NBC Picks Up Four Emmy Nods for Sochi Olympics Opening Ceremony

NBC Sports Group was nominated for four Primetime Emmy Awards last week for its coverage of the Opening Ceremony of the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia.

The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences nominated NBC Sports Group’s 2014 Sochi Games Opening Ceremony for Outstanding Special Class Program, Outstanding Art Direction for a Variety Special, Outstanding Lighting Design/Lighting Direction for a Variety Special, and Outstanding Technical Direction/Camerawork/Video Control for a Miniseries.

“No single event captures the world’s attention and imagination like an Olympics Opening Ceremony,” says Jim Bell, executive producer, NBC Olympics. “These nominations are a welcome recognition of a job well done by many people at NBC Olympics, and also by our wonderful partners at OBS, led by Yiannis Exarchos and Jose Ramon Diez, and at Five Currents with Scott Givens, Dave Nuckolls and their dedicated crew, and of course the brilliant creative team from Sochi, especially Konstantin Ernst, Andrei Boltenko, and George Tsypin.”

In addition to its four Primetime Emmy nominations for the Opening Ceremony, NBC produced the most dominant primetime Winter Olympics performance on record by a broadcast network in viewership, household rating, and the Adult 18-49 demo (based on People Meter, which dates to 1987). Comparing primetime competition on a nightly basis, NBC’s Sochi Olympics was the #1 show on all 18 nights based on household rating.

Jim Bell served as executive producer of NBC’s Opening Ceremony coverage; Mike Sheehan and Joe Michaels, directors; Joe Gesue and Rebecca Chatman, producers; Mark Levy, creative director.

The winners of the 2014 Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards will be announced on Saturday, August 16. NBC will present live coverage of the 66th Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony, hosted by Seth Meyers, on Monday, August 25 at 8 p.m. ET.