In the next month or so, NBC will formally announce its coverage plans and talent for the London Summer Olympics. We’ve heard drips and drabs. Last year, Dan Patrick announced on his show that he will have a host role on the Olympics along with Bob Costas and Al Michaels.
This week, we learned that Meredith Viera will return to the Today Show for the two weeks in London to host the morning portion along with Matt Lauer. And it was announced that Meredith and Matt will join Bob Costas to host the Opening Ceremony at the new Olympic Stadium on July 27.
In addition, we found out through Brian Stelter of the New York Times that no-talent hack Ryan Seacrest will also be involved in a yet-to-be-defined role, and I hope it’s not in primetime or late night.
So here is what we know thus far. I’ll put together a more detailed speculative list of announcers and hosts when I have the time. And I hope to have someone from NBC Sports on a future podcast to discuss the network’s Olympic plans. I have to stress that this is not official from NBC. What has been confirmed will be in bold and italicized.
OPENING CEREMONY
Bob Costas, Matt Lauer, Meredith Viera
TODAY SHOW AT THE OLYMPICS
Matt Lauer, Meredith Viera, Ann Curry, Al Roker
AFTERNOON
Al Michaels (based on 2010 in Vancouver)
PRIMETIME
Bob Costas
Ryan Seacrest
LATE NIGHT
Mary Carillo (based on 2008 in Beijing)
WEEKEND
Dan Patrick
NBC SPORTS NETWORK
Dan Patrick
Liam McHugh
CLOSING CEREMONY
Bob Costas, Matt Lauer, Meredith Viera
I put Dan and Liam on NBC Sports Network based on a report earlier this week in Multichannel News that NBCSN will air 300 hours of coverage and they will need familiar hosts on the network. Dan who hosted NFL Turning Point for Versus/NBCSN and NHL host McHugh will give NBCSN viewers some familiarity.
Other potential hosts could include Lester Holt (served as MSNBC host in Athens) and Fred Roggin (boxing host in 2008 and curling in 2010).
Hosts we won’t see return from previous Olympiads: Matt Vasgersian (now with MLB Network/Fox) and Lindsay Czarniak (now on ESPN).
As mentioned previously, I’ll throw together a full list of whom I think will host and call the events based on previous Olympics and see how it compares to the official list when it’s released.
UPDATE, 04/03/2012: It’s now reported at the Washington Post that Ryan Seacrest and Bob Costas will co-host primetime. This saddens me to no end.
