STAMFORD, CONN.— The XXII Winter Olympics begin Feb. 6, 2014, and NBC Olympics will utilize fully-distributed NBCUniversal cable channels CNBC, MSNBC and USA Network will combine to televise 124 hours of live coverage from Sochi, Russia.
CNBC will serve 36 hours of curling coverage through a daily weekday show. MSNBC will host 45 hours of live hockey and curling coverage. USA Network will air live curling and hockey, including three Team Canada men’s hockey games, as part of its 43 hours of live programming.
Olympic coverage on CNBC, MSNBC and USA Network will complement the programming airing on NBC and NBCSN, and NBCOlympics.com will live stream all Olympic competition from Sochi. The majority of live streaming will only be available to authenticated cable, satellite or telco customers via “TV Everywhere.”
CNBC —NBCUniversal’s fully distributed cable business channel — will present a daily curling program. The channel will televise 36 hours of curling coverage, including the men’s and women’s finals, over 12 days, beginning Monday, Feb. 10 and concluding Friday, Feb. 21. CNBC’s curling show will air daily from 5-8 p.m. ET from Feb. 10-21, except for Sunday, Feb. 16, when coverage will air from 4-7 p.m.
MSNBC, NBCUniversal’s 24/7 cable news channel that is fully distributed in roughly 100 million homes, will carry 45 hours of live Olympic hockey and curling programming over 12 days. MSNBC’s 2014 Olympic Winter Games coverage from Sochi begins on Saturday, Feb. 8 with live women’s hockey featuring Canada-Switzerland at 8 a.m. ET, and concludes on Wednesday, Feb. 19.
The channel will telecast live hockey on 11 of its 12 days, including medal round games. The network will also feature curling coverage, highlighted by men’s and women’s semifinals Feb. 19.
USA Network will present live hockey and live curling during the Sochi Games, including medal rounds of both sports and three men’s hockey games featuring Team Canada. The channel will televise 43 hours of live coverage over nine days starting Feb. 10 with live women’s curling featuring U.S.-Switzerland. Men’s hockey coverage includes three games featuring Team Canada, including a matchup on Feb. 16 between Canada-Finland, the gold and bronze medal-winning teams at the Vancouver Games.
Coverage will air on USA Network with times varying daily.
With more Winter Olympic events than ever, competition will begin one day prior to the Opening Ceremony. As a result, NBC will begin its primetime coverage on Thursday, Feb. 6, one night before the broadcast network provides its traditional coverage of the Opening Ceremony. The broadcast on Thursday, Feb. 6, 2014, is scheduled to include competition in snowboard slopestyle (men’s and women’s), in which two-time gold medalist Shaun White is expected to compete in the slopestyle’s Olympic debut; team figure skating, which is also in the Olympics for the first time; and women’s freestyle moguls.
