Olympic Ice

Did You Know?

• For the 1972 Winter Games, NBC commentators had to work off monitors because all broadcast booths had already been built by NHK and none were available.
• Al Michaels made his network television debut at age 26 doing hockey play-by-play for NBC at the 1972 Winter Games in Sapporo.
• For the 1964 Summer Olympics, videotape canisters were flown across the Pacific Ocean for broadcast to American viewers the following day.

History

NBC first televised the Winter Olympic Games in 1972, anchored by Curt Gowdy. Much of the coverage was broadcast live because alpine skiing and long track speed skating events were held in the morning, corresponding to prime time on the East Coast of the United States. NBC had bought the television rights from the Sapporo Olympics group but did not realize it needed to negotiate with NHK for broadcast booths at each venue; by the time NBC discovered this, the booths had already been built and none were available, so all commentators worked off monitors.

A 26-year-old Al Michaels made his network television debut at these games, handling hockey play-by-play; he would later call the 1980 "Miracle On Ice" for ABC Sports. Other sportscasters for NBC at Sapporo included Jim Simpson, Jay Randolph, Billy Kidd, Peggy Fleming, Art Devlin, and Terry McDermott. NBC's first Olympic telecast overall was the 1964 Summer Olympics from Tokyo, which used the Syncom 3 satellite to transmit the opening ceremonies live in color—the first such broadcast via satellite to the United States—while the competition itself aired in black-and-white.

Daily highlights were available a few hours after events via satellite, and videotape canisters were flown across the Pacific for broadcast the following day. Bill Henry, NBC News Tokyo bureau chief, served as anchor, with play-by-play from Bud Palmer and Jim Simpson and analysis from former Olympians Rafer Johnson and Murray Rose.

Music

Since 1992, the main theme of NBC's Olympics coverage has been "Bugler's Dream" by Leo Arnaud, a composition previously used by ABC for its Olympics coverage since 1964. Beginning with the 1996 Summer Olympics, this theme has been played in a medley with John Williams' "Olympic Fanfare and Theme," originally composed for the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. Williams has also composed other secondary themes for NBC's Olympic telecasts, including "The Olympic Spirit" (used as the main theme in 1988, NBC's first year as rightsholder, before "Bugler's Dream" was reinstated), "Summon the Heroes" (written for the 1996 opening ceremony), and "Call of the Champions" (written for the 2002 Winter Olympics).

In 1996, NBC began using a theme by Randy Edelman—originally from the short-lived Fox series The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr.—during segments highlighting upcoming Olympic events. Senior creative producer Mark Levy felt that Edelman's works, like those of John Williams, shared the "proportion and emotion" of the Olympics. Since 2002, NBC has used music from the soundtrack of the sports film Remember the Titans as part of its closing credits sequence for the Olympics.