The Summer Olympics open in London with — what else? — the Opening Ceremony (6:30-11 p.m., NBC/Ch. 5).
London organizers have tried to dampen expectations that they can somehow top the spectacle we saw in Beijing. We know the theme is "Isle of Wonder"; that Danny Boyle ("Slumdog Millionaire") and Stephen Daldry ("Billy Elliott") are the creative directors; and that more than a billion people are expected to tune in across the globe.
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Pierce on TV
Follow Scott D. Pierce’s reports on TV coverage of the Olympics at sltrib.com/blogs/tv; follow him on Twitter @ScottDPierce.
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And NBC’s Bob Costas will, no doubt, have a fun fact to accompany each of the more than 200 nations that are sending athletes to the Games.
Costas is nothing if not smooth, and he’s got more big-time, on-air experience than any other American broadcaster working these Games. After serving as late-night host at the 1988 Seoul Summer Games, he’s been the prime-time host of every Olympics since — Barcelona, Atlanta, Sydney, Salt Lake City, Athens, Turin, Beijing and Vancouver.
BY THE NUMBERS
Here are some figures provided by NBC about how they have these Games covered.
2 » helicopters
50 » multi-channel record and playback machines
115 » TV commentators
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164 » transportation staff
175 » videotape recording machines
191 » vehicles
300 » camera positions
2,000 » pieces of furniture
2,500 » color monitors
5,535 » total hours of NBC Sports Group’s coverage of London Olympics
28,080 » square feet of space at NBCs London venue compounds
30,480 » meters of fiber optic
50,000 » archived video tapes
50,612 » hotel room nights for NBC staffers
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