Bell said patriotism and pride have a lot to do with the Olympics continuing to draw big audiencesROXXE IRELAND
NBC Olympics President of Production & Programming Jim Bell was a featured interview on the opening day of the '18 NeuLion Sports Media & Technology conference in N.Y., and the longtime NBC exec talked about his time spent covering the Olympics, which dates back to the ’92 Barcelona Games. Bell was a recent Harvard grad, and after backpacking around Europe for a short stint and coaching some American football in Spain, got an offer to wheel around then-NBC Sports exec Randy Falco, who had snapped his Achilles tendon playing basketball. After catching the attention of Dick Ebersol during the stint, he got a role in the sports division. Bell said “patriotism” and “pride” have a lot to do with the Olympics continuing to draw big audiences. Bell: “People love the stories of these athletes that -- outside of the Olympics -- nobody really knows. Playing sports that -- outside of the Olympics -- aren’t followed that religiously. And they have these moments that are measured in fractions of seconds of inches. It’s gripping for two weeks.”
LESSONS FROM THE MASTER: Bell talked about certain key things he learned from Ebersol, one being “meticulous planning.” Bell: “He would take off site and go day by day, line by line, minute by minute -- years before the Games would begin. When things would change, he would pivot. But a lot of times they didn’t, and that planning and thinking was hugely important.”
GLAD TO BE IN SPORTS: The ’20 Tokyo Games will be Bell’s 13th Olympics, but this is his second stint with the sports division. From ’06-12, Bell was “Today” show Exec Producer. He said of not having to cover political news in today’s climate, “I can see it being a little soul-sucking.” Bell did say that producing coverage of President Obama's inauguration in ’09 was an “awesome event up there with any Olympics.”
