On Tuesday, NBCUniversal made an announcement that shocked many sports media and Olympic observers. NBCSN would air live figure skating from Sochi, a warm water port in Russia, and not hold the event solely for primetime. Not only will the network show the short programs in the new team event, men’s, ladies, pairs and the short dance, but the free skates in all rounds. This marks the first time that a US network will air live Olympic figure skating from outside North America.
ABC aired live figure skating from Lake Placid and Calgary in 1980 and 1988, respectively. NBC showed the live skates in Salt Lake City and Vancouver in 2002 and 2010, respectively.
The live figure skating on NBCSN will have different announcers than what will be seen in primetime on NBC and the Peacock will add features and some packaging for the primetime broadcast.
And NBCSN will have plenty of live men’s hockey including the medal round and the bronze medal game. Here’s the NBCUniversal press release.
NBCSN TO PRESENT 230+ HOURS OF SOCHI OLYMPICS COVERAGE
Network to Provide Comprehensive Live Coverage of Sochi Competition Day & Serve as Cable Home of Team USA
Daily Coverage Begins Feb. 8 at 3 a.m. ET/Midnight PTStamford, Conn. – December 17, 2013 – NBC Olympics will utilize NBCSN, the NBC Sports Group’s Emmy Award-winning 24/7 sports network that is distributed in approximately 80 million homes, to present more than 230 hours of coverage of the XXII Olympic Winter Games from Sochi, Russia, this February. It will be the most Winter Olympic coverage ever on a cable network.
NBCSN’s 2014 Sochi Games coverage highlights include:
- The most comprehensive live coverage of the Sochi competition day;
- The network serving as the cable home for Team USA;
- Starting Saturday, February 8, when NBCSN’s Olympic coverage begins, the network will feature complete, live coverage of figure skating;
- In addition to its extensive figure skating coverage, the network will feature live coverage of 10 more sports, including speed skating, bobsled, ski jumping, Nordic combined, and more.
- Team USA vs. Russia in men’s hockey on Saturday, Feb. 15.
NBCSN’s Olympic coverage begins Saturday, February 8 at 3 a.m. ET/Midnight PT, when Team USA faces Finland in women’s hockey, and concludes Sunday, February 23, the final day of the Sochi Games. NBCSN will air at least one gold medal final live each day through its 16 days of coverage. Most days, live coverage on NBCSN will begin at 3 a.m. ET and continue for 12 hours.
NBCSN will complement the Olympic programming airing on NBC, the details of which will be released shortly. It was announced in November that CNBC will carry 36 hours of Olympic curling coverage, MSNBC will host 45 hours of live curling and hockey, including medal rounds, and USA Network will serve up 43 hours of live curling and hockey coverage, including medal rounds. It was also announced that NBCOlympics.com will live stream all Sochi Olympics competition. The vast majority of live streaming will only be available to authenticated cable, satellite or telco customers via “TV Everywhere,” the media industry’s effort to make quality content available to authenticated customers both in and out of the home, and on multiple platforms. For more information on the Olympic coverage being provided by CNBC, MSNBC, USA Network and NBCOlympics.com, please click here http://nbcsportsgrouppressbox.com/shows/nbc-olympics/.
FIGURE SKATING
NBCSN’s complete live figure skating coverage begins Saturday, February 8 at 9:30 a.m. ET with the team event, which makes its Olympic debut in Sochi. The event will be featured prominently in NBCSN’s first weekend of coverage and pits countries against each other in every figure skating discipline. Each team includes six skaters: one male, one female, one pair and one ice dance couple.
Following coverage of the team event, NBCSN will show every performance and every skater of the pairs, men’s, ice dancing and ladies competitions. Reigning ice dancing world champions and 2010 Olympic silver medalists Meryl Davis and Charlie White are expected to compete for Team USA in Sochi in the team event as well as ice dancing.
Following is a breakdown of NBCSN’s figure skating coverage:
Date Time (ET) Event/Program Sat., Feb. 8 9:30 a.m. Team Event: Ice Dancing Short, Ladies’ Short, Pairs’ Free Sun., Feb. 9 10 a.m. Team Event: Men’s Free, Ice Dancing Free, Ladies’ Free Tues., Feb. 11 10 a.m. Pairs Short Wed., Feb. 12 10:45 a.m. Pairs Free Thurs., Feb. 13 10 a.m. Men’s Short Fri., Feb. 14 10 a.m. Men’s Free Sun., Feb. 16 10 a.m. Ice Dancing Short Mon., Feb. 17 10 a.m. Ice Dancing Free Wed., Feb. 19 10 a.m. Ladies’ Short Thurs., Feb. 20 10 a.m. Ladies’ Free LIVE MEN’S HOCKEY
NBCSN will present 16 men’s live hockey games through the bronze medal game, including qualifying, playoff, quarterfinal and semifinal games. Live men’s hockey medal-round coverage begins Tuesday, February 18 at 3 a.m. ET. The network will air three Team USA qualifying-round games, including Team USA vs. Russia on Saturday, February 15 at 7:30 a.m. ET.
Russia, an Olympic hockey power since the time of the Soviet Union, has dominated the rivalry with the exception of two U.S. upsets, which led to Team USA’s two gold medals (1960, 1980). The rivalry between the two nations dates to the time of the former Soviet Union’s first Olympic hockey appearance in 1956, when the Soviets defeated the Americans for the gold medal, their first of seven in the sport. Team USA games beyond the qualifying round are TBD.
Following are Team USA qualifying-round games:
Date Time (ET) Matchup Thurs., Feb. 13 7:30 a.m. Slovakia vs. Team USA Sat., Feb. 15 7:30 a.m. Team USA vs. Russia Sun., Feb. 16 7:30 a.m. Slovenia vs. Team USA LIVE WOMEN’S HOCKEY
NBCSN’s women’s hockey coverage features seven live games through the semifinal round and the bronze medal game. Qualifying-round coverage is highlighted by three Team USA games, including Team USA vs. Canada on Wednesday, February 12 at 7:30 a.m. ET.
Since women’s hockey was added to the Olympic program at the 1998 Nagano Games, Team USA and Canada have competed in the gold medal game in three of the four Olympics, with Canada winning twice (2002, 2010) and the U.S. once (1998).
NBCSN’s Olympic coverage begins with Team USA facing Finland in women’s hockey on Saturday, February 8 at 3 a.m. ET. Team USA games beyond the qualifying round are TBD.
Following are Team USA qualifying-round games:
Date Time (ET) Matchup Sat., Feb. 8 3 a.m. Team USA vs. Finland Mon., Feb. 10 5 a.m. Team USA vs. Switzerland Wed., Feb. 12 7:30 a.m. Canada vs. Team USA ADDITIONAL OLYMPIC SPORTS
NBCSN will present live coverage of 11 Olympic sports throughout the Games, including live gold medal coverage of events in bobsled, Nordic combined, cross-country skiing, speed skating, and ski jumping, including women’s ski jumping, which debuts as an event in Sochi.
And later this morning, we expect NBC’s talent roster announcement for Sochi. We’ll have it in its entirety for you.
