NBC to air Tokyo Olympic Opening Ceremony in first live morning broadcast
By OlympicTalkFeb 10, 2021, 9:07 AM EST
NBC Olympics
NBC airs its first-ever live morning broadcast of an Olympic Opening Ceremony from Tokyo as part of unprecedented daylong network coverage of the first Friday of an Olympics on July 23.
The Tokyo Opening Ceremony starts at 8 p.m. locally, which will be 7 a.m. Eastern time. NBC’s broadcast coverage that morning starts at 6:55 ET and is live across all time zones.
The four-hour Opening Ceremony broadcast will be followed by five more consecutive hours of Olympic programming on NBC. It starts with a special two-hour TODAY at 11 a.m. ET and 8 a.m. PT, featuring Opening Ceremony reaction and athlete interviews.
That’s succeeded by NBC’s first-ever Olympic daytime show on an opening Friday of the Games at 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT.
NBC’s primetime Opening Ceremony presentation is at 7:30 ET/4:30 PT, followed by an overnight replay.
“Following the unprecedented challenges presented by the global pandemic, the world will come together in Tokyo for what could be the most meaningful and anticipated Opening Ceremony ever,” Pete Bevacqua, Chairman, NBC Sports Group, said in a press release. “Given the magnitude of this event, we want to provide viewers with as many ways to connect to it as possible, live or in primetime.”
In all, it’s 18 total hours of Olympic programming on NBC in a 22-hour span to kick off the largest Olympics in history.
“We are delighted to offer live coverage of the Opening Ceremony for those who want immediacy, and, later in the day, build on NBC Olympics’ terrific primetime legacy with a full celebration of these much anticipated Tokyo Olympics, complete with expert analysis and enhanced coverage of Team USA,” said Molly Solomon, Executive Producer and President, NBC Olympics Production.
The Tokyo Games have a record 339 events with the first medals awarded on Saturday, July 24.
Non-medal competition starts Wednesday, July 21 with preliminary soccer and softball games that will be part of NBC Olympics’ comprehensive multi-platform coverage.
NBC Olympic Broadcast Schedule on July 23
Eastern Time
6:55-11 a.m. Live Opening Ceremony Coverage
11 a.m.-1 p.m. Special Edition of TODAY
1-4 p.m. Tokyo Olympics Daytime
7:30 p.m.-12 a.m. Primetime Opening Ceremony
12:35-5 a.m. Overnight Replay of Opening Ceremony
Pacific Time
3:55-8 a.m. Live Opening Ceremony Coverage
8-10 a.m. Special Edition of TODAY
10 a.m.-1 p.m. Tokyo Olympics Daytime
4:30-9 p.m. Primetime Opening Ceremony
9:10 p.m.-1:10 a.m. Opening Ceremony Primetime Encore
1:10-5 a.m. Overnight Replay of Opening Ceremony
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