{"id":294564,"date":"2026-01-20T20:52:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-20T20:52:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/294564\/"},"modified":"2026-01-20T20:52:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T20:52:08","slug":"nbc-to-air-winter-olympics-in-post-super-bowl-lx-slot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/294564\/","title":{"rendered":"NBC to Air Winter Olympics in Post-Super Bowl LX Slot"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tNBC is once again opting not to take advantage of the massive Super Bowl<\/a> lead-out to promote a new, returning or pre-existing entertainment program. Instead, just like the network did in 2022, it will instead go right back to coverage of the Winter Olympics<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\tAfter the Vince Lombardi trophy is hoisted at the end of Super Bowl LX on Sunday, Feb. 8, NBC Sports will segue to the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics primetime show, \u201cPrimetime in Milan,\u201d at approximately 10:45 p.m. ET \u2014 including the women\u2019s downhill competition (which will include Lindsey Vonn going for the gold as part of her comeback) and team figure skating.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhen NBC decide<\/a>d<\/a> to air the Winter Olympics after the Super Bowl in 2022<\/a>, it disrupted a longstanding tradition among the TV networks of using the post-Big Game timeslot to boost an entertainment program. In 2018, for example, NBC used the lead-out to air the landmark \u201cSuper Bowl Sunday\u201d episode of its hit drama \u201cThis Is Us\u201d \u2014 featuring that infamous deadly crockpot. (Sorry, slow cooker. \u201cCrock-Pot\u201d is trademarked.) That episode averaged a whopping 27 million viewers, making it the drama\u2019s most-watched episode. And in 2015 after the game, NBC aired the first half of a \u201cThe Blacklist\u201d two-parter, attracting 25.7 million viewers.<\/p>\n

\n\tAnd just like in 2022, this year\u2019s Super Bowl takes place right in the middle of the Winter Olympics\u00a0(which will be held February 6 to February 22). At least this year, according to insiders, NBC did briefly mull putting an entertainment show behind the Super Bowl \u2014 options could have included a comedy like \u201cSt. Denis Medical\u201d or a drama from the Dick Wolf world. But ultimately, given the hefty financial investment that NBCU has in the Olympics, it was decided to stick with nonstop sports on Feb. 8. <\/p>\n

\n\tThe premiums that advertisers will pay for an Olympics lead-out is clearly a factor. But also from a ratings standpoint, airing sports out of sports isn\u2019t a bad strategy. In 2022, coverage of the Beijing Winter Olympics following the Super Bowl brought in 24 million viewers. <\/p>\n

\n\tJenny Storms, NBCUniversal\u2019s chief marketing officer, entertainment and sports, says she believes the industry has moved on from \u201cthe legacy days where you\u2019re using the one singular broadcast opportunity to then flow into something else. I think now, when you\u2019re talking about a business that has multiple platforms and multiple ways to showcase content, I don\u2019t think you have to be as reliant on a lead out.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tEven though it doesn\u2019t have a show premiering behind the Super Bowl, NBCU still has a series launch priority that day: Peacock\u2019s \u201cThe \u2018Burbs.\u201d That\u2019s because the new Keke Palmer starrer premieres the same day as the game, on Feb. 8, and Peacock is hoping to lure viewers to the show after they\u2019ve had their fill of sports.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe\u2019re taking advantage of that huge audience all day, in both Olympics in the morning and then in Super Bowl, that comes to Peacock,\u201d Storms said. \u201cAnd then we\u2019re going to be able to use promotion throughout the entirety of the day to make sure that we\u2019re really pushing people once the events are over, once you\u2019re out of the Super Bowl, out of the Olympics, now you have that next watch.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tStorms said NBCU will also utilize its Feb. 8 double-shot of the Super Bowl and the Winter Olympics to promote the upcoming Season 2 of \u201cTed\u201d (which premieres March 5), as well as NBC drama staples like the \u201cChicago\u201d and \u201cLaw & Order\u201d franchises, its batch of sitcoms, \u201cThe Voice: Battle of Champions\u201d (which launches Feb. 23), upcoming Bravo fare and Peacock\u2019s \u201cHouse of Villains\u201d Season 3. <\/p>\n

\n\tExpect to also see spots, logos and interstitials during the Super Bowl and the Winter Games referencing \u201cNBC100,\u201d the company\u2019s year-long initiative marking its centennial.<\/p>\n

\n\tStill, there\u2019s no better showcase to give a series a boost like airing it behind the Big Game. (That \u201cThis Is Us\u201d Super Bowl episode, for example, remains an iconic touchpoint from that series\u2019 run.) Before NBC\u2019s move in 2022, the last time a network followed the Super Bowl with another sporting event had been in 1976, when CBS aired the Phoenix Open golf tournament after Super Bowl X. Later, the Super Bowl lead-out became a place where networks tried to launch new series (with varying degrees of success). Then the networks instead started programming special episodes of fan favorites like \u201cFriends.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tLast year, Fox aired the Season 3 premiere of Rob Lowe gamer \u201cThe Floor\u201d (averaging 13.94 million) after Super Bowl LIX; in 2024, CBS ran \u201cTracker\u201d (18.44 million) after Super Bowl LVII; and in 2023, Fox had the cooking competition \u201cNext Level Chef\u201d (15.66 million) after Super Bowl LVII. <\/p>\n

\n\tMeanwhile, up in Canada, the post-Super Bowl series lead-out tradition continues: Bell Media last week announced that the new crime drama \u201cThe Borderline\u201d will launch following Super Bowl LX on broadcaster CTV and its sibling streamer Crave.<\/p>\n

\n\tNBC isn\u2019t completely out of the strategy of scheduling shows for sampling behind major sports broadcasts. This past Sunday, NBC premiered its new Tracy Morgan comedy \u201cThe Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins,\u2019<\/a> which is set in the world of football, behind the NFL playoff game between the Los Angeles Rams and the Chicago Bears (which the Rams won in overtime, giving \u201cReggie Dinkins\u201d a tremendous lead-in). And Variety has learned that NBC will also air a special episode of its new comedy \u201cStumble\u201d on Feb. 20 at 10:30 p.m. ET immediately following that evening\u2019s coverage of the Winter Olympics. (The network also just announced it will air a special edition of \u201cThe Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon\u201d on Feb. 6 after the Opening Ceremony.)<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s one tactic,\u201d Storms said of airing shows behind major events. \u201cIn today\u2019s environment, you look at it as one lever\u2026 We\u2019ve got enormous peaks in viewership coming to our platforms for almost three weeks in February. And it\u2019s not just about a lead out, because we want to make sure we\u2019re also defining that consumers make their choices the way they want to make them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAnd with that, NBC is leaning into the tagline \u201cLegendary February\u201d to promote the fact that it will be airing the Super Bowl, the Winter Olympics and the NBA All-Star Game all in the same month.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe pinnacle of the month, of course, is Feb. 8. Adding to the pomp and circumstance: NBC Sports\u2019 Mike Tirico will call Super Bowl LX from Levi\u2019s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., repping his first Super Bowl play-by-play assignment. And then, right after that, Tirico will host \u201cPrimetime in Milan\u201d from the field at Levi\u2019s Stadium. According to NBC Sports, that makes Tirico the first U.S. broadcaster to call the Super Bowl and host a Winter Games in the same year.<\/p>\n

\n\tNBC may have effectively ended its practice of airing series as Super Bowl lead-outs. That\u2019s because under the new NFL Super Bowl rotation (a deal sealed in 2021), NBC\/Peacock are now landing broadcast rights for the Super Bowl on the same cycle as the Winter Olympics every four years. That means the NBCU network and its streamer will continue to air both major sporting events at the same time through at least 2033.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThis is one of the things that the entirety of Comcast and NBC Universal all participate and engage with,\u201d Storms said. \u201cThat is the beauty of the Olympics, the Super Bowl and NBA All Star being in one month. All parts of the company are a part of this. There is absolutely just a palpable excitement throughout the entire organization around what we have ahead and such an incredible opportunity. Not just for the sports properties of \u2018Legendary February,\u2019 but more importantly, for all of the entertainment and pay 1 films and parks and Comcast. It\u2019s a huge launch pad.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NBC is once again opting not to take advantage of the massive Super Bowl lead-out to promote a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":294565,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[265],"tags":[18,117,19,17,115913,139901,128,48782],"class_list":{"0":"post-294564","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-eire","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-ie","11":"tag-ireland","12":"tag-super-bowl","13":"tag-the-burbs","14":"tag-tv","15":"tag-winter-olympics"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115929412491875117","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/294564","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=294564"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/294564\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/294565"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=294564"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=294564"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=294564"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}