Looks like NBC’s new pop-culture primetime Olympics show is becoming permanent.
NBC Sports said Monday that it had lured Betsy Riley, a one-time NBC Sports veteran, to return to the company from Amazon’s Prime Video in order to oversee production of its primetime Olympics program. Riley, who was named a senior vice president and coordinating producer, helped launch Amazon’s “Thursday Night Football” broadcast and led its recent “Black Friday”; football game in 2023. She also oversaw Prime Video’s launch of its National Women’s Soccer League telecasts.
“I’ve worked with Betsy for more than two decades, and her experience producing the Games’ highest-profile sports makes her the perfect person to oversee the Primetime Show. She brings the unique combination of a live-event producer’s instincts and an Olympic veteran’s expertise,” said Molly Solomon, executive producer and president of NBC Olympics Production, in a statement. “Betsy is a terrific leader and innovator whose creativity will be vital as we continue to build off the success of Paris and reimagine how NBC presents the Olympics in Milan, L.A., and beyond.”
NBC is clearly planning to keep many elements of its recent primetime efforts for last year’s Paris Olympics, which curated the events of the day and used deeper analysis and feature reporting along with celebrity guests. Meanwhile, live coverage was available via the company’s Peacock streaming service. NBC and its parent company, Comcast, recently won an extension of its current U.S. Olympic rights deal through 2036 for $3 billion.
During past work for NBC, Riley took part in the production of nine Olympic Games. At the 2016 Rio Olympics, ...
