Spotlight, and pressure, is on NBC as Games loom

Network, outlets plan more than 7,000 hours of coverage

NEW YORK — If all goes well for NBC Universal over the next several weeks, Americans will be buzzing about the Olympic performances of Simone Biles, Gabby Thomas, Kevin Durant or some unexpected star.

The year-delayed Tokyo Olympics officially opens with NBC’s telecast of the opening ceremony on July 23 — live in the morning and with an edited version in prime time.

The Olympics arrive dripping in bad vibes, amid a COVID-19 state of emergency in Japan. The majority of Japanese citizens are unvaccinated against the virus and most wish the Olympics weren’t taking place this summer. Most events will occur in near-empty venues. Star sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson was kicked off the U.S. team after a positive marijuana test, and the U.S. men’s basketball team suffered embarrassing exhibition losses to Nigeria and Australia.

Yet once the competition begins, NBC is banking on a COVID-weary United States to embrace the Games.

“I really believe that people are craving a shared experience after all we’ve been through,” said Molly Solomon, executive producer of NBC’s Olympics coverage.

If you miss anything, it won’t be NBC’s fault. More than 7,000 hours of Olympics coverage will be offered, on NBC, cable outlets like USA and NBCSN, on NBCOlympics.com and the Peacock streaming service, on Twitch, Twitter and Snap.

The length of COVID’s shadow is difficult to predict.

While the International Olympic Committee gave the go-ahead for the Games, it’s hard to fathom that NBC Universal, which is paying $7.75 billion to broadcast the Olympics between 2022 and 2032, didn’t make its voice heard. Mike Wise didn’t exempt NBC when he called it “one of the most brazen, hubris-overhumanity cash grabs in modern history” in a Washington Post column this week.

Asked about the issue, Solomon said, “if there’s an Olympic Games that’s happening, as the American broadcaster, we’re going to be here to chronicle the stories of the games.”

NBC News anchor Lester Holt will report during the opening ceremonies about the COVID-19 concerns and restrictions placed on participants.

How much Holt will be needed after opening night is anybody’s guess. Only a determined optimist would believe that no athlete will catch the virus or be exposed. The question is whether it will happen often enough to wreak havoc on the schedule.

NBC’s prime-time coverage will almost exclusively be devoted to swimming and diving, track and field, gymnastics and beach volleyball, as it has in the past. There will be some exceptions, like gold medal games in men’s and women’s basketball.

COVID-POSITIVE: The first resident of the Olympic Village has tested positive for COVID-19, Tokyo Olympic organizers said on Saturday.

Officials said it was not an athlete, but “gamesconcerned personnel.” The person is a non-resident of Japan. Tokyo officials said the person was placed in a 14-day quarantine.

The Olympic Village on Tokyo Bay will house about 11,000 athletes during the Olympics and thousands of other staff.