Peyton Manning, Kelly Clarkson Aim to Shake Up NBC’s Paris Olympics Open
variety.comBrian Steinberg Senior TV Editor NBCUniversal is testing a new game for the Paris Olympics. The Comcast-backed media conglomerate has for years launched every Summer Games with primetime coverage of the Opening Ceremonies that typically feature a top sportscaster like Mike Tirico or Bob Costas alongside a popular news anchor such as Savannah Guthrie or Katie Couric.
In 2024, the company is blowing up the format. Kelly Clarkson and Peyton Manning will co-host the glitzy launch of NBC‘s17 days of Olympics coverage alongside Tirico, with Guthrie and her “Today” co-host Hoda Kotb reporting on the spectacle — a parade of boats on the River Seine — along the route.
The move adds some celebrity power to the broadcast at a time when more TV networks are trying to broaden the appeal of their sports portfolios and lure new crowds to games and contests of all sorts — and amortize the costly rights fees required to show them in the process. “We all bring something different to the table,” says Clarkson, perched on a couch between Manning and Tirico on the set of “The Kelly Clarkson Show” Tuesday afternoon. “I’m the fan of the group.” Organizers of the 2024 Olympics in Paris “are really throwing out the playbook,” says Molly Solomon, executive producer and president of NBC Olympics Production, during an interview at NBC’s Manhattan headquarters Tuesday.
The Opening Ceremonies “are no longer contained in a stadium with all the pomp and circumstance. Instead, they are trying to do what’s going to be a one of a kind, unique presentation.” That has spurred NBC, says Solomon, to try out what is, for the Olympics, a radical new concept. “It’s more like the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade or ‘New Year’s Rockin’ Eve’ than it is a traditional.
Read more on variety.com
