Sports fans who enjoy quality time on social media when they're not watching the action can breathe a sigh of relief heading into the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea. For the first time ever, NBC will be airing its prime time Olympic coverage live in all U.S. time zones in an attempt to keep competition spoilers from hitting the internet before viewers on both coasts have been able to watch the events.
Fans complained about spoilers throughout Rio games
The 2016 Summer Olympics broke records across social media platforms with events and athletes "trending" nearly every night of the games.
Unfortunately, with the massive online interest came an inevitable problem: excited viewers posting results before competitions had finished airing across the country.
For the past several Olympics, Twitter has been filled with complaints and pleas asking both other fans and the media to post with caution:
I'm going to start calling the @Suntimes the OLYMPICS SPOILER TIMES
— Jen Sabella (@jensabella) February 14, 2014
Definitely appreciating the Olympic spoilers from folks on the east coast so I don't have to be burdened with anticipation or enjoyment.
— Zach Thaxton (@ZachThaxton) August 8, 2016
Dodging Olympics spoilers like pic.twitter.com/AGPydL5AUG
— Lakers 24/8 (@lakers24eight) August 17, 2016
NBC hopes that by airing the 2018 games live across all time zones, it will ease much of the frustration felt by sports fans during these past games.
In a statement about the coverage, Jim Bell, NBC's President of Olympics production and programming said that he feels the move will help the network better reach a demographic that is used to receiving information instantly from the media.
“That means social media won’t be ahead of the action in any time zone," adding, "as a result, none of our viewers will have to wait for anything."
NBC to welcome new Olympics host in 2018
Along with the announcement of living programming throughout the games, NBC has announced a new host for its Olympic coverage.
Venerable sportscaster Bob Costas will not be returning to the Olympic anchor desk in PyeongChang, and instead NBC will be bringing Mike Tirico on board to fill that role.
While Costas has been the host of NBC's prime time Olympic coverage since 1992, at age 65 he has decided to take a step back from regular reporting coverage.
Tirico hosted NBC's daytime Olympic coverage at the Rio games in 2016, and came to the network after spending 25 years working at ESPN.
During the 2018 Olympic Winter Games, NBC's prime time broadcast will begin at 8 p.m. in the Eastern time zone/5 p.m. Pacific. Coverage will run from February 8 - 25, 2018, with the Olympic Opening Ceremony taking place on February 9.
