NBC once again delays West Coast coverage

RIO DE JANEIRO — Even though NBC Sports will stream thousands of hours of live competition from the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, network officials are steadfast in continuing their longtime practice of showing the network’s prime-time telecasts on delay on the West Coast.

Mark Lazarus, chairman of the NBC Sports Group, and Jim Bell, executive producer of NBC Olympics, said the decision reflects what the network thinks is the best option for the largest number of viewers plus its obvious desire to aggregate the largest possible audience.

In addition to the prime-time delay, all Olympics programing on the NBC broadcast network will be delayed on the West Coast.

[...] NBC will stream all competition live on NBCOlympics.com and the NBC Sports Extra app to authenticated users, and subscribers to Comcast’s X1 cloud-based DVR have access to streaming programs and a large range of replay and video-on-demand services through their cable box.

NBC prime time will focus on swimming, gymnastics, track and field, and beach volleyball, along with some feature material and other sports based on their perceived degree of interest to the largest audience.