Follow our Olympics coverage from the Paris Games. When asked how he was approaching the most unique opening ceremony in the history of the Olympic Games — an audacious plan featuring more than 10,000 Olympic athletes traveling down the River Seine on team boats as part of a 3.7-mile route crossing the heart of Paris, passing through some of its most famed bridges and landmarks, and concluding in front of the Trocadéro — NBC Olympics prime-time producer Rob Hyland sounded like a man about to embark on a whitewater rafting adventure.
Advertisement “You hope to hang on for dear life,” Hyland said, laughing. “I’m looking at schematics on my desk right now of this 3.7-mile river route.
The degree of difficulty with any opening ceremony is through the roof, but I don’t know where to put this one. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever been a part of. It’s exciting, but there are a lot of unknowns.
“The creative directors that have put this show together are really banking on a beautiful night in Paris, and they want to use sort of golden hour to present the city and their country. A lot of cameras would be compromised if there is significant weather, things like live drones and aerials. There are quite a few variables, and it’s never going to be rehearsed in its entirety.
So other than that, it’s going to be perfect.” NBC and Peacock’s coverage of the Paris opening ceremony on Friday has the potential to be unlike anything we’ve ever seen from an Olympics.