Channel 2 News programs will undergo several changes over the next few weeks during the 2012 London Olympics from Friday, July 27 through Sunday, Aug. 12.
During the Olympics, the Channel 2 Newshour will still begin at 6 p.m. on weekdays but be shortened to 30 minutes. After the opening ceremonies on July 27 at 6:30 p.m. it will be followed by “The Olympics Zone,” a special 30-minute introduction to NBC’s primetime Olympics coverage hosted by Maria Downey and Kevin Wells. Charlie Sokaitis will host a weekend edition of “The Olympics Zone” on Saturdays at 6:30 p.m.
Channel 2 will show seven hours of daytime Olympics coverage from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays. Primetime coverage will generally include four hours nightly from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. after “The Olympics Zone” Monday through Saturday, with a special five-hour block on Sundays from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m.
The Late Edition will move to 11 p.m. except for Wednesday, Aug. 8, when it will air at 10:30 p.m.
Channel 2’s half-hour 5:00 Report will air at its usual 5 p.m. time slot seven days a week, followed by "NBC Nightly News" from 5:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. The Morning Edition will also air unchanged from 5:30 a.m. to 7 a.m. weekdays, followed by"The Today Show" from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m.
The Games' final weekend will see two morning blocks of live programming, as coverage on Saturday, Aug. 11 will carry the women’s basketball final between the U.S. and France live from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. The men's marathon will also air live on Sunday, Aug. 12 from 2 a.m. to 5 a.m.
Channel 2 programming for the evening of Sunday has also changed:
6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. 2012 Olympics: London Gold
7:30 p.m. to 9:58 p.m. 2012 Olympics: Olympic Closing Ceremonies
9:58 p.m. to 10:19 p.m. Animal Practice
10:19 p.m. to 11 p.m. Channel 2 News Late Edition
11 p.m. to 11:35 p.m. 2012 Olympics: London Encore
11:35 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. 2012 Olympics: Primetime Repeat
