NBC will air the Opening Ceremony live from Tokyo, kicking off a full day of Olympic programming and marking the first time the TV network has carried the event live in a morning window. The Opening Ceremony will start at 6:55am ET/3:55 PT on July 23 and run for about four hours. NBC still plans to carry an edited version of the ceremony in a four-and-a-half-hour primetime window that starts at 7:30pm ET/4:30 PT.
Historically, NBC has carried the ceremony on only tape delay in primetime, a decision that irked media critics and some viewers. Network execs pushed back, citing the need to edit the event into a proper primetime TV show. For the '18 PyeongChang Games, NBC streamed the Opening Ceremony live. That year also marked the first time NBC presented a taped primetime show across all time zones at the same time. “It just made sense,” said Exec Producer and NBC Olympics Production President Molly Solomon. “How can we enhance the experiences and make it different? Live across all time zones and an enhanced primetime presentation when most viewers are available is the right thing to do.”
NBC’s decision to carry the ceremony live will lead to a full day of Olympic programming: A two-hour edition of the “Today” show will follow at 11:00am ET/8:00 PT, featuring athlete interviews and reactions from the U.S. Next, a three-hour afternoon block of Olympic programming -- the first time NBC has carried a daytime show on the Olympics' opening day. This show will preview storylines and expected stars of the Games, plus coverage from women’s soccer and softball. “We’re taking the Opening Ceremony and expanding it to make it a day-long celebration of the Olympics,” Solomon said. “When you give the audience all these different showings, there’s going to be significant consumption of the Olympics on this new Day One.”
Solomon said she was optimistic that the Games will kick off, as planned, in July. “The IOC and the organizing committee have been adamant that the Games will be held. It’s how they will be held, not if,” Solomon said. “We just came off a Super Bowl. We came off a full NFL season. We came off an NBA bubble that was built. We’re confident that they can do this.”
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JULY 23 TOKYO OLYMPICS PROGRAMMING ON NBC
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All Times ET
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6:55am-11:00am
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Live Opening Ceremony Coverage
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11:00am-1:00pm
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Special Edition of "Today"
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1:00pm-4:00pm
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Tokyo Olympics Daytime
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7:30pm-Midnight
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Primetime Opening Ceremony
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12:35am-5:00am*
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Overnight Replay of Opening Ceremony
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All Times PT
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3:55am-8:00am
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Live Opening Ceremony Coverage
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8:00am-10:00am
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Special Edition of "Today"
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10:00am-1:00pm
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Tokyo Olympics Daytime
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4:30pm-9:00pm
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Primetime Opening Ceremony
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9:10pm-1:10am*
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Opening Ceremony Primetime Encore
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1:10am-5:00am*
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Overnight Replay of Opening Ceremony
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| *July 24 |
