Bob Costas began his 11th Olympics as NBC’s prime-time host Saturday evening with a touch of poetry.
“In Rio de Janeiro they opened the Olympic Games with a Brazilian signature, a massive party welcoming the globe,” Costas said. “Now, the samba gives way to the rhythm of competition.”
The Games are available on a menu of channels plus streaming, some 6,775 hours all told — but the heart of NBC’s coverage is the network’s prime-time coverage, where the nightly offerings are simplified, synthesized and teed up for a general audience keen to watch a form of reality TV that’s actual reality.