Olympic swimming legend Michael Phelps has just left after a live interview on their couch.
In between, the NBC daytime schedule has been taken over by Olympics sports coverage.
Split Operation
Two years later in Paris, the NBCU is going all out.
2024 Paris Olympics NBCU studio (inset) Snoop Dogg and Mike TiricoGetty Images/NBC Sports
TheTodayshow producers are in New York.
We have a truck and full complement of our own cameras at those venues.
The split configuration grew out of covering the winter games in Beijing in 2022 under difficult Covid-19 restrictions.
U.S. athlete Lee Kiefer celebrates after winning Women’s Foil individual final against compatriot Lauren ScruggsPhoto by Image Photo Agency/Getty Images
Before Beijing, it would have been hard to imagine this kind of set-up.
Mike is head of production.
He built the studios and determined all the camera positions at venues.
Hes blocking cameras so that the shots from the venues are right, lit properly.
A guy like that can never be disconnected, says Zenkel.
He and Rob are involved in the minute-by-minute discussions of what to show…
He has the same video monitor wall, says Zenkel.
Its like they are in the same room.
Its part of the bread and butter of how we approach the Olympics, says Zenkel.
This isnt unique to Paris but we havent had it since Rio (in 2016).
That was foremost in our mind.
There was no other option,' he recounts.
What do we do?
How do we adjust our thinking from years past?
As soon as theTodayshow ends at 9 a.m. (ET), we go straight over to the Olympics.
Were on for nine hours with as much live coverage as we can.
We venture to infuse the primetime show with that atmosphere.
Zenkel suggests the Paris schedule running 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. locally, or 2 a.m. to 5 p.m. We had two Americans competing in the finals.
When youre doing it live, you dont have the opportunity to do that, he says.
For the American audience we really wanted to build the most iconic imagery that we could.
Other things, the Arc de Triomphe, nothing resonates like the Eiffel Tower.
It meant we had just 10 days to do a setup that normally would have taken 24 days.
We had crews working 16 hours a day, scenic and lighting, says Sheehan.
We call that the Museum Studio.
We set that up for eventualities such as somebody playing incredibly loud music all night long.
Its the only way we can succeed.
The platform split is not dissimilar to European Olympics audiovisual rights holder Warner Bros.
Most of the streaming is people watching NBC on Peacock and theyre watching on a television.
A week into the games, the viewing figures suggest Zenkels optimism is not unfounded.
Zenkel says UBCU has working with LA28 team since 2018.
Its been very focused on the commercial side.
We will succeed off the great partnership that weve formed, he says.
They call themselves the no-build Olympics.
They already have more venues than they need, which is absurd because there are 30 venues.
L.A. is so vast in terms of opportunities.
Theyll have a couple of things outside.
We were there in February.
We did some scouts and looked at some venues.
Were probably going to go back into an IBC setting to deal with the broad distances.
Gesue says the NBC Sports teams have been prepping coverage plans for Milan-Cortina for some time.
He suggests that L.A. still holds a special fascination for U.S. viewers.
L.A. is a domestic games.
It presents a different opportunity.
L.A. is creativity, its Hollywood.
You see all the celebrities in the venues here.
