NBC Olympics Exec Producer & President Molly Solomon said that next summer's Tokyo Games "takes on bigger importance with everything that has transpired worldwide this year," according to Joe Reedy of the AP. NBC had "already done most of its features and taped promos" before the IOC postponed the games in March. With "hardly any access to athletes currently, the network is asking them to chronicle their revised training routines for any updates or new features." Other issues include "how many people NBC will send to Tokyo." There are "usually more than 2,000 in the contingent, but that is likely to be cut back, with an additional percentage of the production emanating from NBC Sports Group’s headquarters in Stamford." Solomon said that even though the production processes "might change, how the network will cover the games will remain the same." But Reedy noted NBC also is "facing a mammoth task that hasn’t been encountered since 1984, which is one network doing two Olympics in a six-month span." NBC’s coverage from Tokyo will be "more than 7,000 hours and the 2022 Beijing Winter Games 2,500." Solomon said, "The fact that it is a big challenge is even more attractive to our team because the Olympics are the most complex to produce. The good thing about Beijing is there is a familiarity with the area" (AP, 7/27).
