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The Tokyo 2020 (2021) Olympics kick-off TWO weeks from today with the opening ceremony on NBC. This thread will serve as the place to chat about all things Tokyo. 

 

The day will begin with the network’s first-ever live morning broadcast of an Opening Ceremony across all time zones starting at 6:55 a.m. ET/3:55 a.m. The Today Show will then have a live special edition from 11:00 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the east. NBC's primetime edition of the Opening Ceremony will begin at 7:30 p.m.

 

NBCUNIVERSAL TO PRESENT UNPRECEDENTED 7,000 HOURS OF PROGRAMMING FOR TOKYO  OLYMPICS THIS SUMMER - NBC Sports PressboxNBC Sports Pressbox

 

 

-------------------------------------

 

In addition to having spacious studios inside the Olympic Broadcast Center, NBC will prominently feature an outdoor studio for both primetime shows and TODAY. 

 

https://www.newscaststudio.com/2021/04/13/nbc-sports-moving-primetime-coverage-outside-for-tokyo-olympics/

 

Further research on my part has determined that the outdoor space will be at the Hilton Tokyo Odaiba. The space, which appears to serve as an outdoor dining venue, will overlook the Rainbow Bridge and lighted Olympic rings. 

 

Due to the 13 hour time difference from NYC to Tokyo, the Today Show will broadcast in the dark and the primetime block with Mike will broadcast during the morning. The views will be something like this: 

 

Primetime: 

image.png.638033ceb18e2f66b8c68b1c8ac22591.png

 

Today Show: 

 

image.png.52b4e1ca003b89eb3915595ad2d742e6.png

 

 

 

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I'm curious with how syndicators will react to the mass pre-emptions during these weeks.

 

Wheel of Fortune is doing Secret Santa from July 12-23 (first time they're doing it in July in addition to the usual November or December), which is important for viewers because they need to see if their SPIN ID is drawn during the show for a chance to win what a contestant wins. Since 7:30 ET is Wheel's most popular time slot, chances are there's going to be at least one ID drawn whose holder doesn't get to see it. And since Wheel is a repeat (though it's SPIN ID drawings will be new) and Jeopardy! is still doing new episodes, I'm sure many NBC affiliates that normally air Wheel at 7:00 and J! at 7:30 will move up J! to 7:00 on at least the 23rd despite the "win at home" opportunity. Methinks Wheel should have moved this up a week to avoid Olympic interference, even if it's only for one or two days, depending on who carries The Olympic Zone this year (WNBC and WVIT have TOZ listed for 7/22 at 7:30 despite no events that day). 

 

Also, July 26 is the week where LeVar Burton will be guest-hosting Jeopardy!; there was a lot of publicity about it when it was announced he'd be doing it and he's probably the most anticipated guest host. I wonder if Sony considered delaying it two weeks like they did with Alex Trebek's final week because it would have been pre-empted by Christmas NBA on most ABC's. Granted, J! will not be impacted during the Olympics nearly as much as Wheel; most of the Central Time Zone airs J! between 3 and 5 PM which is in between the daytime and nighttime Olympic coverage, so it should still air just fine in most of the East Coast except for some 7:30 airings in the Eastern Time Zone on stations that opt to do Olympic Zone and keep Wheel at 7:00 (I know WECT in Wilmington, NC was one of them in 2018).

 

Judge Judy's series finale is also on July 23, so that will undoubtedly get pre-empted by Olympics in some markets, but I imagine there won't be much fanfare for it, especially since the last taped episode already aired back in June.

 

Do we have a list of what stations are doing The Olympic Zone? I imagine all the O&O's are. KNSD's listings on TV Passport have J! pre-empted for it on 7/22 (in past years they moved J! to 7:00 and skipped Wheel; maybe J! will move to 7.2 Cozi TV?). Note that TOZ will air at 7:00 ET/4:00 PT on 7/23 instead of 7:30 because of the opening ceremonies starting at that time in primetime.

 

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Also to note, starting from this Saturday, there will be no Saturday Today and reduced local morning news hours on most east coast stations (west coast local morning hours are pre-empted) for at least 6 weeks, so as to allow Saturday sports to start early, to accommodate time slots for Olympics.

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Repost from Sport Center, but here is the full list of NBC's hosts and commentators.

 

And the full day-by-day schedule for all networks.

 

Also, with the Olympic committee allowing no fans in venues in the Tokyo area due to Japan's dismal COVID situation (some fans will be allowed in venues outside of Tokyo), NBC is gonna have to get creative. I heard OBS is doing a "fan video wall".

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On 7/10/2021 at 2:00 AM, WheelWarrior said:

Do we have a list of what stations are doing The Olympic Zone? I imagine all the O&O's are. KNSD's listings on TV Passport have J! pre-empted for it on 7/22 (in past years they moved J! to 7:00 and skipped Wheel; maybe J! will move to 7.2 Cozi TV?). Note that TOZ will air at 7:00 ET/4:00 PT on 7/23 instead of 7:30 because of the opening ceremonies starting at that time in primetime.

 

It looks like only the O&O's will be airing Olympic Zone on 7/22 and 23. WTVJ, Miami's O&O, has it listed starting 7/22, but WPTV in West Palm Beach (Scripps) has it starting Monday 7/26.

 

Likewise, WXIA Atlanta (Tegna) is not airing Olympic Zone until 7/26. In most years, they air additional local Olympic coverage before TOZ at 7:00 so that both Wheel and Jeopardy! can move to WATL. On 7/22, Wheel and J! are listed as normal on WXIA, and Wheel also is on 7/23 but J! isn't listed at all, but will presumably air on WATL (they were not listed on WATL during the US Open, either). From 7/26 onward, both shows are listed for WXIA and WATL, which presumably means they will air on the latter during the Olympics, which was the case in 2018.

 

Oddly, KNSD has Wheel/J! listed on Cozi TV starting 7/26, but their pre-empted episodes on 7/22 (J! only) and 7/23 (both shows), as well as their weekend runs on 7/24, are not listed at all. WSAV in Savannah has J! gone entirely after 7/22. They usually delay pre-empted Wheel or J! episodes to weekend late nights, usually after SNL. Of course, it's harder, if not impossible, for stations to make-good syndies during Olympics because coverage takes most of the overnight slots.

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On 7/11/2021 at 10:25 PM, Georgie56 said:

If it was that one track and field graphic, the font looks very "mid-2000s" 

 

But anything is better than Italic Arial Everywhere

 

Thenagain my favorite host graphics were Torino (with London a close second besides the fonts), mainly because it just looked a bit more distinctive over the boxy 2000-2004 graphics (which, imo, might have aged well if they were touched up, given they were close to the boxy/flat aesthetic everyone uses nowadays).

 

czHTXOPSbnNFiu6Y41VBlcWqXNkZ__W2vxgUm7qk

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4 hours ago, Viper550 said:

If it was that one track and field graphic, the font looks very "mid-2000s" 

 

But anything is better than Italic Arial Everywhere

 

Thenagain my favorite host graphics were Torino (with London a close second besides the fonts), mainly because it just looked a bit more distinctive over the boxy 2000-2004 graphics (which, imo, might have aged well if they were touched up, given they were close to the boxy/flat aesthetic everyone uses nowadays).

 

czHTXOPSbnNFiu6Y41VBlcWqXNkZ__W2vxgUm7qk

 

Here's another one. Looks like this is what's gonna be used for archery. Sourced from this document.

 

20210714_064136.jpg

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Any local stations pre-empting some local programmes so they can clear extra hours of syndies before the Olympics starts? WBTS has been pre-empting "The Hub Today", their local lifestyle show, for another edition of "Access Hollywood" from now to the 26th. They now air 2 editions of Access Hollywood per weekday to clear them up before the Olympics pre-empts most of their local daytime hours...

 

And on a side note, it's about to be that time of the day where Early Today is going to take a longggg break starting from July 23rd to accommodate overnight Olympic coverage. 

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12 minutes ago, ref1997 said:

Any local stations pre-empting some local programmes so they can clear extra hours of syndies before the Olympics starts? WBTS has been pre-empting "The Hub Today", their local lifestyle show, for another edition of "Access Hollywood" from now to the 26th. They now air 2 editions of Access Hollywood per weekday to clear them up before the Olympics pre-empts most of their local daytime hours...

 

And on a side note, it's about to be that time of the day where Early Today is going to take a longggg break starting from July 23rd to accommodate overnight Olympic coverage. 

 

On July 23, KXAS is preempting Ellen so they can squeeze in some of The More You Know (NBC's E/I block) at 3pm.

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11 hours ago, ref1997 said:

Any local stations pre-empting some local programmes so they can clear extra hours of syndies before the Olympics starts? WBTS has been pre-empting "The Hub Today", their local lifestyle show, for another edition of "Access Hollywood" from now to the 26th. They now air 2 editions of Access Hollywood per weekday to clear them up before the Olympics pre-empts most of their local daytime hours...

 

And on a side note, it's about to be that time of the day where Early Today is going to take a longggg break starting from July 23rd to accommodate overnight Olympic coverage. 

 

No changes for New York Live on WNBC. CT Live! on WVIT is now only 15 minutes from 11:45-12:00, except on Fridays where it's still half an hour at 11:30. That show has no changes either, but there will be a special edition on Saturday 7/31 at 7:00 PM preceding The Olympic Zone.

 

These two O&O's don't care about the syndies. Kelly Clarkson, Ellen, and Access Daily are completely off WNBC and WVIT's schedules after 7/22. Access Hollywood is also gone after 7/21 thanks to The Olympic Zone, except for WVIT's overnight encores on 7/22 and 23. At least Kelly fans can still watch it on Bravo. No word on whether any of the shows are moving to Cozi TV or not, but I doubt it. The only time I remember them moving to Cozi was during 45's impeachment trials, and that didn't happen until at least a week after the daily pre-emptions started.


Since the 11 AM ET hour isn't impacted, I don't think anyone would mind if WNBC put New York Live on a brief hiatus and replaced it with Access Hollywood on a one-weekday delay (I doubt it's ready to go out to stations that early). Similarly, WVIT could cut the 11 AM news from 45 minutes down to 30 like they do on Fridays and put AH at 11:30. The hour shows would be infeasible unless they wanted to drop the 11 AM news.

 

I'm curious to see if any NBC affiliates will break protocol and air Wheel of Fortune before 7:00/6:00c. I remember KNDO/KNDU in Yakima and a few other West Coast ones did it during the 2018 Winter Olympics, but WOF was new episodes then. KSBY in San Luis Obispo only aired WOF at all once during that year's period, at 12:30 PM since that ep had a local contestant. Another local contestant about a week later had to wait until the Monday afterwards to see her ep locally where KSBY specially delayed her ep to that day and made up that day's actual ep at 12:30 the next day.

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Here in Chicago WMAQ is airing a 3pm hour of news on Friday 7/23. I'm curious if any of the other affiliates are doing the same thing with their schedules.

 

Basically WMAQ will have news from 3pm-6:30pm leading up to the primetime edition of the Tokyo opening ceremony.  

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On 7/15/2021 at 11:45 AM, susquvalleywgal said:

So far, no changes to the WGAL schedule.  I am not even seeing the Olympics pre-show that they did with previous games.  They would do that from like 7:30 to 8 p then the primetime schedule started.  

 

-- Matt

 

TV Passport shows that WGAL is doing The Olympic Zone starting Thursday 7/22; Access Hollywood, both the weekday and weekend edition, is completely off the schedule after the 21st, and Entertainment Tonight is pre-empted on 7/23 since TOZ has to air at 7:00. This disproves that the 7/22-23 editions of TOZ are only for the O&O's. Matter of Fact is pre-empted on Saturdays starting 7/24.

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On 7/14/2021 at 10:51 PM, WheelWarrior said:

Kelly Clarkson, Ellen, and Access Daily are completely off WNBC and WVIT's schedules after 7/22. Access Hollywood is also gone after 7/21 thanks to The Olympic Zone, except for WVIT's overnight encores on 7/22 and 23. At least Kelly fans can still watch it on Bravo.

Kelly is through NBCUSS; Bravo has already planned to replace the 3am slot with extra paid slots for the course of the Games, and she's in repeats now and probably knew going in to host an NBC-distributed talk show she'd have Olympic breaks to deal with. Considering she continued new shows through last summer stuck in her home studio, then all-virtual audiences this season, her break is well-earned.

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KUSA is airing it's morning newscast at 4:30AM, then opening ceremonies until 9AM then TODAY until 11, then back to opening ceremonies until 2pm, DBL & Ellen, then local News & NBC Nightly News until 5:30 then the opening ceremonies until 10, and then a newscast for 10 mins then back to Olympic programing.   The "Olympic Zone" begins at 5:30PM Saturday 7/24/21.

Then on 7/26/21 it goes back to somewhat of a normal programing cycle, morning news from 4:30-7, TODAY 7-10, Olympics until 3PM, then Ellen & 4PM Newscast, Nightly News @4:30, 5PM Newscast, 5:30 Olympic Zone, & then Prime-time Olympic coverage until 10PM. 

 

No 11PM newscast this time around like in years past.   KUSA has done an 11PM Newscast during the Olympics since the 1996 Atlanta summer olympics. 

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17 hours ago, WheelWarrior said:

 

TV Passport shows that WGAL is doing The Olympic Zone starting Thursday 7/22; Access Hollywood, both the weekday and weekend edition, is completely off the schedule after the 21st, and Entertainment Tonight is pre-empted on 7/23 since TOZ has to air at 7:00. This disproves that the 7/22-23 editions of TOZ are only for the O&O's. Matter of Fact is pre-empted on Saturdays starting 7/24.

 

That name eluded me!  Thank you!  So they are doing it again.  Good!  I remember a few years back when it was the Winter Games and the WGAL roof caved in and they had WESH do the Olympic Zone for them for the night.  It was odd.  LOL.

 

-- Matt

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To all members, please refrain from listing a station's entire daily schedule in this thread. Most stations are going to have largely the same schedules, just adjusted for different time zones. Listing all that just clutters the thread.

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Inside the Control Room: How NBC Will Cover the Tokyo Olympics

1,700 hours of Olympics programming on the air will come out of a 50,000 square foot nerve center of NBC’s Olympics coverage. And nearly 3,000 people between the U.S. and Japan will bring the games to your TV.

 

https://www.nbcdfw.com/lx/inside-the-control-room-how-nbc-will-cover-the-tokyo-olympics/2686334/

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1 hour ago, Georgie56 said:

Some screenshots of NBC’s look. Pretty clean.

911473B5-2D84-4CCB-BD52-8DE62ED644AC.jpeg

3053088B-0C2E-448C-90B5-221E9B6F6FCF.jpeg

D63B4CCF-5375-4BE4-9DE6-EDCD52425531.jpeg


I like it so far! I’ll be interested to see how it’s used across shows, networks, and platforms.

 

The studio she’s anchoring from is actually in a temporary structure along the bay.

C75A522C-0679-4EEB-8813-E32B9E1312C3.jpeg

08806790-50EC-49E1-9F62-AAC56CBE4730.jpeg

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