FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, May 1st, 2017

NBC AIRS RECORD 5-HOUR KENTUCKY DERBY BROADCAST THIS SAT., MAY 6 LIVE AT 2:30 PM ET, HIGHLIGHTING NBC SPORTS GROUP’S DERBY WEEK COVERAGE

NBC & NBCSN Present More Than 15 Hours of Coverage, Including Saturday’s Live “Run for the Roses”

14 Commentators to Contribute to Live Telecasts, Beginning This Thursday, May 4 at 4 p.m. ET on NBCSN

NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app to Live Stream Kentucky Derby, Featuring Exclusive Camera Angles plus In-Booth “Collmus Cam”; NBC Sports Radio to Air Live Derby Day Coverage

NBC’s Hall of Fame Jockey Jerry Bailey & PGA Tour Star Jason Day Hit Links & Make Derby Picks; “NBC Sports Championship Season” Continues At THE PLAYERS Championship May 11-14 on Golf Channel & NBC

STAMFORD, Conn. – May 1, 2017 – The road to the Triple Crown begins this week, highlighted by NBC’s live five-hour Kentucky Derby Day telecast this Saturday, May 6 at 2:30 p.m. ET – marking the most extensive Derby Day coverage ever on broadcast television.

NBC Sports Group kicks off its more than 15 hours of Kentucky Derby Week coverage this Thursday, May 4, live at 4 p.m. ET on NBCSN. Saturday’s live Derby Day coverage begins at Noon ET on NBCSN.

Following are highlights of NBC Sports Group’s coverage of the 143rd Kentucky Derby, which includes more than seven live hours on Derby Day between NBC and NBCSN:

  • Live coverage of 21 races on Thursday, Friday and Saturday:
    • Five live races on Thursday, May 4, at 4 p.m. ET on NBCSN
    • Seven live races on Friday, May 5, at Noon ET and 5 p.m. ET on NBCSN (includes Race 9 streamed live on NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app)
    • Nine live races during NBCSN (Noon ET) and NBC Derby Day (2:30 p.m. ET) coverage (including five live races in the NBC show)
  • More than 50 cameras, including a helmet camera on the outrider (escorts the winning horse and jockey to the winner’s circle); a camera suspended 80-feet high on the Churchill Downs video board structure, a robotic camera in the paddock saddling area, and a camera focused on race caller Larry Collmus;
  • A jockey, trainer and owner will be wired-for-sound for final jockey’s instructions and post-race reactions.

Among the features on NBC’s Kentucky Derby coverage on Saturday, May 6:

  • Since the Kentucky Derby was first nationally broadcast on television in 1952, just eight men have called the race for U.S. viewers. Bob Costas hosts a discussion with the past four: Dave Johnson (1978-80; 1987-2000), Mike Battaglia (1981-86), Tom Durkin (2001-10), and Larry Collmus (2011-present).
  • The story of Gunnevera trainer Antonio Sano, the leading trainer in the history of Venezuelan racing, who fled the country after being taken hostage for 36 days in 2009.
  • A feature about Irish War Cry jockey Rajiv Maragh, who is less than two years removed from a terrifying spill at Belmont Park that left him with multiple spinal fractures and a punctured lung.
  • Girvin trainer Joe Sharp started his own stable just three years ago, and it didn’t take him long to reach the Kentucky Derby. A key part of his training team is wife Rosie Napravnik, a former Kentucky Derby jockey who exercises the horses in the morning. Napravnik retired from competitive racing in 2014 to focus on raising their family.
  • Jason Day, winner of THE PLAYERS Championship in 2016, met up with Hall of Fame jockey and NBC Sports analyst Jerry Bailey at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., on the famous par-3 17th hole. Day hit 20 golf balls representing the 20-horse Derby field, with the notion that the closest to the pin would forecast Day’s winning pick. The feature, including Day’s pick, will be included in Saturday’s telecast.

COMMENTATORS: NBC Sports Group’s coverage of the Kentucky Derby features hosts Bob Costas, a 27-time Emmy Award-winner, and Mike Tirico, in his first Triple Crown assignment; analysts Randy Moss and Jerry Bailey, the Hall of Fame jockey and two-time Kentucky Derby winner; NBCSN host Krista Voda; analysts/handicappers Bob Neumeier and Eddie Olczyk; reporters Donna Brothers, Carolyn Manno, Laffit Pincay, III, and Kenny Rice; and race caller Larry Collmus. NBC News weather anchor and correspondent Dylan Dreyer makes her NBC Sports Group debut as a lifestyle correspondent; and NBC Sports Group’s NASCAR features reporter Rutledge Wood returns to provide a mix of features and social media content.

The coordinating producer of NBC’s horse racing coverage is Rob Hyland, who has been a part of the network’s horse racing coverage since 2001. The Kentucky Derby is directed by Sunday Night Football and NBC Sports’ horse racing director, Drew Esocoff. The coverage on NBCSN is produced by Billy Matthews and directed by Pierre Moossa. The executive producer of NBC Sports and NBCSN is Sam Flood, who has produced 14 Triple Crown races for the network.

In addition, Tom Hammond will host the special 30-minute My Kentucky Home, in which he takes a look at how Kentucky came to be the home of thoroughbred racing. For a preview, click here. The special debuts on NBCSN this Wednesday, May 3, at 12:30 a.m. ET following Tuesday night’s St. Louis-Nashville Stanley Cup Playoff game. The special will encore on NBCSN Wednesday at 5 p.m. ET, this Thursday at 3:30 p.m. ET, following Friday night’s Edmonton-Anaheim Stanley Cup Playoff game, and within NBCSN’s live coverage on Saturday.

MORE THAN 28 HOURS OF TRIPLE CROWN COVERAGE: NBC Sports Group will present more than 28 hours of Triple Crown coverage this season from Churchill Downs, Pimlico and Belmont Park, including live racing from all three tracks prior to the Triple Crown races. This marks the seventh consecutive year that all three Triple Crown races will air on NBC.

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NBC SPORTS GROUP TRIPLE CROWN COVERAGE (All Times ET):

 

KENTUCKY DERBY
Date Time Event Network
Wed., May 3 12:30 a.m.  My Kentucky Home NBCSN
Wed., May 3 5 p.m.  My Kentucky Home NBCSN
Thurs., May 4 3:30 p.m.  My Kentucky Home NBCSN
Thurs., May 4 4 p.m. Kentucky Derby Access NBCSN
Fri., May 5 Noon Kentucky Oaks NBCSN
Fri., May 5 6:30 p.m.  My Kentucky Home NBCSN
Fri., May 5 5 p.m. Kentucky Oaks NBCSN
Sat., May 6 Noon Kentucky Derby Prep NBCSN
Sat., May 6 2:30 p.m. Kentucky Derby NBC

 

PREAKNESS STAKES
Date Time Event Network
Fri., May 19 3 p.m. Black Eyed Susan Stakes NBCSN
Sat., May 20 2:30 p.m. Preakness Prep NBCSN
Sat., May 20 5 p.m. Preakness Stakes NBC

 

BELMONT STAKES
Date Time Event Network
Fri., June 9 5 p.m. Belmont Stakes Access NBCSN
Sat., June 10 3 p.m. Belmont Stakes Prep NBCSN
Sat., June 10 5 p.m. Belmont Stakes NBC

 

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KENTUCKY DERBY COVERAGE ON NBCSPORTS.COM & THE NBC SPORTS APP

The NBC Sports app — NBC Sports Group’s live streaming product for mobile devices, tablets, and connected TVs — will offer a mosaic of four different camera angles, including the NBC broadcast, a grandstand camera, an overhead camera, and an infield camera. During the race, the infield camera will be replaced by “Collmus Cam” – Larry Collmus’ Kentucky Derby race call live as streamed by a camera in his booth at Churchill Downs.

NBC and NBCSN coverage will be streamed on NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app via “TV Everywhere,” giving consumers additional value to for their subscription service, and making high quality content available to MVPD customers both in and out of the home and on multiple platforms. The NBC Sports app is available on the iTunes App Store, Google Play, Windows Store, Roku Channel Store, Apple TV and Amazon Fire.

NBCSports.com & the NBC Sports app’s Derby Day coverage also includes:

  • Horse-by-horse video previews with Jerry Bailey and Randy Moss
  • Bonus analysis by NBC Sports commentators
  • Replays and footage from the key “Road to the Kentucky Derby” prep races

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NBC SPORTS RADIO KENTUCKY DERBY COVERAGE

NBC Sports Radio will present 2.5 hours of live Kentucky Derby coverage beginning Saturday, May 6 at 5 p.m. ET, and offer a two-hour pre-race show hosted by Jon Stashower on Derby Day beginning at 3 p.m. ET.

For more information on programming, please contact Westwood One at NBCSportsRadio@westwoodone.com.  For a complete schedule of shows, bios, exclusive audio content, and a list of radio stations airing NBC Sports Radio, log on to NBCSportsRadio.com.

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“NBC SPORTS CHAMPIONSHIP SEASON” CONTINUES WITH THE PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP MAY 11-14 ON GOLF CHANNEL & NBC

Following this weekend’s Kentucky Derby, “NBC Sports Championship Season” continues with live coverage of THE PLAYERS Championship next Thursday, May 11, through Sunday, May 14, on NBC and Golf Channel. First- and second-round coverage begins at 1 p.m. ET on Golf Channel on May 11-12. NBC airs third- and final-round coverage beginning at 2 p.m. ET on Saturday, May 13 and Sunday, May 14.

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NBC SPORTS GROUP AND HORSE RACING: NBC Sports Group is the exclusive home to the most important and prestigious events in horse racing, including the Triple Crown and the Breeders’ Cup. Also in 2017, NBC Sports Group televised the world’s richest horse race (the $12 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational) and the $10 million Dubai World Cup, and in June will present the Epsom Derby and the Royal Ascot meet. NBC has been the exclusive home of the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes since 2001, and the Belmont Stakes since 2011, when NBC Sports Group reassembled the Triple Crown. The 2016 Kentucky Derby on NBC averaged more than 15.5 million viewers, marking the fourth consecutive year that viewership topped 15 million.  Women comprised 51% of 2016 Kentucky Derby viewers – joining the Rio Olympics as the only major sporting events last year with women comprising more than half of the audience.

–NBC SPORTS GROUP–