NBC plans 5,500 hours of Olympics TV coverage

LOS ANGELES - NBCUniversal on Wednesday unveiled plans to air more than 5,500 hours of coverage of the upcoming London Olympic Games online and across its various television networks, including more than 270 hours on flagship broadcaster NBC.

The NBCUniversal media wing of Comcast Corp said it will cover all 32 sports and 302 medal competitions for The London games on NBC, NBC Sports Network, MSNBC, CNBC, Bravo, Telemundo and at NBCOlympics.com.

The total 5,535 hours of coverage is the equivalent of 231 days, and averages 291 hours per day throughout 19 days, which includes two days of soccer coverage before the 2012 Olympics officially begin on July 27.

The hours are more than double the US TV coverage of all previous summer Olympics combined. The 272.5 hours on NBC are the most ever for a broadcaster covering the games and nearly 50 hours more than it used in Beijing, NBCUniversal said.  

"Whether on television or online, on broadcast or cable, in English or in Spanish, NBCUniversal has the London Olympics covered, providing the American viewer with more choices than ever to watch the Games," Mark Lazarus, chairman of NBC Sports Group, said in a statement.

NBC will anchor the coverage, while MSNBC will carry long-form specials and CNBC will air boxing and Bravo will be the home for tennis, among other highlights.  

Spanish-language network Telemundo will air 173 hours. NBC will also provide specialty channels for basketball and soccer on cable, satellite and other system operators, as well as 3D programming.

Finally, NBCOlympics.com will live stream every event and sport, providing more than 3,500 total programming hours.