Olympics on NBC

Did You Know?

• NBC announced more than 1,200 hours of coverage for the 2020 games, called 'unprecedented' by the International Paralympic Committee.
• In March 2025, NBC signed a $3 billion extension for both the 2034 Winter and 2036 Summer games.
• NBC's telecasts have been criticized for tape delaying events, spoiling results, and editing broadcasts to resemble an emotionally appealing program rather than a straight live sports event.

History

NBC televised its first Olympic Games in 1964, broadcasting that year's Summer Olympics from Tokyo. The network originally planned to film events and fly tapes, but a one-hour test of the Syncom 3 satellite revealed it could transmit up to two hours from the United States to Japan. After FCC approval, NBC used satellite coverage, avoiding flight expenses and reducing tape shipments. The opening ceremonies were the first color broadcast televised live via satellite back to the United States, though the competition itself aired in black-and-white.

Daily highlights packages reached viewers a few hours after events via satellite, while videotape canisters were flown across the Pacific for next-day broadcast. Bill Henry, NBC News Tokyo bureau chief, served as anchor; play-by-play commentators included Bud Palmer and Jim Simpson, with former Olympians Rafer Johnson and Murray Rose as analysts. NBC first televised the Winter Olympic Games in 1972, anchored by Curt Gowdy. Much coverage aired live because alpine skiing and long track speed skating occurred in the morning, corresponding to East Coast prime time.

NBC bought rights from the Sapporo Olympics group but failed to secure broadcast booths from NHK, forcing all personnel to work off monitors. A 26-year-old Al Michaels made his network television debut doing hockey play-by-play at Sapporo; eight years later he called the 1980 'Miracle On Ice' for ABC Sports. Other sportscasters included Jim Simpson, Jay Randolph, Billy Kidd, Peggy Fleming, Art Devlin, and Terry McDermott.

Music

Since 1992, the melody that has anchored NBC's Olympic broadcasts is "Bugler's Dream," a piece by Leo Arnaud that ABC had featured from 1964 onward. Starting with the 1996 Summer Games, NBC paired it with John Williams' "Olympic Fanfare and Theme," which he originally wrote for the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. Williams also created other pieces for the network: "The Olympic Spirit" served as the main theme in 1988, NBC's first Olympics, before "Bugler's Dream" returned; "Summon the Heroes" debuted at the 1996 opening ceremony; and "Call of the Champions" was made for the 2002 Winter Games.

In 1996, NBC adopted a Randy Edelman track from the short-lived Fox series The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. for segments promoting upcoming events. Edelman had been hired to compose music for NBC's NFL coverage, and this piece came from a sample portfolio he submitted. Senior creative producer Mark Levy noted that Edelman's work, like Williams', captured the "proportion and emotion" of the Olympics. Since 2002, NBC's closing credits have incorporated music from the film Remember the Titans.