
The networks and digital platforms of NBCUniversal will present an unprecedented 6,755 hours of programming for the Games of the XXXI Olympiad from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, this August. NBC will broadcast 260.5 hours of Olympic programming, including coverage of the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, swimming, gymnastics, track and field, and many more of the Games' most popular sports.
With Rio just one hour ahead of the Eastern Time zone, the 2016 Summer Games will be the most live Olympics ever. NBCU will present 2,084 hours of Olympic linear programming across 11 networks: broadcast networks NBC and TELEMUNDO (Spanish language); cable channels Bravo, CNBC, Golf Channel, MSNBC, NBC Sports Network (NBCSN), NBC UNIVERSO (Spanish language), and USA Network; plus two specialty channels provided to distribution partners, one each for basketball and soccer.
Powered by Playmaker Media, NBCOlympics.com and the NBC Sports app will live stream 4,500 total hours including all Olympic competition for the third consecutive Olympics for authenticated pay TV subscribers via TV Everywhere to desktops, mobile devices, and tablets, plus connected TVs for the first time. Additional details regarding NBC Olympics' digital offering will be announced soon.
NBC Olympics will also provide 4K Ultra HD content to NBCU distribution partners, as well as Virtual Reality (VR) programming, the details of which will be announced soon. Both presentations will be Olympic firsts.
Olympic fans rejoice; the Rio Games will offer the most comprehensive coverage of any event in sports history, said Jim Bell, Executive Producer, NBC Olympics. For those who have a favorite sport or like to watch on a particular screen, this nearly 7,000-hour smorgasbord of sports excellence has you covered.
The Opening Ceremony of the 2016 Rio Olympics will air on Friday, August 5, on NBC. Competition begins two days earlier on Wednesday, August 3, with women's soccer on NBCSN and USA Network, and the Games conclude on Sunday, August 21, with the Closing Ceremony on NBC.
Following are additional highlights and notes regarding NBCU's coverage of the Rio Games:
NBCUniversal is presenting its 15th Olympic Games and ninth consecutive, both the most by any U.S. media company. ABC is second with 10 and four, respectively.
Rio will be NBCUniversal's eighth consecutive Summer Games, having presented each one since Seoul in 1988. NBCU has exclusive U.S. media rights for all Olympic Games through 2032.
The 6,755 hours of coverage for Rio is 1,220 hours more than was produced for London in 2012 (5,535) and is a new Olympic programming record.
NBC Olympics' coverage averages roughly 356 hours of coverage per day (19 days). If the 6,755 hours ran on one channel, it would take 281 days to finish airing.
The last time the Summer Games were in a U.S. friendly time zone, NBC was the lone network, broadcasting 171 total hours of coverage for the 1996 Atlanta Games. Rio will have nearly 40 times more programming hours than Atlanta.
TELEMUNDO and NBC UNIVERSO, the home of the Olympics in Spanish in the United States, will present 273.5 hours of coverage, the most extensive Olympic coverage in the history of U.S. Spanish-language television, and 100 hours more than London 2012 (173.5).
Following is a summary of each network's Olympic coverage plans:
NBC
NBC's 260.5 hours of coverage begins on Friday, August 5, and concludes on Sunday, August 21, with the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, respectively. Across NBC's primetime, daytime and late night dayparts, coverage will feature many of the Games' most popular sports, including swimming, gymnastics, track and field, diving, beach volleyball, volleyball, and the men's and women's basketball finals.
In addition to competition, coverage will also include athlete features, segments on the host city and country, and interviews with newsmakers and medal-winning athletes.
On most days, NBC primetime programming will air from 8 p.m. - midnight ET/PT; daytime from 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. ET/PT; late night from 12:35 a.m. - 1:35 a.m. ET/PT; and replays from 1:35 a.m. - 4:30 a.m. ET/PT.
Bob Costas will again anchor NBC's primetime coverage, while Ryan Seacrest will host the network's late night programming. Al Michaels will serve as an NBC daytime host on weekdays and weekends. Dan Patrick and Rebecca Lowe will work daytime across both NBC and NBCSN.
NBC's daytime and late night programming will originate from a studio located at Rio de Janeiro's iconic Copacabana Beach. The state-of-the-art beach studio will feature two sets; one indoor and one outdoor, a main anchor desk, an interview area, and a news update desk, all positioned to capture the panoramic views of the beach, Sugarloaf Mountain, and the Rio coastline. It is the first time in 24 years, since the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, that NBC Olympics has utilized a major studio outside the International Broadcast Center (IBC). NBC's primetime studio will be located in the IBC.
NBCSN
NBC Sports Network (NBCSN) will present 330 hours of Olympic programming and more than 20 sports, both more than any other TV network. NBCSN will once again serve as the showcase network for Team USA women's soccer, and Team USA men's and women's basketball.
Medals will be won every day on NBCSN from Saturday, August 6, through Sunday, August 21. In addition to basketball and soccer, coverage will include track and field, archery, boxing, cycling, fencing, field hockey, judo, open water swimming, rugby, shooting, soccer, synchronized swimming, table tennis, weightlifting, wrestling and more.
The network's 18 days of coverage begins on Wednesday, August 3, two days before the Opening Ceremony, with women's soccer, and concludes on Sunday, August 21, the final day of the Games. On most days
Most recent headlines
13/12/2025
Powering Client Growth: Horizon Deepens Nielsen Partnership, Enabling More Effic...
13/12/2025
In a move that will help it offer more flexible and less costly programming options, YouTube TV has announced that it will be launching YouTube TV Plans with mo...
13/12/2025
SINGAPORE Magna Systems has designed, built and completed what is believed to be the first full UHD and IP-based OB truck in Southeast Asia for a Singapore medi...
12/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: Everything You Need to Know for Next Week's Big Sho...
12/12/2025
Hailey Gates at the Atropia premiere (photo by George Pimentel / Shutterstock for Sundance Film Festival)...
12/12/2025
Last month, Spotify announced a new collaboration with the ATP Tour, the global governing body of men's professional tennis, aimed at bringing the next gene...
12/12/2025
CONWAY, Ark. In a notable example of how the elimination of Federal federal funding is forcing public stations to make massive cuts and changes in the way they...
12/12/2025
Wisycom and DPA Microphones announce the appointment of Ren Moerch as Group Product Director, Wireless, a strategic leadership role that will guide the combine...
12/12/2025
SMPTE , the home of media professionals, technologists, and engineers, in conjuncture with the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and the Entertainment Technolog...
12/12/2025
Keepit, the vendor-independent, cloud-native data protection provider, today announced a strategic go-to-market relationship in Poland with Ingram Micro, a lead...
12/12/2025
Atomos announced the immediate availability of a new firmware update for its Ninja TX GO and Ninja TX monitor-recorders, unlocking Open Gate 48P RAW recording w...
12/12/2025
Professional Wireless Systems (PWS) once again played a critical role in delivering flawless wireless coordination and support at the 2025 Latin Grammy Awards a...
12/12/2025
The Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS), together with the Video Services Forum (VSF), the Advanced Media Workflow Association (AMWA) and the European Broadc...
12/12/2025
DHD audio will demonstrate the latest additions to its range of digital audio production solutions on Booth 321 in Hall B6 at Hamburg Open 2026. The show will b...
12/12/2025
Chaos today announces the release of V-Ray for Blender, update 2, bringing its award-winning rendering technology to even more Blender users by adding support f...
12/12/2025
Lighting specialist UltraLEDs has launched Precision LED Tape, a high-CRI lighting solution designed specifically for professional film, TV, and studio use.
P...
12/12/2025
Zixi, the Emmy Award-winning leader in live broadcast-quality video over IP, today announced that Roi Sasson has joined the company as Vice President, Engineer...
12/12/2025
BitFire (bitfire.tv), the leader in software-defined live production and IP transmission, today announced a strategic partnership with Appear, a leader in high-...
12/12/2025
LOS ANGELES The Hollywood Professional Association (HPA) today said futurist Robert Tercek, creative technologist Jessie Hughes from Leonardo.AI and Emmy-winnin...
12/12/2025
HUDSON, Mass. BitFire and Appear have struck a strategic partnership aimed at offering broadcasters, sports leagues and streaming platforms a faster, more flexi...
12/12/2025
The broadcast industry is evolving faster than ever. #IPWorkflows #remoteproduction, and next-gen audio systems are reshaping how teams design, deliver, and sca...
12/12/2025
LOS ANGELES The payroll and production accounting platform Wrapbook has announced the acquisition of Cinapse, a modern scheduling platform for film and televisi...
12/12/2025
DEHLI Ross Video has announced that it is expanding and restructuring its commercial and technical teams in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation...
12/12/2025
LONDON Following the success of its UK launch in January 2025, Rise AV, the global not-for-profit initiative dedicated to supporting and advancing women in the ...
12/12/2025
SAN FRANCISCO Ad-supported streaming service Tubi next week will launch Matter Casting, a new casting standard that will enable seamless mobile-to-TV viewing di...
12/12/2025
LOS ANGELES The Hollywood Professional Association (HPA) today said futurist Robert Tercek, creative technologist Jessie Hughes from Leonardo.AI and Emmy-winnin...
12/12/2025
Friday 12 December 2025
Ted is back! Seth MacFarlane's live-action comedic ...
12/12/2025
In Las Vegas's T-Mobile Arena, fans of the Golden Knights are getting more than just hockey - they're getting a taste of the future. ADAM, a robot devel...
12/12/2025
Uachtar n na h ireann, Catherine Connolly visited RT Raidi na Gaeltachta's...
12/12/2025
Ireland AM host Eric Roberts has been revealed as the sixth contestant taking to...
12/12/2025
Scripps Research team pioneers an efficient way to stereoselectively add fluorine to drug-like molecules A new method uses a novel catalyst and inexpensive fluo...
11/12/2025
Thomson and the Center for News, Technology and Innovation (CNTI) convened a two-day workshop in Sarajevo bringing together more than 35 journalists, editors, p...
11/12/2025
ESPN's Aims for Spectacular With Heisman Trophy ShowEvent firsts include 1080p HDR production airing on both national broadcast and cableBy Dan Daley, Audio...
11/12/2025
SVG Students To Watch: Frankie Patton, University of ColoradoThe 2025 grad is hitting the ground running as a PA on national broadcastsBy Brandon Costa, Directo...
11/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Technology Exhibits Preview, Part 3By SVG Staff
Thursday, December 11, 2025 - 7:24 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
The 2...
11/12/2025
SVG Sit-Down: What Makes Gen Z, X, and Y Fans Tick? Dave Gavant of WSC Sports Go...
11/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: 5G, MXL, Spectrum Loss, and Outerspace on Tap for Tues...
11/12/2025
2025 Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame: David Levy, Turner Titan and Master of Al...
11/12/2025
SVG Launches Follow the Money' Podcast: Go Inside the Sports Media Biz with...
11/12/2025
A Deep Dive Inside Game Creek Video's Bird and Magic Mobile Units, Home to A...
11/12/2025
How Sound Effects for Monsters Funday Football' Emulated the Sonic Soul of ...
11/12/2025
SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: CSP Mobile Productions' Len Chase on Upgrading Tr...
11/12/2025
Having the right song soundtrack your moves can make all the difference when gam...
11/12/2025
It's been a big year for Taylor Swift. Her highly anticipated album The Life...
11/12/2025
New satellites for the SDA Tranche 1 Tracking program in production at L3Harris&...
11/12/2025
The Meadowlands system, a compact and mobile version of the CCS, uses ground-based radio frequency units to disrupt satellite communications....
11/12/2025
The L3Harris demonstration united tactical communications devices, counter-UAS c...
11/12/2025
Throughout 2025, L3Harris delivered innovative solutions to U.S. and allied warfighters across every domain.
With an unrelenting commitment to excellence, our...
11/12/2025
A Majority of the World's Population (51%) Identify As Soccer Fans
The 2025 MLB postseason notched 58.2 billion viewing minutes, up +24% from the prior y...
11/12/2025
WALTHAM, Mass. Video-over-IP software provider Zixi said Roi Sasson has joined the company as vice president, engineering....