NBCUniversal Execs Briefly Acknowledge “Complicated” Situation In Beijing, But Focus On Business Potential Of Olympics-Super Bowl Combo
deadline.comIn a video presentation released this afternoon, NBCUniversal executives touted their rare February combo of the Super Bowl and the Winter Olympics while only briefly touching on the “complicated” situation in Beijing.The 80-minute video was shared with media, but there was no question-and-answer opportunity for press, as there has been in the past.
Several times a year, the company typically hosts calls with network execs and talent ahead of major sports broadcasts, including the Olympics.The rise of the Omicron variant partly explains today’s shift to a virtual footing, a contrast to a set of panels hosted last spring at 30 Rockefeller Center ahead of the Tokyo Games.
But there are also a swarm of issues surrounding Beijing, which could likely have crowded out more upbeat or personality-driven sentiment.
The U.S. has enacted a diplomatic boycott of the Games, citing human rights violations by the Chinese government.Molly Solomon, president and executive producer of NBC Olympics production, was asked by on-air host Mike Tirico about the company’s plan for addressing the “geopolitical issues” in China. “We’re going to be focusing on telling the stories of Team USA and covering the competition, but the world as we know is a really complicated place right now,” she said. “We understand that there’s some diff issues regarding the host nation.
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