A romance between the pop star and Travis Kelce has dominated social media, but TV broadcasts are focusing on it less than many seem to think. (Charlie Riedel/AP)
Months of preparation, hundreds of staff, convoys of cutting-edge gear: inside the machine that crafts prime time’s most popular entertainment: NBC’s Sunday Night Football.
The initiative will focus on increasing employment opportunities on- and off-screen tied to the network’s sports coverage in time for the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris.
“We got a call from our friends at NBC sports asking us to put tonight’s story in language that the legions of Swifties would understand,” Daly explained. With Swift’s Welcome to New York playing in the background, the Voice host went on to use the singer’s song titles (or parts of song titles) to explain the upcoming game. Pictured: Taylor Swift, second from left, Brittany Mahomes, second from right, and Ryan Reynolds, right, stand before an NFL football game between the New York Jets and the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, Oct. 1, in East Rutherford, N.J. (Adam Hunger/AP)
NBCUniversal has promoted veteran executive Rick Cordella to president of NBC Sports, reporting to Mark Lazarus, chairman of NBCUniversal Media Group. Cordella, who has served in a number of leadership roles at NBCU, will now lead all aspects of NBC Sports’ brands and platforms including NBC Sports, NBC Olympics, Golf Channel, NBC Sports Digital and transactional businesses GolfNow and SportsEngine. He’ll work with NBC Local on regional sports network strategy and continue to oversee sports on streamer Peacock.
The newest addition to NBC Sports’ Stamford, Conn., broadcast facility is a sprawling set in Studio 3 that uses unique interplays between scale and perspective to create a versatile space for any coverage. NBC began using the redesigned 5,400-square-foot space in this summer for Premier League European football coverage.
NBC Sports chief Pete Bevacqua is leaving NBCUniversal to take on a new role as the athletic director at the University of Notre Dame, marking the second exit of a major executive from the Comcast-owned media giant since the ouster of former CEO Jeff Shell. Bevacqua, who has played a large hand in steering NBCU’s sports efforts into digital arenas, will stay until the end of June, staffers were told in a memo Thursday. Executives at NBC Sports are expected to report to Mark Lazarus, the NBCU executive who once ran NBC Sports and currently oversees all of the company’s TV and streaming operations.
NBC will have at least nine hours of weekday daytime coverage, expanding to at least 11 hours on weekends. With Paris six hours ahead of New York, the marquee finals will air live in the morning or late afternoon. NBCUniversal’s Peacock streaming service will have every sport and event live, including all 329 medal events, from July 26 to Aug. 11, 2024.