Olympic Zone Option Offered Again for Russian Olympics in Feb

Posted: 09/16/2013 02:42:34 PM
Air Date: 02/06/2014 Thursday
Start Time: 07:30:00 PM [ET]
Show Name: OPTIONAL NETWORK OFFERING
Duration: 00:30:00
Type: New Booking
Message:

THE OLYMPIC ZONE is offered to all stations for air (7:30-8:00pm ET during the Sochi Olympics) Thursday 2/6, Saturday 2/8, Monday-Saturday 2/10-2/15 and 2/17-2/22.  This customizable Olympic news magazine is designed to merge and showcase your local talent with the production expertise and access of NBC Sports, and to address the full range of resources available to stations to produce a daily Olympic program. We encourage you to take advantage of this terrific opportunity to have your talent present relevant and timely Olympic content of the highest caliber that will further localize the Games in your market, and generate just the right buzz leading directly into primetime Olympic action every evening.  Please see contingencies, format and feed tabs on the dates listed above for complete details of this opportunity.

Please advise your clearance status for this program which airs on your primary channel (only) immediately preceding Olympic Primetime coverage in each timezone on each scheduled night.

pah note:  The 2006 Winter Olympics saw a lot of stations selecting this option, but far fewer than chose it in 2002 when the games were based in Salt Lake City.  In 2010, even fewer stations were willing to do the extra work to customize this half hour every day AND find a new home for the syndicated programming and spots normally airing in the time period.

My guess is that even fewer smaller markets will select this rehash of Olympic coverage in 2014;  we now have something called "the internet" and Comcast will be spreading Olympic coverage on every channel in the cable world it owns or controls.  NBC stations are no longer the only place to get this coverage.