NBC News will have a presence at Super Bowl XLIII.
The Today Show will air a special expanded edition on Sunday, featuring “weekday anchors Meredith Vieira, Al Roker and Ann Curry live from Raymond James Stadium in Tampa.” The two-hour special edition will air from 9-11 AM; usually the Sunday edition of The Today Show airs for only hour, from 8-9 AM.
Roker will begin filing reports from Tampa on Thursday, with Vieira arriving on Friday. Matt Lauer will also contribute to Super Bowl coverage, as his interview with President Barack Obama will “air live during NBC’s Super Bowl Pre-Game.”
The Today Show will also utilize co-host Tiki Barber, the former NFL player who moonlights on Football Night in America. Barber will get a “VIP tour of [Raymond James Stadium] from his twin brother, Tampa Bay Buccaneer Ronde Barber.”
In addition to The Today Show, MSNBC’s Countdown with Keith Olbermann is being staged in Tampa this week. In addition to his MSNBC show, Olbermann serves as a co-host of NBC’s NFL pregame coverage.
This is nothing new. Last year, FOX aired three hours of FOX News programming the morning of the Super Bowl. Last August, The Today Show and other NBC News programs took place in Beijing, China, site of another major sporting event — the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
