NBC will air next Olympic Games live in US

NBC appears to have heard the siren call of sports fans who loudly complained about the network airing events on a time delay during last summer’s Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

On Tuesday, the network confirmed it will broadcast all of the events at next year’s Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea, in real time.

“Nothing brings America together for two weeks like the Olympics, and that communal experience will now be shared across the country at the same time both on television and streaming online,” Jim Bell, the president of NBC Olympics production and programming, said in a statement. “That means social media won’t be ahead of the action in any time zone, and as a result, none of our viewers will have to wait for anything.”

NBC said its “primetime” coverage, which begins on the East Coast at 8 p.m., will begin at 7 p.m., 6 p.m. and 5 p.m., in the ?Central, Mountain and Pacific time zones, respectively.

This move, the network said, should eliminate much of the worry about spoilers, including for many of the most popular events such as Alpine skiing, figure skating and snowboarding, which are slated to air during prime time.

“We’re streaming it live, and social media has become so ubiquitous that hard to ignore even for people who are trying to avoid it,” Bell told the Los Angeles Times. “It just seemed like it was the right time to take this step.”

The move comes as an about-face to the network’s approach to the games last summer that saw programming concentrate less on the results and more on the event’s underlying narratives.

The PyeongChang Winter Olympics will kick off Feb. 8, with the Opening Ceremonies scheduled for Feb. 9.