRESENTATION EVER – DOMINATES MEDIA LANDSCAPE

February 21, 2022 By admin

160 Million Americans Watched Beijing Olympics Across NBCUniversal Platforms

Extending Dominance – NBC Ranks #1 in Primetime for 109th Consecutive Olympics Night on Sunday with Closing Ceremony

NBC Olympics’ Primetime Winter Games Coverage Averaged 11.4 Million TAD Viewers & Ranks as Top Primetime Show of 2021-22, Excluding NFL

Most Streamed Winter Games Ever – Led by Peacock, Which Streamed Every Olympic Event for the First Time – 4.3 BILLION MINUTES Consumed Across NBCUniversal Digital and Social Media Platforms

USA Network #1 in Cable – Most-Watched Sports and Entertainment Cable Network in Primetime and Total Day throughout the Games

New iSpot Metrics Showed Dominance for Olympic Advertisers

STAMFORD, Conn. – February 21, 2022 – Last night, NBCUniversal concluded its presentation of the XXIV Olympic Winter Games from Beijing, China with the Closing Ceremony, having programmed more hours across more platforms than ever before, while continuing to draw massive audiences which dominated the media landscape.

Among the highlights:

    • NBCUniversal presented a record 2,800+ hours of Winter Games coverage.
    • 160 million Americans watched NBC’s Beijing Olympics presentation across all platforms.
    • Last night’s Closing Ceremony coverage on NBC and Peacock marked the 109th consecutive Olympics night that NBC ranked #1 in primetime
    • NBC Olympics’ nightly coverage delivered a Total Audience Delivery of 11.4 million viewers and is the most watched primetime show of 2021-22, excluding NFL.
    • Peacock, which was the streaming home of every Olympics event for the first time, recorded its best 18-day span of usage during the Games.
    • USA Network ranked as the #1 sports and entertainment network on cable in primetime and Total Day over the course of the Games.
    • With 4.3 BILLION streaming minutes across digital and social media, the Beijing Olympics is NBCUniversal’s most streamed Winter Games ever.
    • Olympic coverage created major benefits for the NBCUniversal portfolio.

 

Mark Lazarus, Chairman, NBCUniversal Television and Streaming: “NBCUniversal’s presentation of the Beijing Olympics dominated across all platforms and once again showed that nothing captivates Americans for 18 consecutive days and nights like the Olympic Games. The power of the NBC broadcast network delivered large audiences every night, while USA Network registered the best two-week stretch of any sports and entertainment cable network. With sharply increased signups, usage and awareness, Peacock streamed every Olympic moment for the first time ever and delivered a user experience that was greatly enhanced from just six months ago. Over the course of the Games, we delivered what was promised to our advertising partners and delivered unmatched promotion for our company.”

Pete Bevacqua, Chairman, NBC Sports: “In the face of unprecedented challenges over the past six months, our production team showcased the thrilling competition, told the memorable stories, and provided the important global context that continue to make NBC Olympics’ presentations of the Summer and Winter Games must-see, appointment viewing. With dominant audiences on NBC, USA Network and Peacock, we continue to adapt and evolve across all platforms. We are excited to present the Paralympics beginning late next week, and the upcoming Olympics in exceptional host locations Paris, Milan-Cortina, and Los Angeles.” 

BEIJING OLYMPICS IS MOST-WATCHED PRIMETIME SERIES SINCE LAST SUMMER (EXCLUDING NFL): Since last summer’s Tokyo Olympics, the 2022 Winter Games is the most-watched primetime series, excluding NFL (minimum 10 episodes/shows). Following are the most-watched primetime series since September 2021:

Most-Watched Primetime Shows Since Tokyo Olympics, TV only

Primetime Series Avg. Viewers
NBC Sunday Night Football 18.5 million
FOX Thursday Night Football* 16.4 million
ESPN Monday Night Football ** 14.2 million
NBC 2022 Beijing Olympics* 10.7 million
CBS 60 Minutes 9.2 million
Paramount Yellowstone* 8.9 million
CBS NCIS 7.6 million
CBS FBI 7.5 million
CBS Young Sheldon 7.1 million
NBC Chicago Fire 7.1 million

Source: Nielsen, Live + Same Day Data; minimum 10 shows (Official viewership for 2/18-2/20 will be available on Wednesday); *Viewership across multiple television networks; **Viewership across multiple networks on many occasions

 

SINCE BEGINNING OF TOKYO OLYMPICS, NBC HAS TOPPED PRIMETIME FAR MORE THAN ANY OTHER BROADCAST NETWORK: In the 213 nights from the Tokyo Olympics Opening Ceremony on July 23, 2021, through last night’s Beijing Olympics Closing Ceremony, NBC easily topped the competition – ranking #1 in primetime among broadcast networks 93 times (44% of the nights), 35 on Olympics nights.

Most Nights #1 in Primetime on Broadcast TV, Since July 23, 2021

Network Times Ranking #1 in Primetime
NBC 93
CBS 61
ABC 34
Fox 25

Source: Nielsen, Live + Same Day Data

  

SINCE TOKYO OLYMPICS, WINTER GAMES TOPPED 10 MILLION VIEWERS MORE THAN ANY PRIMETIME SHOW (EXCLUDING NFL): NBC Olympics’ nightly presentation has topped 10 million TV viewers more than any other show since the Tokyo Olympics, excluding NFL.

Series with Most Primetime Episodes Averaging 10 Million Viewers, Since Tokyo Olympics (excluding NFL)

Shows With 10 Million Viewers Series
9 2022 Beijing Olympics
7 60 Minutes (post-NFL airings)
6 2021 World Series

Source: Nielsen, Live + Same Day Data

 

LED BY PEACOCK, NBCUNIVERSAL REGISTERS MOST-STREAMED WINTER OLYMPICS EVER: For the first time, Peacock live streamed every event of the Olympics. All content was also streamed live via authentication on NBCOlympics.com and the NBC Sports app. Among the highlights:

    • Viewers streamed a Winter Games record of 4.3 BILLION MINUTES across Peacock, NBC Sports Digital and social media platforms. That figure includes 3.9 billion minutes of Beijing Olympics content streamed across Peacock, NBCOlympics.com, and the NBC Sports app – up 78% from the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics.
    • NBCUniversal’s Beijing Olympics coverage delivered 6 of the 10 most-streamed primetime presentations in Olympics history.
    • NBCUniversal’s Average Minute Audience of 516,000 viewers in primetime is the best ever for an Olympics.
    • Peacock registered its best 18-day stretch of usage during the Winter Games. 

 

USA NETWORK RANKS AS CABLE’S #1 SPORTS AND ENTERTAINMENT NETWORK: Featuring live coverage of every Winter Games sport, USA Network was the top destination for sports and entertainment programming on cable and along with Tokyo Olympics coverage last summer, delivered the network’s most watched 15-day span (Feb. 5-19) span since September 2018.

    • USA Network delivered an average of 4 million primetime viewers from Feb. 5-19 – topping all sports and entertainment cable networks.
    • USA Network delivered an average of 937,000 Total Day viewers from Feb. 5-19 – topping all sports and entertainment cable networks.
    • USA Network’s primetime viewership from Feb 5-19, excluding Super Bowl Sunday, was 1.4 million viewers – joining last summer’s Tokyo Olympics (1.6 million) as the most-watched 15-day spans in primetime for USA Network since September 2018.
    • USA Network delivered an average of 1.36 million Total Day viewers across consecutive weekends (Feb. 5-6 and Feb. 12-13) – the best average viewership across successive weekends since December 2014.

Source: Nielsen, Live + Same Day Data; Preliminary Data Used for 2/18-2/29

 

NEW ISPOT METRICS DEMONSTRATE WINTER GAMES DOMINANCE FOR NBCU ADVERTISING PARTNERS

New iSpot metrics further highlight the dominance of the Winter Games for NBCU advertising partners:

    • The 2022 Beijing Olympics averaged 1 Billion ad impressions per day, generating 96 Billion Ad Impressions for Adults 18+ over the full 18 days.
    • NBC Olympics primetime Winter Games presentation had a 22% lighter ad load and delivered 262% more ad impressions per unit than the other three broadcast networks combined.
    • TV ads during the Winter Games had a 98% completion rate.
    • The Beijing Olympics ranked #1 in ad impression share of voice across all dayparts.  During primetime from Feb. 2-20, the Winter Games had a 31% share of voice against competition, with five times greater share of voice than the most-watched show on another network.

 

NBC OLYMPICS’ MEDIA PARTNERS REACHED MILLIONS

    • More than 1 billion impressions of NBC Olympics’ content across Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and TikTok
    • A 69% increase in video views across all social platforms over the PyeongChang Olympics
    • 229.5 million video views on TikTok, which led to more than 370,000 new followers on NBC Olympics TikTok during the Games
    • 38 million impressions and 11.5 million video views for On Her Turf on Twitter, Instagram and TikTok
    • NBC Sports Audio provided its most comprehensive Winter Games coverage, with daily podcasts featured on Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Stitcher and Spotify. In addition, the “NBC Olympics Hockey” channel debuted on SiriusXM and featured all U.S. men’s and women’s games.

 

Total Audience Delivery is based on data from Nielsen and Adobe Analytics. Official viewership for 2/18-2/20/22 will be available by Wednesday AM.

 

ABOUT NBC OLYMPICS

NBCUniversal provided coverage of the 2022 Olympic Winter Games from Feb. 2-20. The Opening Ceremony was presented on Friday, Feb. 4, live in the morning and again in primetime on NBC and Peacock. Similar to recent Winter Games, NBC’s primetime Olympic coverage began the night before the Opening Ceremony on Thursday, Feb. 3. Coverage started on Wednesday, Feb. 2, on USA Network and Peacock. NBCUniversal presented its 18th Olympic Games, 12th consecutive overall, and sixth straight Winter Games, all the most by any U.S. media company.

–NBC OLYMPICS–

Filed Under: 2022 Beijing Olympics, NBC, Olympics

2022 OLYMPIC WINTER GAMES – CLOSING CEREMONY PRIMETIME HIGHLIGHTS ON NBC & PEACOCK

February 20, 2022 By admin

“There’s something so special about a Closing Ceremony. It just hits different. There’s relief, there’s joy, it’s a celebration and you get to share that with your teammates one last time.” – Tara Lipinski on the Closing Ceremony

“It was redemptive, it was magical, and it was such a study in preparation and a study in fortitude and strength… The happy ending for the Olympics is Nathan Chen.” – Johnny Weir on Nathan Chen

“It wasn’t the story she had come to the Olympics wanting to write, but it was a story about resilience, the value of simply trying, and the ability to live with disappointment.” – Mike Tirico on Mikaela Shiffrin

STAMFORD, Conn. – Feb. 20, 2022 – NBC Olympics concluded its coverage of the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing, China, tonight on NBC and Peacock as NBC Olympics’ figure skating commentators Terry Gannon, Tara Lipinski, and Johnny Weir hosted primetime coverage of the Closing Ceremony.

The enhanced primetime presentation of the Closing Ceremony featured athlete interviews, profiles, a countdown of the top moments of the Games, and more.

Mike Tirico opened tonight’s primetime coverage at 7 p.m. ET with Olympic Gold, a look back at the Games’ most memorable performances, on NBC and Peacock. Andy Browne, the Editorial Director of Bloomberg New Economy Forum, and Jing Tsu, the John M. Schiff Professor of East Asian Studies & Comparative Literature at Yale University and author of Kingdom of Characters, a book about the politics of the Chinese language, joined the one-hour special and provided context and closing thoughts on the Games.

Tirico interviewed IOC President Thomas Bach about the 2022 Winter Olympics during this afternoon’s daytime coverage on NBC and Peacock.

For Tirico’s closing essay on the 2022 Winter Olympics, click here.

Following are highlights from tonight’s primetime coverage of the Winter Olympics Closing Ceremony on the platforms of NBCUniversal:

***

CLOSING CEREMONY – NBC & PEACOCK

Tirico on the Beijing Winter Olympics: “Just like the Summer Games, these Winter Games have made it to the finish line, though no one would deny the shadow that China’s place in the world – and a world that seems to be more troubled and complicated by the day – cast over the competition. It’s fair to question how we’re going to look back at these Games months, maybe years, into the future. Fair to question whether they should have been held here, and what they did and did not achieve. The U.S. government was not represented at the Games, the athletes of the world were. Nearly 2,900 of them from 91 different delegations getting to compete and realize dreams that were, in many cases, lifetimes in the making.”

Lipinski on the Closing Ceremony: “There’s something so special about a Closing Ceremony. It just hits different. There’s relief, there’s joy, it’s a celebration and you get to share that with your teammates one last time. One of the most memorable moments for me was walking into that stadium with all of the athletes rushing out, and now as a viewer it’s one of my favorite moments as well.”

Weir: “Tonight is a night of celebration…Olympic sports can feel at times like you’re on an island. It’s a little bit isolating, a little bit lonely, but tonight you really do feel like you’re a part of something bigger, like you’re a part of a team and you get to celebrate with that team, with that family. And we say it all the time, but once an Olympian, always an Olympian.”

Lipinski on entering the Parade of Nations as an athlete: “This moment is so much fun. I remember just stepping into that stadium and you feel so small, and then just looking around at all of these other athletes, your teammates, but you just realize this is so much bigger than you, than your sport. I still get chills.”

Weir: “You feel like a tiny water droplet in a very vast ocean when you’re standing in the middle of these giant stadiums…It’s just such a great moment to celebrate achievement and all of the hard work you’ve done to get there.”

Elana Meyers Taylor to Anne Thompson on her Olympic success: “It’s hard to even put into words. I don’t think it’s entirely set in yet. It’s going to take a while to really realize it, but I just want to go out there and perform the best I can day in and day and really leave a legacy and hopefully people look at this and see that winter sports is for everybody – Black, white, doesn’t matter. Winter sports is for all Americans.”

Meyers Taylor during her interview walking into the Closing Ceremony: “There are so many great moments. Erin Jackson, Jessie Diggins coming away with the silver medal today, everybody fought so hard from top to bottom. Lindsey Jacobellis, Nathan Chen, I could go on and on, and my own teammate, Kaillie Humphries just doing it all for Team USA…got to see Brittany Bowe and John Shuster…it’s just a part right now, celebrating Team USA and all we’ve accomplished, and also getting ready for the Paralympic Games.”

Weir on firsts at the Beijing Olympics: “Another exciting aspect of these Olympics was how many cool firsts there were. The first Black woman to win an individual gold medal at the Winter Olympics happened in Beijing, the first publicly out non-binary athlete to compete at the Olympics happened in Beijing, and the first Orthodox Jewish woman to compete at the Winter Olympics happened in Beijing.”

Weir on the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympic Winter Games: “For the time first ever, an Olympic Games was chosen by popular vote. That’s the one I voted for.”

Gannon on 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Italy: “Are you packing already?”

Weir: “In my head, in my head. I’m so excited.”

Tirico in his closing essay: “We saw so many tears of joy, tears of sadness, maybe it was the emotion of two hard years en masse. We saw ‘I love yous’ connected across oceans by technology, shared by teams of friends and family who made individual dreams come true. Those smiles, that joy, it’s so much of what so many of us need in world that feels more uphill every day. The Olympics have always been imperfect, and maybe more so now than ever before. There are real challenges ahead for this movement. But nothing else brings the world together like this. But with troops amassing and militaries maneuvering, these 18 nights again reminded us of the power of sport, the power of people, and the power of the Games to galvanize. So as we formally say goodbye to these Olympics, we’ll spend every one of the next 887 days hoping that scene on the Seine to open the 2024 Summer Games in Paris will be the start of something special.”

ON FIGURE SKATING

Lipinski on Kamila Valiyeva: “It was the saddest thing that I have ever witnessed in all of my years in skating and covering events. I had this image – we say it all the time, she’s 15 and she should not be to blame for this – I just had this image when she took the ice of, you know when little girls get pushed out by their coaches just to glide to center ice? That’s what I felt they did to her. ‘You deal with this.’ And then we had to watch one of the greatest skaters to ever live, which we’ve said many times, fall apart, and it was devastating to see the reception she had when she came off the ice, just to see what she is dealing with and what she should have never had to deal with. And beyond that, the Olympic champion Anna Shcherbakova just standing there with a teddy bear and not a hug in sight. It was heartbreaking.”

Weir: “I think we can safely say that we were with everyone that was watching the coverage of the women’s free skate in that you didn’t leave it feeling good, you don’t leave it feeling good about your sport, and I hope it’s an event that we never see again. For Kamila Valiyeva, it was a performance that shouldn’t have happened. It was a performance that she was allowed to give because a court decided she was allowed to to protect her, primarily mentally…but what did they think happened after that performance? … Reflecting on the actual event, it was horrifying, it was traumatic for everybody involved.”

Weir on Team USA’s performance: “It was a tremendous event for Team USA figure skating. I think it provided a lot of inspiration for the young skaters here to see people from their country succeeding and succeeding on the biggest stage…Nathan Chen has been leading to this moment for the last four years. It was redemptive, it was magical, and it was such a study in preparation and a study in fortitude and strength that I think that is the silver lining. The happy ending for the Olympics is Nathan Chen.”

ON SNOWBOARDING

Shaun White to Tirico on how he felt after his last run in Beijing: “I was very overwhelmed to be finally living this moment that I heard about when I was a kid. You know, ‘One day you’ll retire.’ And I just thought that was so far out, and to actually be living that moment was incredibly overwhelming.”

White on snowboarding becoming one of the major sports at the Winter Olympics: “I love it. I think that’s such a crowning moment for our sport and me, from not being allowed to be on resorts to now being the premier thing that people tune in for. There was a lot that went into it after the Olympics…I would get asked to do all of these kind of stereotypical snowboard things that you would expect, and I had to hold my ground and say, ‘No, I’m actually not what you think. I’m going to show up and tell you this amazing story about my experience and tell you that the sport of snowboarding isn’t just what you see on TV’ … my mom does it, my dad, there’s a culture behind it where you’re enjoying time with one another. To get that across and bring the sport into the light in that way was a pressure situation for me because I’m speaking for others in this community, but I was proud and honored to be the face of the sport for so long.”

OLYMPIC GOLD – NBC & PEACOCK

Tirico on Mikaela Shiffrin’s Olympics: “She came to Beijing with high hopes of adding to her collection in multiple events, but a very different story unfolded. The very first weekend of the Games, the giant slalom, an uncharacteristic result for Shiffrin. Over the last three years, Mikaela Shiffrin had skied out of one these races only once. Now, she did it twice in just a few days and she sat on the hill on Wednesday for several minutes in the snow, shell-shocked. But if it seemed like that image would define her Games, it turned out something else did. The notion that as these Games continued, Shiffrin continued to race. And after each event, was so open about what she was going through. This past Thursday came her last real hope at gold – the combined – and an undeniable sense of déjà vu. Yet there was Mikaela yesterday, sticking around – even changing her flight – for a postponed team event, and finally making it down the hill in a technical event. It wasn’t the story she had come to the Olympics wanting to write, but it was a story about resilience, the value of simply trying, and the ability to live with disappointment. At 26, Mikaela Shiffrin’s Olympic journey is likely not over, and you get the sense she has a lot more to show us, and teach us, over the years to come.”

Andy Browne on the experience of Beijing hosting these Olympics: “This was an opportunity for the United States and China to build bridges, but I’m afraid it may have had the exact opposite effect, that it may have thrown up more barriers. I mean, to me, it underscored the reality that the United States and China are living in completely separate worlds. We were there, the journalists were there, the athletes were there, the coaches were there, but we weren’t there. We were in this closed loop bubble. We were on the outside looking in. We were looking at China through wire mesh fences…In a wider sense, of course this isn’t just Covid, Covid has made it worse. In a wider sense, these two countries are drifting apart. There is no real conversation, there is no communication and there is no immediate end in sight to this.”

Jing Tsu: “Essentially, we’re exactly where we were at the beginning of these Olympics, where we said there’s clearly a story to the outside and a story to the inside, and the two did not cross streams. So we remember, when we saw the Uyghur athlete we saw what we saw (related to) human rights, but for the Chinese, that was a symbol of national unity. So I think throughout the Olympics, that was the metaphor that carried through. We were seeing one thing and they were seeing another.”

Tsu on the Games from the Chinese perspective: “I think for the Chinese, they thought it was a success. They had the story that they wanted and they took pleasure in the athletes, they took pleasure in Eileen Gu, they won medals, they won more gold than the United States, and essentially for them it was a party. It was a festivity where they came together, got to gossip about the athletes, completely different than what we’re seeing here in western media.”

Browne: “I would agree with that. I think that at key moments though, your audience in China is watching a very different Olympics. They’re not having a dialogue or understanding the political controversy, they are not hearing about the diplomatic boycott, they’re not seeing Peng Shuai. Peng Shuai is a ghost, she’s invisible. I mean, she’s out there performing mainly for the international press. But then, the way that the Games were portrayed so the camera lens focuses in quite narrowly on the snow-covered mountains, but the lens is rarely widened to see the arid, brown mountains behind.”

***

ABOUT NBC OLYMPICS

NBCUniversal will provide coverage of the 2022 Olympic Winter Games from Feb. 2-20. The Opening Ceremony will be presented on Friday, Feb. 4, live in the morning and again in primetime on NBC and Peacock. Similar to recent Winter Games, NBC’s primetime Olympic coverage begins the night before the Opening Ceremony on Thursday, Feb. 3. Coverage begins on Wednesday, Feb. 2, on USA Network and Peacock. NBCUniversal is presenting its 18th Olympic Games, 12th consecutive overall, and sixth straight Winter Games, all the most by any U.S. media company.

— NBC OLYMPICS —

Filed Under: 2022 Beijing Olympics, NBC, Olympics

2022 OLYMPIC WINTER GAMES – FEB. 19 PRIMETIME HIGHLIGHTS ON NBC & PEACOCK

February 19, 2022 By admin

“I had chills. This is what the Olympics is about. You work hard, you prepare, and then you let it all go. Mission accomplished.” – Tara Lipinski on Team USA’s Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier’s pairs’ performance

“That performance…was gold medal material. It was so emotional, it was vibrant, they skated like they were on one heartbeat.” – Johnny Weir on China’s Wenjing Sui and Han Cong winning gold in pairs’ figure skating

“This is the best we have seen from Elana…Proud mother and wife, one of the oldest and only mothers in the field, start record holder, and now five-time Olympic medalist.” – Bree Schaaf on Elana Meyers Taylor after winning bronze in two-woman bobsled

Closing Ceremony Presented in Primetime at 8 p.m. ET Tomorrow (Feb. 20) on NBC and Peacock; Live Coverage at 7 a.m. ET on Peacock, NBCOlympics.com and the NBC Sports app

STAMFORD, Conn. – Feb. 19, 2022 – NBC Olympics continued its primetime coverage of the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing, China, tonight on NBC and Peacock. Mike Tirico serves as NBC Olympics primetime host and opened coverage from NBC Sports’ International Broadcast Center in Stamford, Conn.

NBC Olympics’ figure skating commentators Terry Gannon, Tara Lipinski, and Johnny Weir will host the enhanced primetime presentation of the Closing Ceremony of the 2022 Winter Olympics from the Beijing National Stadium airing tomorrow, Sunday, Feb. 20 at 8 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock. The Closing Ceremony will be presented tomorrow live at 7 a.m. ET on Peacock, NBCOlympics.com and the NBC Sports app. Click here for more details.

Following are highlights from tonight’s primetime coverage of the Winter Olympics on the platforms of NBCUniversal:

FIGURE SKATING – NBC & PEACOCK

Terry Gannon on Alexa Knierim’s and Brandon Frazier’s pairs’ free skate program (6th place): “It might not have been perfect, but it was awfully impressive, and they took you along for the ride.”

Lipinski on Knierim and Frazier: “I know there was one major mistake, but I had chills. This is what the Olympics is about. You work hard, you prepare, and then you let it all go. Exactly what you want to do. Mission accomplished.”

Johnny Weir on Knierim and Frazier: “Just watching her, especially, skating into that last lift — I could see her looking up into the building. It requires great training to be able to step out and just appreciate the moment that you’re in. That’s what I felt from this whole performance. That was just so, so excellent.”

Weir on Ashley Cain-Gribble and Timothy LeDuc’s performance (8th place): “There’s such a brilliance to this team. Unfortunately, on the day, too many mistakes, but just seeing them on Olympic ice, living their truths, and doing it in such fabulous fashion, has really been wonderful to see.”

Lipinski on Cain-Gribble and LeDuc: “It’s such a treat to see this team make it to Olympic ice. We’ve watched them work so hard to get here. We know it’s been quite a journey to not only be here, but to be here authentically. Timothy told us they’re excited to be the first non-binary Winter Olympian, but more importantly, they hope their presence can show that queer people don’t have to alter themselves to have success in Olympic sports, and in a sport like figure skating, that message is even more important.”

Gannon on China’s Wenjing Sui and Han Cong’s gold medal: “It’s a home gold for China!”

Weir on Sui and Han: “That performance, aside from the bobble on the triple salchow, was gold medal material. It was so emotional, it was vibrant, they skated like they were on one heartbeat. Stunning example – all of these teams – of pairs skating, but this team in particular.”

Lipinski on Sui and Han: “It almost feels like this was meant to be, Maybe this was the script that was always written, and at times excruciating…but it led to this moment on home ice.”

Weir on Russian Olympic Committee pairing of Evgeniya Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov (silver medal): “This moment is spectacular. All competitions aside, they’ve waited so long to deliver a performance this strong…This season, and especially this performance, their hearts were singing.”

Lipinski on Russian Olympic Committee pairing of Anastasia Mishina and Aleksandr Galiamov (bronze medal): “That was technically perfect…everything is professionally wrapped, it’s like you went to a department store and Bergdorf Goodman wrapped it. It’s so polished.”

Tirico on Kamila Valiyeva’s return to Russia: “Here’s the scene Friday as she returned to Russia, receiving a huge reception upon arrival in Moscow. Greeted by large cheering crowds applauding her, lots of fans holding signs, she’s holding flowers. Of course, finishing fourth, mentioned in the headlines across Russia after everyone saw first-hand her disappointment and emotion on the stage of the Olympic Games.”

***

ALPINE SKIING – NBC, USA NETWORK & PEACOCK

Dan Hicks on Mikaela Shiffrin heading into the team parallel event: “The most unlikely Olympic Games you could have possibly thought of for Mikaela Shiffrin. In her specialties…skiing out, and then it all boils down to this one last chance in the very first team event she’s ever participated in.”

Steve Porino on Shiffrin winning her first heat against Slovakia: “That looked like Mikaela Shiffrin getting one across the line and getting the point. That was not her on the limit, and finally though, across the line in a giant slalom and that could be a game changer.”

Porino on Team USA losing to Norway in the semi-final: “For all the years that the Americans have been competing in this discipline, and it’s gone from the slalom or giant slalom over the years, this is as close as they have been. This one was just so close.”

Porino on Shiffrin’s final run in the bronze medal matchup vs. Norway: “You could see her make that mistake early and really get on the gas pedal towards the end…No one has been able overtake someone on the blue course from the red course.”

Shiffrin to Todd Lewis on teammates: “It’s just been incredible to compete today with you guys. After a long Olympics, this is my absolute favorite memory.”

***

BOBSLED – NBC & PEACOCK

Leigh Diffey on Team USA’s Elana Meyers Taylor/Sylvia Hoffman’s bronze medal-winning run: “Hoffman and Meyers Taylor are going to stand on the podium! Doing it for her son Nico, for her husband Nick, and Team USA. One of the most celebrated American sliders ever has done it for the stars and stripes.”

Bree Schaaf: “This is the best we have seen from Elana. She is bringing it today…One of the best runs of the race here…Here she is, proud mother and wife, one of the oldest and only mothers in the field, start record holder, and now five-time Olympic medalist.”

Tirico on Meyers Taylor: “With her bronze medal, she now has more career medals than any other Black athlete in the history of the Winter Olympics…It has been an amazing week for Elana Meyers Taylor.”

Schaaf on Germany teams winning gold and silver: “Germany prepares their athletes not just for sliding, but for winning. They bring their youth athletes to the Winter Games to get a feel for the energy, and (gold medalist) Laura Nolte one of those athletes, a young pilot who maintained unbelievable composure.”

Leigh Diffey on Germany’s four-man bobsled team led by Francesco Friedrich: “This is the great man of sliding…It’s gold again! The first ever to get back-to-back two- and four-man gold in the history of bobsled at the Olympic Games. Frankie Friedrich is the man.”

Diffey on Canada’s bronze in four-man bobsled: “Canada celebrates! Justin Kripps prevents a German sweep of the podium.”

***

ABOUT NBC OLYMPICS

NBCUniversal will provide coverage of the 2022 Olympic Winter Games from Feb. 2-20. The Opening Ceremony will be presented on Friday, Feb. 4, live in the morning and again in primetime on NBC and Peacock. Similar to recent Winter Games, NBC’s primetime Olympic coverage begins the night before the Opening Ceremony on Thursday, Feb. 3. Coverage begins on Wednesday, Feb. 2, on USA Network and Peacock. NBCUniversal is presenting its 18th Olympic Games, 12th consecutive overall, and sixth straight Winter Games, all the most by any U.S. media company.

— NBC OLYMPICS —

Filed Under: 2022 Beijing Olympics, NBC, Olympics

2022 OLYMPIC WINTER GAMES – FEB. 18 PRIMETIME HIGHLIGHTS ON NBC & PEACOCK

February 18, 2022 By admin

“It was a terrific, tremendous skate…They came out today and delivered, and showed a renaissance of U.S. pairs’ skating.” – Johnny Weir on Team USA’s Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier’s short program performance

“One of the most talented athletes in the field…It took a toll on her physically and mentally, but Elana is back, and you can tell…now she has caught up.” – Bree Schaaf on Elana Meyers Taylor after recovering from Covid

“It’s just tough when the conditions dictate how good the skiing is that we get to watch.” – Tom Wallisch on the windy conditions at men’s halfpipe finals

Pairs’ Free Skate Presented Tomorrow (Feb. 19) Live at 6 a.m. ET on USA Network and Peacock

STAMFORD, Conn. – Feb. 18, 2022 – NBC Olympics continued its primetime coverage of the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing, China, tonight on NBC and Peacock. Mike Tirico serves as NBC Olympics primetime host and opened coverage from NBC Sports’ International Broadcast Center in Stamford, Conn.

Highlights of upcoming coverage include:

    • The free skate in the pairs’ competition will be presented tomorrow live at 6 a.m. ET on USA Network and Peacock (encore in primetime on NBC). The pairs’ competition will mark the final medal event in figure skating at the 2022 Winter Olympics
    • The men’s hockey gold medal game between Finland and the Russian Olympic Committee will be presented tomorrow live at 11:10 p.m. ET on USA Network and Peacock
    • The third and final runs in the two-woman bobsled will be presented tomorrow in primetime on NBC and Peacock and will feature two American sleds — piloted by monobob gold and silver medalists Kaillie Humphries and Elana Meyers Taylor — which are expected to be in medal contention: Humphries/Kaysha Love and Meyers Taylor/Sylvia Hoffman. Meyers Taylor/Hoffman are third in the standings and Humphries/Love are in fifth position after two runs

 

Following are highlights from tonight’s primetime coverage of the Winter Olympics on the platforms of NBCUniversal:

FIGURE SKATING – NBC & PEACOCK

Tara Lipinski on Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier’s pairs’ short program (6th place): “That was electric, it was sizzling. They make sure that you never look away. They’ve only been together for two years, and you’d never know it. They’re so good on their own, but so much better together…they were so ready for this moment.”

Johnny Weir on Knierim and Frazier: “It was a terrific, tremendous skate, and exactly what they needed. The U.S. has struggled in pairs’ skating over the years for the most part — even in the team competition it was considered the weakest — but they came out in the team competition and today and delivered, and showed a renaissance of U.S. pairs’ skating. Brilliant.”

Terry Gannon on Ashley Cain-Gribble and Timothy LeDuc’s pairs’ short program: “When the music starts, Timothy LeDuc will become the first publicly out non-binary athlete to compete at the Winter Olympics.”

Weir on Cain-Gribble and LeDuc’s performance (7th place): “This was such a majestic performance by Ashley and Timothy. Beautiful, iconic moments throughout…You can see how close they are to the leaders with that technical score, but it’s more than that here for this performance. They were truly exceptional.”

Lipinski on Cain-Gribble and LeDuc: “They were so prepared and well-trained for this moment. They made it look easy – that’s the most difficult thing to do in figure skating. But what I always say about this team, it’s their determination, ambition, that comes through into their skating. That energy is there, you feel it, it’s palpable.”

Lipinski on China’s Wenjing Sui and Han Cong (1st place): “That was so fierce, dramatic. They skated like they weren’t going to let a half a point go. Exactly what they did four years ago, lost that Olympic gold medal by half a point. They’re grabbing tenths of points, they’re stacking them up just in case.”

Weir on Sui and Han: “They skate as an extension of one another, which makes their skating feel so smooth, so velvety in comparison to any other team in the world. It’s like they’re skating as one person. With the pressure of being here to win China’s gold figure skating medal, the gold medal they lost for themselves four years ago, that was impeccable skating.”

***

FREESTYLE SKIING – NBC, USA NETWORK & PEACOCK

Tom Wallisch on how the windy conditions at Genting Snow Park impact the halfpipe skiers: “It’s really unfortunate because it brings luck into the round…There’s no way to know if you’re going to be hit by a gust of wind…So, unfortunate conditions out there but for the most part, everybody rides in the same conditions. The wind is always happening…All of these riders just feeling so surprised and so thankful, it looks like, every time they get to the bottom of the halfpipe…We’re seeing some of the best athletes in the world falling on simple things just because of the wind…It’s just tough when the conditions dictate how good the skiing is that we get to watch.”

Tirico on the windy conditions: “If you were wondering, ‘Why not just push it back to tomorrow?’ We’ve checked. What we’re hearing is that the wind conditions for tomorrow are just as bad, if not worse, in terms of a forecast, and then you run out of window because the Games are coming to an end, so that’s part of why…But I heard Tom and Todd talking about it – ‘Can we wait a little while and see if it gets any better?’ — because as you can see at the end, the safety of the athletes was paramount there and perhaps a pause would’ve been called for no matter what the sport usually does.”

Todd Harris on New Zealand’s Nico Porteous’s gold medal: “The Kiwi brought the heat in the middle of the windstorm.”

Wallisch on Porteous: “Talk about technicality. There’s so much in here…Those 1620’s are just so incredibly hard. You go completely blind.”

Wallisch on Team USA’s David Wise’s silver medal, scoring a 90.75 on his first run: “Nails it! Top-to-bottom…David usually has to ride under the pressure, but not today.”

Wallisch on Team USA’s Alex Ferreira’s bronze medal-winning run: “Some massive trick combinations…The sheer technicality of this…Just so smooth, no hands down, grabs on every single hit.”

***

BOBSLED – NBC & PEACOCK

Bree Schaaf on Team USA’s Elana Meyers Taylor/Sylvia Hoffman, who finished Heat 2 in 3rd place: “A beautiful run from Elana, one of the most talented athletes in the field. She missed out on the extra training that the other competitors got from being in Covid isolation. It took a toll on her physically and mentally, but Elana is back, and you can tell…now she has caught up.”

Meyers Taylor to Lewis Johnson on being named Team USA’s flag bearer in the Closing Ceremony: “That’s an incredible honor, and it’s very humbling and overwhelming to have that opportunity. I can’t wait to wave the flag, but tonight, I’m going to rest up and focus on tomorrow.”

Schaaf on Team USA’s Kaillie Humphries/Kaysha Love, who finished Heat 2 in 5th place: “Kaillie Humphries is the most talented bobsled pilot in the world…She has a great intuition and feel for these pressures.”

Schaaf on reports Humphries may be dealing with a calf injury: “She did load the sled four steps earlier, it looked like, than the first heat…The difference in times really can come down to that start if she is hurt.”

***

ABOUT NBC OLYMPICS

NBCUniversal will provide coverage of the 2022 Olympic Winter Games from Feb. 2-20. The Opening Ceremony will be presented on Friday, Feb. 4, live in the morning and again in primetime on NBC and Peacock. Similar to recent Winter Games, NBC’s primetime Olympic coverage begins the night before the Opening Ceremony on Thursday, Feb. 3. Coverage begins on Wednesday, Feb. 2, on USA Network and Peacock. NBCUniversal is presenting its 18th Olympic Games, 12th consecutive overall, and sixth straight Winter Games, all the most by any U.S. media company.

— NBC OLYMPICS —

Filed Under: 2022 Beijing Olympics, NBC, Olympics

USA NETWORK RANKS AS CABLE’S #1 SPORTS AND ENTERTAINMENT NETWORK SINCE START OF 2022 BEIJING OLYMPICS

February 18, 2022 By admin

USA Network’s Primetime Beijing Olympics Joins Tokyo Olympics as Network’s Best 12-Day Primetime Spans Since March 2018

Despite Puck Drops After 11 p.m. ET, NBC Olympics’ Hockey Coverage Delivers Top Audiences on Broadcast & Cable Television

USA Network Is Now the Cable TV Home to Many of NBC Sports’ Biggest Events, Including Premier League, NASCAR, INDYCAR, USGA and The R&A Golf Championships

New iSpot Metrics Show Olympic Dominance on USA Network

STAMFORD, Conn. – Feb. 18, 2022 – Propelled by live coverage of many of the most popular Winter Games events, USA Network ranks as the #1 sports and entertainment cable network in Total Day and primetime since the opening weekend of the Beijing Olympics on Saturday, Feb. 5.

In addition to Beijing Olympics coverage, USA Network is broadening its slate with the addition of premium NBC Sports events in 2022. USA Network kicked off the year with a New Year’s Day Premier League tripleheader and will present a full Premier League schedule. In addition, USA Network this year will feature NASCAR, INDYCAR, USGA and The R&A Golf Championships, college and Olympic sports, horse racing, cycling and more.

Following are NBC Olympics viewership highlights, with a focus on USA Network, the cable home of the 2022 Winter Games:

    • USA Network has delivered an average of 5 million primetime viewers from Feb. 5-16 – topping all sports and entertainment cable networks.
    • USA Network has delivered an average of 985,000 Total Day viewers from Feb. 5-16 – topping all sports and entertainment cable networks.
    • USA Network’s primetime viewership from Feb 5-16, excluding Super Bowl Sunday, is 1.6 million viewers – joining last summer’s Tokyo Olympics (1.7 million) as the most-watched 12-day spans in primetime for USA Network since March 2018.
    • Despite puck drops at 11:15 p.m. ET, a pair of Olympic preliminary round hockey telecasts on USA Network delivered two of cable television’s three most-watched hockey games since the 2021 Stanley Cup Finals. The U.S. vs. Canada men’s game on Feb. 11 and U.S. vs. Canada women’s game on Feb. 7 averaged 22 million viewers and 1.17 million viewers, respectively – ranking second and third among all hockey telecasts on cable since Game 2 of the 2021 Stanley Cup Finals (Montreal-Tampa Bay, 1.65 million on NBCSN, June 30, 2021).
    • Wednesday night’s U.S.-Canada women’s gold medal hockey game on NBC (also with an 11:15 p.m. ET puck drop) averaged a TAD of 54 million viewers – ranking as the second-most watched hockey telecast in the U.S. since the Oct. 2019 start of the 2019-20 NHL season (behind only NBC’s broadcast of title-clinching Game 5 of the 2021 Stanley Cup Final, Montreal-Tampa Bay, 3.62 million TAD).

 

New iSpot metrics further highlight the dominance of the Winter Games on USA Network for NBCU advertising partners:

    • Since Friday, Feb. 5, the 2022 Winter Games on USA Network delivered 3.6 Billion ad impressions, and during primetime had a 22% lighter ad load and delivered 23% more ad impressions per unit than the top cable sports network in the same time frame.
    • Since Friday, Feb. 5, USA Network’s primetime Olympics is the #1 cable sports programming for for ad impressions with a 37% share of voice compared to programming aired on the four most-watched sports cable networks.

Total Audience Delivery is based upon live-plus-same day figures from Nielsen and digital data from Adobe Analytics.

ABOUT NBC OLYMPICS

NBCUniversal will provide coverage of the 2022 Olympic Winter Games from Feb. 2-20. The Opening Ceremony will be presented on Friday, Feb. 4, live in the morning and again in primetime on NBC and Peacock. Similar to recent Winter Games, NBC’s primetime Olympic coverage begins the night before the Opening Ceremony on Thursday, Feb. 3. Coverage begins on Wednesday, Feb. 2, on USA Network and Peacock. NBCUniversal is presenting its 18th Olympic Games, 12th consecutive overall, and sixth straight Winter Games, all the most by any U.S. media company.

–NBC OLYMPICS–

Filed Under: 2022 Beijing Olympics, NBC, Olympics

2022 OLYMPIC WINTER GAMES – FEB. 17 PRIMETIME HIGHLIGHTS ON NBC & PEACOCK

February 17, 2022 By admin

“The court was worried about the ramifications on her mental health of not competing in this competition. I wonder what they’re thinking now as to what just happened to Kamila Valiyeva.” – Johnny Weir

“I can’t imagine how tough this has been on Kamila. It makes me angry that the adults around her weren’t able to make better decisions and guide her and be there for her…But again, she should not have been allowed to skate in this Olympic event.” – Tara Lipinski

“If swift action from the top of the Olympic movement does not happen quickly, the very future of the Games could be in jeopardy.” – Mike Tirico on the aftermath of the Valiyeva controversy

“It’s official. Eileen Gu – untouchable.” – Todd Harris on Gu’s halfpipe gold medal performance

Pairs’ Short Program Presented Tomorrow (Feb. 18) Live at 5:30 a.m. ET on USA Network and Peacock

STAMFORD, Conn. – Feb. 17, 2022 – NBC Olympics continued its primetime coverage of the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing, China, tonight on NBC and Peacock. Mike Tirico serves as NBC Olympics primetime host and opened coverage from NBC Sports’ International Broadcast Center in Stamford, Conn.

Highlights of upcoming coverage include:

    • Alexa Knierim/Brandon Frazier and Ashley Cain-Gribble/Timothy LeDuc will represent Team USA in the pairs’ figure skating short program tomorrow, Friday, Feb. 18 live at 5:30 a.m. ET on USA Network (encore in primetime on NBC)
    • The team event marks the final alpine skiing event in Beijing and will be presented tomorrow live at 10 p.m. ET on USA Network and Peacock (encore at 9:30 p.m. PT/12:30 a.m. ET on NBC)
      • Two-time Olympic gold medalist Mikaela Shiffrin will compete and become the second woman in Olympic history to race in all six alpine skiing events on the Olympic program. With a medal, she will tie Julia Mancuso as the most decorated U.S. women’s alpine skier in Olympic history
    • In freestyle skiing, the men’s halfpipe final will conclude Olympic competition in the discipline when the event is presented tomorrow live at 8:30 p.m. ET on USA Network and Peacock, with a portion airing live on NBC
      • The Americans will have several medal contenders, including two-time Olympic gold-medalist David Wise, three-time Olympian Aaron Blunk, 2018 Olympic silver medalist Alex Ferreira, and 2021 world championship bronze medalist Birk Irving

 

Following are highlights from tonight’s primetime coverage of the Winter Olympics on the platforms of NBCUniversal:

FIGURE SKATING – NBC & PEACOCK

Mike Tirico on the ladies figure skating event and Kamila Valiyeva: “It’s an event that’s supposed to be about grace, an artful skill with some of the most visually arresting athletes of the Olympics. But instead, figure skating’s women’s singles event has been surrounded by controversy.”

Tara Lipinski after Valiyeva’s performance: “I can’t imagine how tough this has been on Kamila and it makes me angry that the adults around her weren’t able to make better decisions and guide her and be there for her because she’s the one now dealing with the consequences and she’s just 15 and that’s not fair. But again, with that being said, she should not have been allowed to skate in this Olympic event.”

Johnny Weir on Valiyeva: “On a human level, I can’t imagine going through what she has been through, but that doesn’t change the fact that she should have been nowhere near this competition. Every athlete at this level knows and understands that if you test positive for a banned substance, you will not compete.”

Terry Gannon on the athletes’ reactions after the women’s free skate: “You started the evening, and actually the women’s event once we knew that she was eligible, shaking your head and saying, ‘I’m not sure what to make of this.’ And you kind of end it this way too.”

Lipinski: “I don’t even know what to feel or think. You’re watching her go through this pain. She’s 15…and all the other athletes, what they’ve gone through this week — the possibility of there being no medal ceremony or podium, that’s what every little girl dreams of when they think of the Olympics.”

Weir: “Every one of these athletes has given up so much of their lives for this dream and I commend all of the athletes that competed here cleanly, but it is heartbreaking to watch Kamila have to go through this. The people around her should have kept her away from this and shielded her from this, kept her from competing here.”

Weir on the Court of Arbitration for Sport’s ruling: “The court that ruled to allow Kamila to skate in this competition was worried about the ramifications on her mental health of not competing in this competition, and I wonder what they’re think now as to what just happened to Kamila Valiyeva.”

Lipinski: “I have never seen an Olympic ladies’ event like this ever.”

Gannon: “I’ve never witnessed any sporting event quite like this.”

Tirico: “Trusova was so animated immediately after her skate. It was hard to tell why but she remained so after several minutes, saying in Russian, ‘Everyone has one and I don’t,’ apparently referring to a gold medal. She said, ‘I’m not the first, I’m not the third, what do you want from me?’ Japan’s Kaori Sakamoto’s tears were of joy, the bronze medalist when everyone thought she was skating for, at best, fourth…as for how this is playing in Russia, some of the headlines in the newspapers tell a different story and have a different take on these circumstances, looking at Valiyeva, who finished fourth, as somewhat of a hero.”

Tirico closing tonight’s primetime show: “The story of the night is of course the women’s singles competition in figure skating, a competition that made so many angry this week, now leaving us empty and sad as well. It’s hard – almost impossible – to add proper perspective here without full knowledge of the facts, which in this case is going to take some time. But something undeniable is the harm to the person at the center of it all. A 15-year-old, standing alone, looking terrified on the ice before her free skate. This image, maybe more than anything else, encapsulates the entire situation: the adults in the room left her alone. Portrayed by some this week as the villain, by others as the victim. She in fact is the victim of the villains. The coaches and national Olympic committee surrounding Kamila Valiyeva, whether they orchestrated, prescribed, or enabled, all of this is unclear, but what is certain — they failed to protect her. Guilt by association is often unfair but it’s called for here.

“Russia has been banned from using the name of its country the last three Olympic Games because of the systemic state-run doping program that was uncovered after they hosted the Sochi Games in 2014. The deal that was brokered was supposed to ensure a level playing field, while giving clean Russian athletes a chance to compete, but that scenario totally broke down here. Now, a failed drug test from one of their athletes has tarnished one of the marquee events of the Games and taken away from every skater’s moment. In the name of clean and fair competition, Olympians, gold medalists from across the globe have spoken up and IOC president Thomas Bach, in his end of the Games press conference in the last hour, uncharacteristically openly criticized Valiyeva’s entourage for their ‘tremendous coldness’ at the end of her skate and said that those involved should be held responsible. But now, it’s time for the IOC to stand up. Whether it’s about blocking Russia from hosting events for a very long time, or stringent and globally transparent testing for Russian athletes going forward – if swift action from the top of the Olympic movement does not happen quickly, the very future of the Games could be in jeopardy.”

Weir on Alysa Liu (7th place): “Truly a tremendous free skate, and the emotion pouring out of her is what it’s all about. She has the pressure of an entire country on her shoulders — she is the skater that Team USA needs to be able to compete with the top skaters in the world…and she just laid down such a wonderful free skate.”

Lipinski on Liu: “She’s just absolutely radiant on Olympic ice.”

Gannon on Mariah Bell (10th place): “She fought for those jumps, she’s fought doubts, she’s fought time, and now she’s had her moment at the Olympics.”

Lipinski on Bell: “This was the exact Olympic moment she was hoping for. That was absolutely incredible. Each jump I felt my emotion growing…There is such a genuine, raw, warm emotion about her skating. It’s not just an artistic presentation, it’s like she’s sharing a little bit of herself with you.”

Bell to Andrea Joyce on her performance: “It means everything. Just to be here was a dream come true and coming here I knew that there were a lot of things that I couldn’t control, but what I could control was how I skated. I just wanted to have that moment and I had it, and I’m so excited.”

Lipinski on Karen Chen (16th place): “I love her instinct towards her artistry and her choreography, it’s so intuitive. She genuinely listens to the music, to every note…I will say she fought so hard…Obviously many technical mistakes there, but overall, I always have to note her artistry.”

Lipinski on the ROC’s Anna Shcherbakova’s gold medal over Trusova: “She has the edge in the component score, she brings more musical interpretation and passion to her performance.”

Weir on the ROC’s Aleksandra Trusova, who won silver: “What she achieved in this program technically was out of this world on a level that we have never seen before.”

***

FREESTYLE SKIING – NBC & PEACOCK

Todd Harris: “It’s official. Eileen Gu – untouchable.”

Tom Wallisch on Gu’s gold medal in the halfpipe: “Both scores higher than any other woman in the field, she would have won the competition with either of them. That is a dominating performance.”

***

SPEED SKATING – NBC & PEACOCK

Bill Spaulding on Team USA’s Brittany Bowe winning bronze in the women’s 1000m: “It’s bronze for Bowe! Three Games in, it’s finally her time.”

Joey Cheek on Bowe: “This is the only race that has eluded her in an absolutely stellar career. She has been the dominant 1000-meter skater for years…What a fight for Bowe at the end. When you look at this race, you saw how focused she was, how driven. It’s something that meant so much to her in a career of dominance in the 1000 meters…Great skating.”

Cheek on gold medalist Miho Takagi of Japan who set the women’s 1000m Olympic record: “Blasting off the line…just cruising at top speed…and then perfectly executed corners. This is what we’ve seen from her race after race after race. These corners are just magnificent to watch.”

***

ABOUT NBC OLYMPICS

NBCUniversal will provide coverage of the 2022 Olympic Winter Games from Feb. 2-20. The Opening Ceremony will be presented on Friday, Feb. 4, live in the morning and again in primetime on NBC and Peacock. Similar to recent Winter Games, NBC’s primetime Olympic coverage begins the night before the Opening Ceremony on Thursday, Feb. 3. Coverage begins on Wednesday, Feb. 2, on USA Network and Peacock. NBCUniversal is presenting its 18th Olympic Games, 12th consecutive overall, and sixth straight Winter Games, all the most by any U.S. media company.

— NBC OLYMPICS —

Filed Under: 2022 Beijing Olympics, NBC, Olympics

NEARLY 70% OF AMERICANS WATCHED NBCUNIVERSAL’S TV COVERAGE OF SUPER BOWL LVI AND/OR 2022 WINTER GAMES THROUGH “SUPER GOLD SUNDAY”

February 17, 2022 By admin

215.6 Million Americans Tuned into Coverage Across Television Networks of NBCUniversal

Led by Peacock, Viewers of Both Events Have Streamed 5 Billion Minutes To-Date

STAMFORD, Conn. – February 17, 2022 –Nearly 7 in 10 Americans (69.2%) watched coverage of the world’s two biggest sporting events – Super Bowl LVI and the Olympic Winter Games – on the networks of NBCUniversal, from the start of the Beijing Olympics coverage on Feb. 2 on USA Network through “Super Gold Sunday” featuring the Los Angeles Rams’ down-to-the-wire, three-point Super Bowl LVI victory over the Cincinnati Bengals on NBC, followed by live Winter Games competition on NBC and USA Network.

Over the 12-day span from Feb. 2-13, a total of 215.6 million Americans tuned in across NBC, USA Network and CNBC (does not include Telemundo, which was first-Spanish language broadcast network to air the Super Bowl).

In addition, viewers have consumed 5 billion streaming minutes to-date of both events across all digital platforms, led by Peacock – which for the first-time ever presented the Super Bowl and all Olympics competition.

In the biggest day in sports media history, the mega events converged on Feb. 13 with full day “Super Gold Sunday” coverage headlined by Super Bowl LVI averaging a Total Audience Delivery of 112.3 million viewers – the third-largest audience in U.S. TV history.

Following the Super Bowl, live primetime Beijing Olympics coverage, highlighted by multiple American medal winners in the monobob and figure skating, averaged a TAD of 24.0 million viewers – the largest NBC Olympics primetime audience since the opening Sunday of the 2018 Winter Games, a span of 41 Olympic nights.

Television viewership figures are based upon official data from Nielsen.

–NBC SPORTS—

Filed Under: 2022 Beijing Olympics, NBC, NFL, Olympics

2022 OLYMPIC WINTER GAMES – FEB. 16 PRIMETIME HIGHLIGHTS ON NBC & PEACOCK

February 17, 2022 By admin

“Absolutely nothing compares to all of the hard work, the dedication and everything that goes into it. It’s once every four years. Proud of both of these teams for what they’ve done for this sport.” – AJ Mleczko on the Team USA-Canada women’s hockey rivalry after Canada’s 3-2 win in gold medal game

“It’s quite clear this is not the skier who is the winningest slalom skier of all-time. Clearly she’s in a headspace now that she hasn’t found herself in before often in her career.” – Steve Porino on Mikaela Shiffrin, skiing out of the slalom portion of the combined

“That’s why those mistakes stick in your mind as a ski racer. You’re out there for a minute and a half. That sears into your memory.” – Ted Ligety on Shiffrin

“Everything is so smooth and stylish. She makes it look easy…There’s a picture-perfect run for Eileen Gu.” – Tom Wallisch on Eileen Gu in women’s halfpipe qualifier

Women’s Free Skate Presented Tomorrow (Feb. 17) Live at 5 a.m. ET on USA Network and Peacock; Encore in Primetime on NBC

STAMFORD, Conn. – Feb. 17, 2022 – NBC Olympics continued its primetime coverage of the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing, China, tonight on NBC and Peacock. Mike Tirico serves as NBC Olympics primetime host and opened coverage from NBC Sports’ International Broadcast Center in Stamford, Conn.

Highlights of upcoming coverage include:

  • The free skate portion of the women’s individual skate competition will be presented this morning, Thursday, Feb. 17 live at 5 a.m. ET on USA Network and Peacock (encore in primetime on NBC);
    • Two-time U.S. champion Alysa Liu, two-time Olympian Karen Chen, and 2022 U.S. champion Mariah Bell represent Team USA in the event. Kamila Valiyeva of the Russian Olympic Committee currently leads the points standings. Liu is the top American (eighth place)
  • Medals will be awarded in the women’s halfpipe freestyle skiing final tonight live at 8:30 p.m. ET on USA Network and Peacock, with a portion also airing on NBC.

 

Following are highlights from tonight’s primetime coverage of the Winter Olympics on the platforms of NBCUniversal:

HOCKEY – NBC & PEACOCK

AJ Mleczko on the Team Canada defeating Team USA, 3-2, and the rivalry: “Nothing compares to it. Absolutely nothing compares to all of the hard work, the dedication and everything that goes into it. It’s once every four years, it’s not even every year. I’ve been on this side of it too. We were projected to win in Salt Lake City (in 2002) and we choked. We fell flat. Team Canada came out and played a tremendous game on our ice. Felt like they stole the gold right from under us. I’ve been there with tears in my eyes. Proud of both of these teams for what they’ve done for this sport, the new heights that they’ve pushed – the level, the skill, the compete – and all of the young kids out there that are watching these teams trying to emulate them.”

Mleczko on captain Marie-Philip Poulin and Canada defeating Team USA, 3-2: “Incredible to think about the effect that she has had on the teams that she has played on. Not only as a leader – she’s an incredible captain – she just drags the team into the fight with her, but the way that she competes, performs and executes when the pressure is at its greatest.”

Mleczko on Hilary Knight’s short-handed goal, 3-1 Canada: “What else do we expect from four-time Olympian Hilary Knight? A clutch play and exactly what Team USA needed right now…Knight stays with it. First shot is blocked, shot on net is saved and she stays with it.”

Mleczko on Marie-Philip Poulin’s goal, 2-0 Canada: “Captain clutch. There’s nothing else you can say about that player. She plays the right way. She battles, she strips the puck, keeps it in the zone and she uses a screen of her teammate and two defenders in front of her.”

Mleczko on Team USA’s Hannah Brandt hitting the goal post early in the first period: “This would have been a gamechanger if she was able to corral that bouncing puck.”

***

ALPINE SKIING – NBC & PEACOCK

Dan Hicks on Mikaela Shiffrin skiing out in the slalom portion of the combined: “Unbelievable. It’s happened again. Not once, not twice, but three times…she will leave these games without an individual medal.”

Steve Porino: “It’s tough to watch…It’s quite clear this is not the skier who is the winningest slalom skier of all-time. She has won more slalom races than anyone has won in any single discipline, and here, just a little bit late on a course that’s not overly difficult…She is baffled…we did catch a glimpse of her training just before this start and she skied out in the training run, which is something she rarely does. Clearly she’s in a headspace now that she hasn’t found herself in before often in her career.”

Ted Ligety: “Utter shock. I don’t even know what to say…Skiing is such a punishing sport…basically all of the greatest skiers have had big events, big games, World Championships where they go oh-fer…you shank a golf shot, you’ve got four more days to make it back. If you double fault in tennis, you can get back in it. If you make a similar mistake in ski racing, your day is done. That’s why those mistakes stick in your mind as a ski racer. You’re out there for a minute and a half. That sears into your memory.”

Lindsey Vonn: “As devastating as this Olympics has been for Mikaela, we just have to remember how incredible her career has been. This will be a learning lesson for her, she’ll have many more Olympics to come. This is not her last. My hope is that she doesn’t take this too hard and she re-centers for the team event…she has another Olympics, maybe two left in her career.”

Porino demonstrating the latest in skiing technology: “The most sophisticated and latest piece of protection is an airbag. It’s got seven sensors, three gyroscopes, three accelerometers, and one GPS all communicating to a brain that has an algorithm that understands the mechanics of an alpine ski crash.”

***

FREESTYLE SKIING – NBC & PEACOCK

Tom Wallisch on Eileen Gu: “This is what we saw out of her in slopestyle…Just so big, the amplitude, the corked-out rotation. Everything is so smooth and stylish. She makes it look easy…There’s a picture-perfect run for Eileen Gu.”

Wallisch on Team USA’s Hanna Faulhaber’s first run in the women’s halfpipe qualifiers: “Amazing way to start things off. Puts a run down, the pressure can kind of come off her shoulders a little bit.”

Hannah Kearney on Team USA’s Justin Schoenefeld finishing fifth in men’s aerials: “Adding an entire extra rotation to the tricks he’s done previously the last few years is a huge accomplishment and doing it on this stage.”

***

FIGURE SKATING – NBC & PEACOCK

Johnny Weir to Mike Tirico on Kamila Valiyeva: “It has been a very emotional journey for us as skaters, as Olympians, and as broadcasters. I walked out of calling the short program yesterday and stood outside and cried because it’s such a terrible situation to watch unfold for a 15-year-old, to have the weight of the world on their shoulders and then to have to condemn everything surrounding her and look into everything that we’ve said as broadcasters about her. She’s so talented that we, as well as many people, thought that she would be the Olympic gold medalist here and now to have to reevaluate everything you’ve thought about that is just – it’s a nightmare.”

Tirico to Weir and Tara Lipinski: “I’m stuck with trying to figure out how responsible are the people around her? How responsible does she have to be? Take us back to your teenage days. How responsible did you all have to be regarding anything that went into your body?”

Lipinski: “I had a very sound team – family, coaches, everyone around me – not only helping me and guiding me, but giving me a voice to advocate for myself so that I also knew to be very careful of what I ingested…Obviously there’s an investigation happening, there’s more questions to be answered, but whether she knew or she didn’t know, she’s just 15 years old. I really do hope that whichever adults through this investigation that have failed her are held accountable. At the end of the day, the athlete is the only one that bears the consequences of anyone else’s decisions.”

Weir on drug testing: “There is no offseason for an Olympian or an Olympic level athlete. You have to submit that so they can test you in competition and out of competition. They can show up at school, at your rink, anywhere, to test you. And that’s part of the job, that’s part of what you try to accomplish, and I was lucky enough to have people around me – my coach, who I spent just as much time with as my family – looking after me, making sure I was putting things in my body that were the right things and that were legal and allowed, and I obviously had to know what I was doing as well, but I don’t know what Kamila’s situation is. I don’t know if she’s as lucky as I was in having people look out for us in that way.”

Tirico: “We hear what’s happening with the brief filed by WADA, the World Anti-Doping Agency. In it, they say there are three drugs that were in her system, two legal and the other drug that is referred to as ‘TMZ’ – trimetazidine – which is on the banned substance list. My question to you – this looks like a cocktail of some sort that helps endurance. Is there connection with the ability to do quads, especially late in your program which is a bonus in the scoring – any connection between that and what the scientists say these three drugs can be?”

Weir: “Well, there are plenty of people around the world that can do quads and can make it through their programs cleanly…to make things look that perfect and that easy, it takes a lot of work. It takes a lot of discipline — diet, not having friends, not going to school like everybody else. So, it really does take over your life and if there is an easier way to accomplish something, whether it’s working extra hours on the ice, in the gym, with a sports psychologist, you try to find ways to make this journey easier. But, these people are able to accomplish this stuff clean from hard work, not from anything that helps you.”

Lipinski: “You do not need performance-enhancing drugs to do a quad, but the endurance and stamina part of it – there’s so many questions that I have. Can someone do two quads, three quads in their program or a quad triple? I’m getting in the weeds, but can it help them throughout a four-minute program? That’s a long time.”

***

ABOUT NBC OLYMPICS

NBCUniversal will provide coverage of the 2022 Olympic Winter Games from Feb. 2-20. The Opening Ceremony will be presented on Friday, Feb. 4, live in the morning and again in primetime on NBC and Peacock. Similar to recent Winter Games, NBC’s primetime Olympic coverage begins the night before the Opening Ceremony on Thursday, Feb. 3. Coverage begins on Wednesday, Feb. 2, on USA Network and Peacock. NBCUniversal is presenting its 18th Olympic Games, 12th consecutive overall, and sixth straight Winter Games, all the most by any U.S. media company.

— NBC OLYMPICS —

 

 

Filed Under: 2022 Beijing Olympics, NBC, Olympics, Uncategorized

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