NBC Wanted the IOC to Change Order for the Opening Ceremony, so United States Would Appear Near End of Broadcast
By Ty Duffy
NBC tried to negotiate with the IOC to change the order of nations in the Rio Olympics opening ceremony, according to Bloomberg, so that the United States would appear later in the broadcast. According to the New York Times, NBC requested that the United States athlete delegation appear closer to the traditional time slot near the end of the ceremony.
The United States, in Portuguese, is Estados Unidos. An opening ceremony parade of nations that proceeds in alphabetical order using Brazil’s native language, then, means the United States team will be introduced early in the broadcast, with a potential adverse effect on NBC’s ratings.
NBC Sports spokesperson Chris McCloskey told The Big Lead via e-mail: “We did not ask the IOC, Rio 2016 or anyone else to use the English spelling.”
However, when asked whether NBC had made any request to change the order of presentation, McCloskey wouldn’t be specific, saying: “We have regular discussions with our partners at the IOC about everything involved in presenting the best possible Olympics coverage to our audience across the Unites States.”
NBC does have a substantial voice at the Olympics. Its massive broadcast deal provides a substantial percentage of the Olympics’ revenue. The network has been criticized for pushing for late swimming start times. The network has also come under fire in the past for showing the opening ceremony on a one-hour delay.
A request to have the sizable United States contingent appear later in the broadcast would be a reasonable one from a business perspective. The IOC, however, has stuck to the tradition of going with the alphabetical order of the language of the host nation. So expect the United States to be featured fairly early in the opening ceremony broadcast, immediately after the Federated States of Micronesia and before Estonia.