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Whatever Rio brings, NBC plans to cover it

Water pollution. Political upheaval. Security concerns. Doping. And, of course, the Zika virus. NBC plans to cover it all when its Olympics programming kicks off from Rio next month.

As the Olympics rights holder in the United States, NBC will be in Rio to cover Katie Ledecky in the pool and Simone Biles on the balance beam. While NBC Sports Group said it won’t shy away from covering stories away from the competition, NBC Olympics executive producer Jim Bell said he expects his network’s nightly prime-time programming quickly to pivot over to the athletic events.

“In the onset before any sports event, particularly one like the Olympics that has international stories and angles and gets so much attention in the lead-up, it’s important for us to provide the proper context to viewers who are coming to it for the first time when the Games start and provide some of the storylines that have led up to the Games,” Bell said. “Obviously in Rio’s case, there’s no shortage of those. That’s not necessarily unique.”

Cultural and political issues have dominated the run-up to most Olympics, dating to the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City, Bell said. NBC has taken pride in the fact that it has covered them on-air. As an example, Bell pointed to the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, when Bob Costas interviewed Russian-American journalist Vladimir Posner and New Yorker editor David Remnick on a variety of non-Olympic topics, from Russia’s stance on gay rights and human rights to terrorism.

NBC chose Remnick to appear in Sochi as a Russian expert. He will not be on-air in Rio.

Coverage of such issues puts NBC, as the International Olympic Committee’s partner, in a bit of conflict with NBC, as the news organization. As in past Olympics, IOC officials surely will be watching how the Games and issues surrounding the event are portrayed on air.

“It’s important for us to [cover those kinds of issues],” Bell said. “Once that’s done, the hope for everybody is that we can then move on and cover the Olympics. If those storylines come back, we will certainly cover them. If they don’t, then we will cover the Olympics and the stories of the athletes.”

NBC will cover issues that flare up during the Games, especially if they affect athletes. NBC News will have many reporters on the ground in Rio, and will again broadcast the “Today” show from the Games; “NBC News” also is expected to broadcast from the Games, as it has in past years. Bell said that NBC News will cover breaking news situations that may develop. But he said his on-air talent, like Costas, is prepared to address issues that affect the athletes or the competition.

“There are systems in place that go back many, many Olympics, and so far it’s worked pretty well,” Bell said.

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