NBC will re-air the Opening Ceremony for TV viewers with Katie Couric and Mike Tirico as hostsINSTAGRAM
NBC begins more than two weeks of Pyeongchang Games coverage tonight with a "new host, some new wrinkles and the hope that its business model keeps pace with the different ways people experience events on television and online," according to David Bauder of the AP. NBC will stream the Opening Ceremony from Pyeongchang live early Friday in the U.S., then "repeat it that evening for television viewers with Mike Tirico and Katie Couric as hosts." Tirico replaces Bob Costas as host of NBC's primetime coverage, and he already is "being asked to put in more hours." NBC for the first time will "air its evening coverage live across the country," meaning the broadcast that starts at 8:00pm ET begins at 5:00pm PT. With a "half-hour break for local news, Tirico will stay on the air each evening" until 2:00am ET, "coinciding with the end of prime-time out West." NBC believes the time zone difference will "serve the American audience well." Since primetime viewing "coincides with daylight hours in South Korea, it means more live events than usual when most viewers are available." All the competition will be "streamed online, and coverage is also available on the NBCSN sports cable network, CNBC, USA and the Olympic Channel." NBCSN even airs "different Olympics coverage during prime time and, coupled with the online options, gives couch-bound viewers the chance for a multi-screen experience." NBC is "virtually certain to see a smaller audience" than the '14 Sochi Games, "simply because people are watching less live TV than they used to." NBC will "try to change the story by releasing each day an estimate of how many people experienced the Olympics over all of its platforms, not just the prime-time ratings" (AP, 2/6).
"Today" co-hosts Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb will be joined by NBC News’ Al Roker, among othersNBC
MORNING BOOST: VARIETY's Brian Steinberg noted NBC's Olympics coverage "typically lends a ratings boost" for "Today," and this year's Games coincides as the show has "eked out the thinnest of margins against its main rival, ABC’s 'Good Morning America.'" "Today" co-hosts Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb will be "joined by NBC News’ Al Roker, Natalie Morales, Willie Geist, Craig Melvin and Dylan Dreyer" on site in Pyeongchang (VARIETY.com, 2/6). In L.A., Stephen Battaglio notes "Today" has "become adept at leveraging the network's coverage of the Olympic Games," as viewers every two years can "count on emotional athletes and their families and friends stopping by the remote set of the program on the Olympics site to share the glory." However, there is "more on the line than usual" this year for NBC, as longtime host Matt Lauer, a "fixture at every [Olympics] since 2000," is no longer with the network (L.A. TIMES, 2/8).
THE COMPETITION: ADWEEK's Jason Lynch noted NBC’s broadcast rivals are trying to "counterprogram against an event that averaged 21.4 million viewers in prime time during the Sochi Games." CBS Entertainment President Kelly Kahl said, "The Olympics is not a great place to put your first-run programs, so we want to keep the lights on during what we know is a really big event, and literally be an alternative for people." Lynch noted CBS is leaning on reality shows by "airing its first celebrity edition of Big Brother." The show will air as many as "five episodes per week against the Olympics, leading to the finale on Sunday, Feb. 25, opposite the Closing Ceremony." Other than "Big Brother," "The Amazing Race" will be the "only CBS entertainment programming not in repeats during the Olympics." ABC is also "launching a new reality competition spinoff as Olympics counterprogramming." "The Bachelor Winter Games" features "winter sports-themed contests between members of the Bachelor franchise." New episodes of "The Bachelor" and "Shark Tank" will also be airing on ABC, while all of its "scripted series are in repeats." Fox decided on a "more traditional approach," as other than the tonight's finale of singing competition "The Four," its shows "will be in repeats during the Olympics" (ADWEEK.com, 2/7).
