NBC Broadcasting & Sports Chair Mark Lazarus said with the company televising Super Bowl LII and the Winter Games next year, there will be "about 100 people" who will go "directly from Minneapolis to PyeongChang" the night after the big game, according to a Q&A with Brian Steinberg of VARIETY. Excerpts of the Q&A are below (VARIETY.com, 5/5).
Q: NBC Sports has three major events over the next 16 months: a Super Bowl, a Winter Olympics and its first World Cup. How does that kind of pace change what your folks do in terms of resources and operations?
Lazarus: Some of those people [traveling from Minneapolis to Pyeongchang], like myself, would normally have been in South Korea (for the Olympics) five days earlier. We’ll be doing a little bit of catching up. It does stretch resources a little bit thin, but we are involved with two of the biggest events in the media landscape, the two biggest sporting events in the world. The World Cup comes later, predominantly manned by Telemundo, though we are utilizing our Olympic expertise at NBC Sports.
Q: The NFL says it’s considering new ways to deploy commercial breaks in linear broadcasts. What’s your sense of what they are trying to do?
Lazarus: We are working on formatting that reduces the number of breaks, but maybe are a little bit longer, maybe 30 seconds longer. We may take out some of the breaks. I think that will enhance the viewing experience. When you have a play, take a break, have a play, take a break, it does not exactly lend to the flow of the game. I applaud them and really, whether it’s us, CBS, Fox, or ESPN, we are all in this together to find the best way to have a good flowing, exciting game.
Q: “Thursday Night Football” is up for grabs again after this season. What’s your sense of what the NFL might do with it and does NBCU remain interested in the property?
Lazarus: There has been a lot of discussion about whether Thursday night should continue, does it dilute the product? I think there is some argument that could be said that Thursday night makes it harder for the league to schedule all of the Sunday games they are trying to schedule with the highest ratings. That being said, if there is a Thursday-night package, NBC wants to be a part of it.
