Olympics on NBC

NBC Olympics is the commercial name for the NBC Sports-produced broadcasts of the Summer and Winter Olympic Games as shown in the United States on NBCUniversal platforms. They include the NBC broadcast network and many of the company's cable networks; Spanish language network Telemundo; and streaming on the NBC Sports app, NBCOlympics.com, and Peacock. The event telecasts during the Olympics have aired primarily in the evening and on weekend afternoons on NBC, and varying times on its cable networks (such as after the close of the stock market day on CNBC, the early mornings on MSNBC, overnights on the USA Network, and formerly various hours on now defunct NBCSN). Additional live coverage is available on the aforementioned streaming platforms.

The on-air title of the telecasts, as typically announced at the start of each broadcast and during sponsor billboards is always the official name of the games in question – for example, The Games of the XXIX Olympiad for the 2008 Summer Games. However, promotional logos may reflect the more common location-and-year name format, such as "Beijing 2008".

NBC has held the American broadcasting rights to the Summer Olympic Games since the 1988 games and the rights to the Winter Olympic Games since the 2002 games. In 2011, NBC agreed to a $4.38 billion contract with the International Olympic Committee to broadcast the Olympics through the 2020 games, the most expensive television rights deal in Olympic history. NBC then agreed to a $7.75 billion contract extension on May 7, 2014, to air the Olympics through the 2032 games. NBC also acquired the American television rights to the Youth Olympic Games, beginning in 2014, and the Paralympic Games for the 2014, 2016, 2018, and 2020 editions. NBC announced more than 1,200 hours of coverage for the 2020 games, called "unprecedented" by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). In March 2025, NBC signed a $3 billion extension for both the 2034 Winter and 2036 Summer games. NBC is one of the major sources of revenue for the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

NBC's telecasts of the Olympics have been criticized for the tape delaying of events, spoiling the results of events prior to their own tape-delayed broadcast of those events, editing of its broadcasts to resemble an emotionally appealing program meant to entertain rather than a straight live sports event, and avoiding controversial subjects such as material critical of Russia at the 2014 Olympics. Since the 2012 Summer Olympics, live events have been continually added to NBC's cable networks and streaming platforms, rivaling the edited, tape-delayed broadcasts that traditionally air on the NBC broadcast network's primetime coverage.

NBC televised its first Olympic Games in 1964, when it broadcast that year's Summer Olympics from Tokyo. NBC originally had intended to film the events from Tokyo but the Syncom team had a 1-hour test on the Syncom 3 satellite and it was discovered that it can transmit up to two hours from the United States to Japan as with signals from the West Coast. NBC needed approval from the FCC. It approved, thus giving NBC satellite coverage of the Olympics, allowing NBC to avoid flight expenses and having to fly as many tapes. NBC's telecast of the opening ceremonies that year marked the first color broadcast televised live via satellite back to the United States.

The Olympic competition itself was broadcast in black-and-white. Through its use of the Syncom 3 satellite, a daily highlights package could be seen a few hours after the events took place; otherwise, videotape canisters were flown across the Pacific Ocean and were broadcast to American viewers the following day.

Serving as anchor was Bill Henry, then NBC News Tokyo bureau chief, who had extensive experience in both print and broadcast news. Play-by-play commentators included Bud Palmer and Jim Simpson, while former Olympians Rafer Johnson and Murray Rose served as analysts.

NBC first televised the Winter Olympic Games in 1972. Anchored by Curt Gowdy, much of the coverage actually was broadcast live since alpine skiing and long track speed skating were held in the morning, which corresponded to prime time on the East Coast of the United States. Although NBC bought the television rights from the Sapporo Olympics group, they didn't know that they had to make a deal with NHK for broadcast booths at each venue. By the time NBC found out, it was too late. The booths had been built and there were none to spare. Consequently, everyone worked off monitors.