NBC Sports is keeping all of its announcers in the U.S. due to coronavirus concerns
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NBC Sports says it’s not sending any of its announcers to Beijing for the 2022 Winter Olympics due to concerns over coronavirus.
The network originally planned to send teams to announce figure skating, Alpine skiing and snowboarding from the sidelines in Beijing, but has pulled back on those plans, USA Today was first to report.
Instead, all of these announcers and commentators will be based out the sports division’s headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut.
The announcers will rely on TV monitors with a myriad of video feeds from NBC Sports cameras on the ground in China to provide coverage of what’s happening thousands of miles away.
Even when sports commentators are in person at the facility, they often still rely heavily on monitors, as well as instant replays, to deliver their coverage since it gives them the advantage of being able to see the action better and from multiple angles.
NBC Sports will still have extensive teams on the ground in China, including camera operators.
During the delayed 2020 Summer Olympics from Tokyo, which took placed in 2021, NBC Sports relied heavily on similar setups. These Olympics were delayed a year due to the coronavirus pandemic and by the time 2021 rolled around, there were still concerns about sending full scale crews to Japan.
“Remote” announcing has become more popular across all networks and many sports over the years. It’s used regularly in TV coverage of some sports, such as golf, when it’s not practical to have announcers stationed at every hole. Similarly, other events, such as skiing and long distance racing, often take place over wide stretches of land so that in person announcers wouldn’t be able to see the entire course the event uses.
NBC still plans to have primetime Olympics sports anchor Mike Tirico dispatched to Beijing, though he will be based primarily in studio setups.
During the middle of the Olympics, Tirico will also fly to Los Angeles for NBC’s coverage of Super Bowl LVI at SoFi Stadium in Englewood, California.
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