NBC will show all Olympic figure skating live!
Katarina Witt
Won: One Olympic gold medal in 1984 and another in 1988 for figure skating.
Credit: USA Network
NBC’s Olympic coverage took a step into the 21st century in 2012 when every competitive event in London was streamed live.
Two years later the network is poised for what NBC Sports Group chairman Mark Lazarus admitted is “a leap’’ – showing the entire figure skating competition live on NBC Sports Network, then repackaging it with what Lazarus called NBC’s “secret sauce’’ for traditional prime time coverage hours later.
“It’s a leap, but we think it’s a calculated risk,’’ said Lazarus, adding DVRs present a new element that does not apply to digital streaming. “It’s an unknown, but we’re trying to be aggressive and be responsive to some people who don’t think we do enough live.’’
Executive producer Jim Bell said, “ We wanted to continue moving forward and taking another step and figure skating made the most sense . . . There’s a lot of programming, it’s one of the crown jewels of the Winter Olympic sports, it’s great for NBCSN and it’s weather proof.’’
