Costas Offers Thanks, Apologies In Return To Olympic Primetime

Bob Costas last night returned to NBC’s primetime Olympic broadcast after an eye infection put him on the sideline the previous six nights. Costas opened the broadcast by saying, "I'm Bob Costas sitting in tonight for Matt Lauer and Meredith Vieira." Costas added, "My sincere thanks to Matt Lauer and Meredith Vieira, two friends and true pros who stepped in for me on short notice. My thanks as well to all of you who expressed your concern, and my apologies to everyone for the unavoidable but uncomfortable circumstance of a broadcaster's ill-timed affliction getting in the way, even for just a few moments, of what we all came here for – the Olympic Games" ("XXII Winter Olympics," NBC, 2/17).