This Friday, both Universal Sports and UniversalSports.com will offer live coverage of the International Olympic Committee’s announcement of the host of the 2016 Olympic Games. Four cities are vying to be host, Chicago, IL; Madrid, Spain; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; and Tokyo, Japan. Universal says it will be on the air for at least four hours, simulcasting Chicago’s NBC affiliate.
Universal Sports to Carry 2016 Olympic Announcement Live on FridayOngoing, Pre-Announcement Bid City Presentations Available at UniversalSports.com
President Obama will Attend and be part of the Chicago Presentation Bid in Copenhagen
LOS ANGELES – September 28, 2009 – Universal Sports and UniversalSports.com will air and live-stream NBC5 News Chicago’s coverage of the Friday, October 2, announcement of the winning bid city for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games. The unprecedented national television coverage of the bid city announcement will take place from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. ET (9 a.m. – 1 p.m. Chicago time), and may be extended if Chicago wins the bid. The announcement itself will take place in Copenhagen, Denmark. President Obama is expected to attend in support of Chicago’s bid, along with the heads of state representing the other finalist cities of Madrid, Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo.“As part of our mission of airing Olympic sports and events that are impactful within the Olympic framework, the IOC announcement awarding the 2016 Summer Games to one of these great international cities is very deserving of our attention,” said Claude Ruibal, CEO of Universal Sports. “We’re extremely pleased to be able to offer this coverage to our millions of viewers around the U.S. and online, and to work closely with our NBC5 Chicago partners to make this happen.”
The coverage will include live interviews with newsmakers both in Copenhagen and Chicago, with limited commercial interruptions. UniversalSports.com/Olympics has a dashboard featuring news, pictures and bid city facts, with live Twitter updates from NBC Olympics and Universal Sports’ reporter Alan Abrahamson from Copenhagen. UniversalSports.com will be streaming video from 2:45 a.m. – 1 p.m. ET, and will show each of the four finalist cities’ LIVE presentations at the following times (all times Eastern):
- 2:45 – 3:55 a.m. Chicago Final Bid Presentation
- 4:25 – 5:45 a.m. Tokyo Final Bid Presentation
- 6:05 – 7:25 a.m. Rio de Janeiro Final Bid Presentation
- 8:45 – 9:55 a.m. Madrid Final Bid Presentation
- 12:30 – 1 p.m. Announcement of Host City for 2016 Olympic Games
I have been so busy with my own work that I did not realize the announcement was this Friday. If things work out, I’ll be here with the announcement as well.
