By Nancy Gillen |
NBCUniversal is to broadcast a record 1,200 hours of coverage of this year’s Paralympic Games in Tokyo.
More than 200 hours of television coverage from the Games is set to be shown across NBC, NBCSN and the Olympic Channel.
There will also be coverage on NBCUniversal’s streaming service Peacock, live coverage of the Opening and Closing Ceremonies on NBCSN, and live streaming on NBC Sports digital platforms.
The primetime coverage will not include live sport but will instead feature the top moments and stories from the Games, as well as interviews with American athletes.
NBCSN, NBCOlympics.com, the NBC Sports app and Peacock will all broadcast live sport, while the Olympic Channel is to show additional original hours and extensive replays.
Coverage is to include accessibility features such as closed captioning and video description services.
Additional programming details will be announced at a later date.
“We are proud to be America’s long-term home of the Paralympics, and Tokyo will mark new heights in our coverage and storytelling,” said NBC Olympics President Gary Zenkel.
“We are committed to growing our coverage across our platforms and bringing to the American audience the extraordinary achievements of Para athletes well into the future, a vision shared by our Paralympic partners – Toyota, Nike, Eli Lilly and United Healthcare.”
NBCUniversal also committed to a full six months of promotion for the upcoming Paralympics, scheduled to run from August 24 to September 5 after being postponed from last year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
This will include an ongoing series of “Get to Know Team USA” on social and digital platforms, and the coverage of the US Paralympic team trials on June 27.
There will also be additional promotion of the Paralympics during NBCUniversal’s coverage of the Olympic Games.
“NBCUniversal’s commitment to the coverage and promotion of the Tokyo Paralympic Games and US Paralympic Team is truly something to celebrate,” said United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee chief executive Sarah Hirshland.
“This is a great reflection of our combined pledge to creating a path to parity for the Paralympic movement while bringing the incredible feats of our Para athletes into more American homes than ever before.”
NBC Olympics recently announced plans for its first live morning broadcast of an Olympic Opening Ceremony from Tokyo.
Tokyo is 13 hours ahead of the East Coast of the United States.
This will mean coverage will begin at 7am Eastern Time and 4am Pacific Time on NBC, with the ceremony scheduled for 8pm local time in Tokyo on July 24.
NBC has previously received criticism for airing Opening Ceremonies and competitions at the Olympic Games on tape delays, which are aimed at ensuring primetime coverage in each time zone in the country.
NBC has confirmed the Tokyo Opening Ceremony will be replayed to allow viewers to watch in primetime.
Republished with permission from insidethegames.biz.