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Saturday, June 26, 2021

Mike Tirico Leads The NBC Sports Team for Tokyo Olympics


Mike Tirico leads a record 178 NBC Olympics commentators as NBCUniversal presents more than 7,000 hours of coverage of the Games of the XXXII Olympiad from Tokyo, Japan across NBC, USA Network, CNBC, NBCSN, GOLF Channel, Peacock, Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA, Telemundo, Universo, the NBC Sports app, and NBCOlympics.com.

The roster includes Olympians who have won a combined total of 76 Olympic medals — 41 gold, 19 silver, and 16 bronze. Team NBC would have finished second in the Rio medal count ahead of China and Great Britain and behind Team USA.

The overall talent lineup features the return of many of the network’s signature Olympic hosts, play-by-play commentators and analysts with Olympic experience.

NBC Olympics On-Air Team Includes:
  • MIKE TIRICO: Tirico anchors NBC Olympics’ primetime and late-night shows outdoors from a fifth-floor deck with a panoramic view of the Tokyo skyline, highlighted by the landmark Rainbow Bridge. The Tokyo assignment is Tirico’s third with NBC Olympics, having served as a daytime host on Copacabana Beach at the 2016 Rio Olympics and anchoring NBC Olympics’ primetime and late-night coverage of the 2018 PyeongChang Olympic Winter Games.
  • REBECCA LOWE: Lowe serves as the daytime host for NBC Olympics’ coverage of the Tokyo Olympics, her fourth assignment as an Olympics host after making her debut in Sochi in 2014. Previously, Lowe served as an NBCSN host for Sochi 2014, before anchoring daytime coverage on NBC in Rio in 2016 and in PyeongChang in 2018.
  • AHMED FAREED: Fareed will handle his third assignment for NBC Olympics, hosting coverage on USA Network from NBC Sports Group’s International Broadcast Center in Stamford, Conn. Previously, Fareed anchored daytime NBCSN coverage during PyeongChang 2018, and made his NBC Olympics debut as a USA Network host for Rio 2016.
  • LIAM MC HUGH: McHugh returns to NBC Olympics in a hosting role for the fifth time, serving as a USA Network anchor from NBC Sports Group’s International Broadcast Center in Stamford. For PyeongChang 2018, he hosted NBCSN primetime and late night, while also anchoring the daily Olympic Ice figure skating preview show. Previously, McHugh was a studio host in Rio in 2016, hosted Olympic hockey coverage at the 2014 Sochi Games, and served as an anchor of NBCSN’s coverage during London 2012.
  • KATHRYN TAPPEN: Tappen, in her fourth NBC Olympics assignment, will host coverage on USA Network from Tokyo. Previously, she served as a hockey host for PyeongChang 2018 and Sochi 2014, and was the beach volleyball reporter at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
  • SHEPARD SMITH: Smith, who joined CNBC in June 2020 as anchor and executive editor of The News with Shepard Smithweeknights at 7 p.m. ET, makes his NBC Olympics debut as a host on the network.
  • MEGHAN TRIPLETT: Triplett, who hosts a multiplatform weekday morning show for the NBA’s Memphis Grizzlies, makes her NBC Olympics debut as a host on CNBC.
  • CARL QUINTANILLA: Quintanilla, anchor of CNBC’s ‘Squawk on the Street’ and ‘TechCheck, has previously covered the Olympics for CNBC including London, Sochi, Rio, and PyeongChang.
  • CARA BANKS: Banks, a host of GOLF Channel’s Golf Central and Golf Central Live From the Majors, makes her NBC Olympics debut as a host on NBCSN. Banks, who joined GOLF Channel in 2015, previously served as a host, reporter and interviewer for Sky Sports and BBC Sport in the U.K., where she worked on a wide range of events including the 2012 London Olympics and Wimbledon.
  • DAMON HACK: Hack will serve as a host of the Tokyo Olympics on NBCSN, his second NBC Olympics assignment after working as an on-site biathlon reporter at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics. He also covered the 2004 Athens Olympics for The New York Times.
  • CAROLYN MANNO: Manno will serve as a host on Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA, marking her fifth NBC Olympics assignment, and third as a host. Previously, Manno served as host for the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics and 2016 Rio Olympics, was a freestyle skiing reporter at the 2014 Sochi Games, and a reporter on a wide-ranging number of assignments at the 2012 London Olympics. Manno will also serve as a host of NBCU’s Paralympics coverage.
  • TESSA BONHOMME: Bonhomme will serve as a host on Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA, marking her second NBC Olympics assignment after serving as a hockey studio host at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics. Bonhomme, who won a gold medal with Team Canada at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, is currently an anchor and reporter for TSN.
NBC also reports it has 120 advertisers in line to purchase airtime during this year’s Games. That’s a 20% increase from the 2016 event, with new business making up $500 million of their sales so far. The year postponement allowed NBC to beef up the roster but like most things in life, the pandemic added tough wrinkles.

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