Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony on NBC

By Ryan

olynbclogoweb_1NBC has announced its plans for the Vancouver Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony for Friday, Feb. 12. Here are the details from NBC:

COSTAS & LAUER TO HOST NBC’S COVERAGE OF VANCOUVER WINTER OLYMPICS OPENING CEREMONY


Michaels, Williams, Brokaw, Collinsworth, Patrick, Carillo and Cantore Contribute


Special Early Start Time 7:30 p.m. ET/PT Friday on NBC

Vancouver, British Columbia – February 11, 2010 – NBC Olympic primetime host Bob Costas will host the Vancouver Olympic Winter Games Opening Ceremony alongside co-host Matt Lauer, NBC’s ‘Today’ co-anchor,  February 12 – at a special early start time 7:30 p.m. ET/PT.  Costas and Lauer first anchored the Opening Ceremony together at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. NBC Olympics Daytime and Weekend host Al Michaels will join Costas and Lauer from the studio. ‘NBC Nightly News’ Anchor Brian Williams, NBC News Special Correspondent Tom Brokaw and NBC Olympics Late Night host Mary Carillo are contributors. NBC Olympics correspondents Cris Collinsworth and Dan Patrick will provide interviews and the Weather Channel’s Jim Cantore will provide weather updates.

NBC Universal, broadcasting its 12th Olympics, the most by any network, will present more than 835 hours of Vancouver Olympic Winter Games coverage – representing the most total hours ever for a Winter Olympics, more than the last two Winter Olympics combined, and the most live hours ever for a Winter Games.

The 2010 Vancouver Olympic Winter Games will be Bob Costas’ ninth for NBC Sports and his eighth as primetime host. The 20-time Emmy Award winner is one of the most respected and honored broadcasters of his generation. Costas has won acclaim and Emmy Awards each year for his work as primetime host from Barcelona, Atlanta, Sydney, Salt Lake City, Athens and Beijing. He served as late night host in 1988 from Seoul. Costas hosts NBC’s “Football Night in America,” a complete recap of each Sunday in the NFL. Costas, who has the longest tenure of the network’s sports announcers, joined NBC in 1980.

The 2010 Vancouver Olympic Winter Games will be Matt Lauer’s seventh Olympics for ‘Today’ and his second in a role on the primetime Opening Ceremony broadcast. Lauer has served as co-anchor of “Today” since 1997, he joined the show in 1994 as news anchor.

NBC OLYMPICS OPENING CEREMONY FACTS & FIGURES:
PARADE OF NATIONS: The Vancouver Olympic Winter Games will welcome more than 2,500 athletes from 84 countries competing in 86 gold medal events. In the Parade of Nations, the nations will enter BC Place in Vancouver in French alphabetical order. According to Olympic tradition, Greece marches first and the host nation, Canada, enters last. Team USA will march 82nd.

AWARD WINNING OPENING CEREMONY COVERAGE:NBC Sports won a Peabody Award and three Primetime Emmy Awards for its coverage of the Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony. The Peabody organization called the broadcast “an exponential magnification of what was once known in television as a ‘spectacular.’” This marked the first Peabody Award ever won by NBC Sports and the first for an Olympics in 33 years. Previously, the 1972 Summer Games and the 1976 Summer and Winter Games had been honored.

EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Dick Ebersol, Chairman, NBC Universal Sports & Olympics
David Neal, Executive Vice President, NBC Olympics

DIRECTOR: Bucky Gunts, Head of Production, NBC Olympics

1 Comment

  1. Who is the ignoramus who thinks that Canada is not aware of Valentines Day and that it was invented by Hallmark? Does he think that the USA has a monopoly!! Ref: discussion with Bob Costas on Sunday evening.

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About Ryan Berenz 2166 Articles
Member of the Television Critics Association. Charter member of the Ancient and Mystic Society of No Homers. Squire of the Ancient & Benevolent Order of the Lynx, Lodge 49, Long Beach, Calif. Costco Wholesale Gold Star Member since 2011.