PARIS, FRANCE – JULY 06: The Pont des Arts at the Seine river and the Eiffel Tower are illuminated … [+]
Friday July 26 marks the beginning of the 17-day Paris Summer Olympics. For the “City of Light”, it marks the third time hosting the Summer Games and the first time since 1924. The organizing committee for the Paris Games say the Opening Ceremony will be the largest in Olympics history. Here is what viewers need to know in what will be one of the most watched media events worldwide.
In a first, the Parade of Nations will not be held at an Olympic Stadium. Instead, the procession will take place on the Seine River. The athletes will travel in boats along the river as it weaves its way through the center of Paris. The Parade of Nations will start beneath the Austerlitz Bridge and will pass such iconic Parisian landmarks as the Notre-Dame, Pont-Neuf and the Louvre as well as some of the venues hosting events. The boat ride ends at the Trocadéro, an esplanade near the Eiffel Tower.
Because of security concerns the number of spectators will be limited to about 300,000 watching along the banks of the Seine River. There will also be 80 giant screens along the waterway. The parade length is 3.7 miles long (six kilometers) and is expected to last nearly four hours.
The river parade is scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m. Paris time. With sunset at 9:37 p.m., officials note the Opening Ceremonies will provide, “an unprecedented experience, using the natural light of the setting sun with all its nuances to illuminate the river promenade of all the world’s best athletes along the Seine, in the heart of the capital.”
Once again, NBC will televise and Peacock will stream the Olympics. With a six-hour time difference from New York, the live event will begin at 1:30 p.m. (ET) and in Los Angeles 10:30 a.m. (PT). At 12 noon (ET) NBCU’s live coverage will begin with a 90-minute Olympic Preview.
NBC and Peacock will have an enhanced encore telecast in prime time of the day’s events. The telecast will start at 7:30 p.m. (ET), 6:30 p.m. (CT), 6:30 p.m. (MT) and 7:30 p.m. (PT). While NBC is a free over-the-air broadcast network, Peacock offers two subscription tiers; Premium Plus at $11.99 monthly with no ads and Premium which comes with ads costs $5.99 monthly.
Besides Peacock, the Opening Ceremony (and all the Olympic events) will also be streamed on NBCOlympics.com, NBC.com, the NBC app and the NBC Olympics app. NBC says users that authenticate their cable subscription can watch the live stream of the Opening Ceremony on NBCOlympics.com, NBC.com, the NBC app or the NBC Olympics app. Viewers will be able to watch on mobile, tablet and connected TV devices.
On NBC the Opening Ceremonies will be hosted by Mike Tirico. For Tirico this will be the fourth time he hosts NBC’s Olympic primetime coverage. For the Opening Ceremony, Tirico will be joined by Grammy Award winning singer Kelly Clarkson and NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Peyton Manning. Maria Taylor of NBC Sports will be providing commentary from the U.S. Olympic team’s boat. Also, Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb hosts of The Today Show will be positioned on a bridge on the Seine River.
The Opening Ceremonies starts with the entrance of the Head of State (French President Emmanuel Macron) and IOC President (Thomas Bach), followed by the raising the French flag and the playing of the national anthem of France. Next will be the Parade of Nations. There will be about 94 boats in the parade. Each boat will have cameras to enable television and streaming viewers the opportunity to see the athletes up close.
Among the other Opening Ceremony activities will be official speeches, the raising of the Olympic flag, lighting the Olympic flame (at the Trocadéro) and will conclude with an artistic program highlighting French culture. There will be 10,500 athletes participating in the Games, representing 206 nations. Also, there will be 100+ heads of states in attendance.
With ongoing wars in the Ukraine and Middle East, security will be tight. For the Opening Ceremony, there will be 45,000 police officers present including special intervention forces, snipers on the top of buildings and an anti-drone system. Also, Parisian citizens and spectators will be required to have permits on a QR code to get anywhere. Cars will be restricted, metro stations and bridges in the vicinity will be shut down and airplanes will be prohibited (unless they are part of the ceremony). It is expected that over 12 million people will be visiting Paris during the Games.
Similar to Olympic viewing in general, the audience for the Opening Ceremonies have been declining. For the Opening Ceremonies of the delayed Tokyo Olympics in 2021, NBC’s coverage averaged 16.7 million viewers (17 million across all platforms), a 33-year low. By comparison, the Opening Ceremonies of 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games on NBC averaged 26.5 million viewers. The Opening Ceremonies of the 2012 London Olympics on NBC averaged a record 40.7 million viewers. Globally, the Opening Ceremonies is expected to be watched by hundreds of millions of viewers.