Rio Offers "Embarrassment of Riches" for NBC TV Coverage -- On the Scene

(ATR) NBC Sports Group executives revel in their first predominantly live primetime Olympics in two decades while celebrating the one-year countdown to Rio.

"It’s a great opportunity to be able to show live content in primetime," Gary Zenkel, president of NBC Olympics, told Around the Rings. "London was the most viewed television event in history, and there wasn’t one second of live content in primetime.

"Rio will be all live and that obviously has its advantages."

He calls 8 p.m. to midnight ‘that critical window when people love to come together to watch the Olympics."

More than 100 people attended a sales and media event Wednesday night in New York, sampling Brazilian fare at the restaurant Botequim near Union Square.

NBC Sports reporter/anchor Jimmy Roberts was the emcee while Olympic gold medalist Sanya Richards-Ross was the athlete guest of honor. Earlier in the day, Richards-Ross appeared on the NBC Today Show, which also heavily promoted the 2016 Olympic Games.

Rio de Janeiro's time zone is one hour ahead of New York. Atlanta, which shares the Eastern Time zone with New York, was the last primetime Games in 1996.

While NBC Universal will stream all competition live and plans to show nearly 6,000 hours of content – up from about 5,500 in London – the television network remains paramount.

"Primetime is still the mothership for us," Jim Bell, executive producer of NBC Olympics, told the crowd, "and each night -- given the lovely time zone that we’re in -- is going to be anchored by live swimming and track and field and on many nights beach volleyball on Copacabana Beach.

"It’s an embarrassment of riches."

The backdrop is Rio itself, "among the most visual stunning cities in the world," Bell said, which will play well on high-definition screens.

Bell told ATR that the live element could translate into more viewers "because it’s that sense of urgency about the event happening. We’re in an age when people want to know right away. They’re checking their Twitter feeds and wanting the update, refreshing their websites and checking their email messages, so the fastest way you’re going to be able to find out isn’t going to be on any other screen, but your television."

Gymnastics, however, will actually be shown on tape delay because it plays better as a packaged feature.

Experienced Broadcasters

While every organizing committee that hosts the Olympic Games basically starts from scratch, NBC is loaded with experience going into its 15th Olympic Games.

Bell said each Olympics – and this is his 11th -- brings a unique set of challenges.

He said one constant has been attention on whether or not a city is ready to meet those challenges. The "hyperbole" surrounding Rio, Bell said, is "They’re never going to make it, it’s going to be terrible, everybody’s going to die in the water."

"We heard a lot of this moaning in Sochi, and we’ve heard a lot of this going into Rio, but I’m here to tell you that we’ve gotten to know the team in Rio, and we have every bit of confidence that they’re going to be absolutely 100 percent completely ready."

NBC Sports Group chairman Mark Lazarus shares that confidence.

"We believe in the team [in Rio]," he told ATR. "We also believe what we’ve seen with our own eyes and

that it is coming along quite well."

The cleanliness of the water in Guanabara Bay has been an ongoing controversy.

Lazarus said NBC Sports has "never shied away" from covering issues that affect the Games, and NBC

News has also independently run stories.

"We do a really balanced job," he said, "and we take it very seriously that our job is not to change a country’s culture and what they do, but we need to let the American public know the facts."

Bell added that a year ago, at the two-year out mark, "there was a lot of handwringing about the golf venue that even if they started today, they might not be able to finish it in time. I was there 10 days ago. It’s pretty much done."

Strong Interest in Sponsorships

Ad sales are expected to "exceed London," Seth Winter, executive VP of ad sales for the NBC Sports Group, tells ATR. "It’s going very well."

Olympic sponsors, whom Winter calls "rings holders," are already on board, including BMW, P&G, United Airlines, Smucker’s, Nike and Kellogg’s.

"We’ve done a very good job with our rings holders and there are a few that we’re about to close," Winter said.

"We’re just very excited. It’s very attractive to everyone with whom we do business to be able to talk about a live Games in a place like Rio de Janeiro. That comes along once in a career, so we’re over the moon about it."

He said the time zone and place are not the only factors piquing sponsor interest.

"I also think it’s how resonant these big events have become now in light of all the fragmentation that continues quarter after quarter," Winter said. "You look at the ratings of linear television, and it just erodes and erodes. Sports is the one thing that has been stable and grown a little bit and the Olympics is the pinnacle of sport. So we’re very confident."

This cycle NBC will have multiple automotive sponsors, although BMW will be exclusive in the luxury category.

"It varies Games to Games," Winter said." Last Games, both General Motors and BMW were exclusive."

Covering All Bases

Bell said NBC Sports Group is currently lining up production engineering and on-air teams, conducting surveys of building and designing sets.

"Above all else," he said, "we’re getting ready to do what we like to think we do best, and that’s storytelling of the world’s greatest athletes."

Zenkel said that there will be about 2,000 NBC staffers in Rio and about 1,000 working in Stamford, Connecticut.

"The size of our local contingent at the Games is probably a little smaller than maybe three or four Olympics ago, but still very large relative to another broadcaster," he said. "What has grown is the size of the workforce in our home base operation."

As it has in previous Games, NBC Universal will utilize its cable channels, with some dedicated to particular sports.

"Golf’s back after a modest 112-year absence, and we’ve got a channel just for that," Bell said.

Dave Schaefer, spokesman for the Golf Channel, said coverage of the two weeklong tournaments will be "wall to wall," including practice rounds, just as it will be for the upcoming PGA Championship.

The Olympic airtime will be a boost for women’s golf, he added, "just because it’s such a big stage," and the amount of broadcast hours for the women’s game will be much greater than usual.

Written by Karen Rosenin New York

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