Cermony Opens Olympics Onslaught

After months of network hype, which hit a fever pitch in the past week during prime-time programming, NBC's coverage of the Winter Olympics begins Friday night with the Opening Ceremony.

During the 17 days of competition in Canada, NBC and its numerous outlets -- USA, MSNBC, CNBC, Universal HD and Universal Sports -- will produce 835 hours or programming.

On its main network coverage, NBC Sports will feature Bob Costas as the lead host during prime-time hours while Al Michaels serves as daytime host. For Michaels, it's the first time he's worked an Olympics since 1988.

For its late-night coverage, NBC Sports again turns to steady Mary Carillo. Overall, NBC has 53 announcers for the Games, seven of whom are native Canadians.

On Saturday, competition begins in eight sports, with six medal events. The two sports that begin that day and do not award medals are luge and hockey -- which gets its regular Olympic hype and love from many commentators and sports-talk types during the Games.

Those folks might not normally watch hockey, but they'll pledge their willingness to do so during the Games because of the "wide-open style of play" possible on the "bigger sheet of ice."

To cover hockey, and continue the hype, the NBC Sports team includes some of the same experts it utilizes on its NHL coverage -- Mike Milbury and Ed Olczyk.