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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, November 8th, 2017

REIGNING WORLD CHAMPIONS YEVGENIA MEDVEDEVA AND YUZURU HANYU HIGHLIGHT NBC SPORTS GROUP’S 2017 GRAND PRIX JAPAN COVERAGE THIS WEEK

2015 & 2016 U.S. Champions Jason Brown and Adam Rippon Compete for the U.S.  

NBC Sports Group Presents 14.5 Hours of Coverage of Grand Prix Japan, Fourth Event of 2017 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series

13 Hours of Live Coverage on Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA Begins This Friday, Nov. 10 at 12:30 a.m. ET with the Pairs’ Short Program

Andrea Joyce Calls NBC Show with Analysts Tara Lipinski & Johnny Weir This Saturday at 1:30p ET on NBC

STAMFORD, Conn. – November 8, 2017 – This weekend, NBC Sports Group presents 14.5 hours of coverage of Grand Prix Japan from Osaka, the fourth event in the 2017 International Skating Union (ISU) Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series, including 13 hours of live coverage on Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA.

Live coverage begins this Friday, Nov. 10, at 12:30 a.m. ET, with the short programs on Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA, followed by live coverage of the free skates starting Saturday, Nov. 11, at 12:30 a.m. ET on Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA. NBC presents coverage of the event this Saturday at 1:30 p.m. ET.

2014 Olympic gold medalist and reigning world champion Yuzuru Hanyu, who can qualify for the Grand Prix Final with a win in his native Japan, highlights the men’s field that also features 2015 U.S. champion Jason Brown – the 2017 Skate Canada silver medalist – and 2016 U.S. champion Adam Rippon. The Olympic gold medal favorite on the ladies’ side, two-time reigning world champion Yevgenia Medvedeva from Russia, will also compete in Osaka, where 2010 Olympian Mirai Nagasu and 2017 U.S. bronze medalist Mariah Bell will lead the American effort. Americans Madison Hubbell and Zach Donohue will compete in ice dance against three-time Olympic medalists and reigning world champions Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir of Canada.

Andrea Joyce calls the NBC show and men’s and ladies’ free skates on Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA, alongside 1998 Olympic gold medalist Tara Lipinski and three-time U.S. champion Johnny Weir. Steve Schlanger calls the remainder of the action on Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA, alongside 2011 U.S. champion Ryan Bradley. Schlanger will be joined by 2014 Olympic ice dance champion Charlie White for the ice dance competitions.

The Grand Prix Series, now in its 23rd season, consists of six international events in a cumulative point-scoring format. Approximately 300 athletes from 25 countries are expected to participate in the series. Each athlete is eligible to score points in up to two of the six scheduled events. The top six point-earners in each discipline qualify for the 2017 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final, set for Dec. 7-10, in Nagoya, Japan.

Coverage on NBC is live streamed on NBCSports.com, and the NBC Sports app. Coverage on Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA is available on OlympicChannel.com, the Olympic Channel app, NBCSports.com, and the NBC Sports app.

The NBC Sports app will stream coverage via “TV Everywhere,” giving consumers additional value to their subscription service, and making high-quality content available to MVPD customers both in and out of the home and on multiple platforms. Powered by Playmaker Media, the NBC Sports app is available on Apple iOS, Android and select Samsung devices, as well as on Amazon Fire, Apple TV, Chromecast, Roku, Win10, and Xbox.

Following is the schedule for NBC Sports Group’s Grand Prix Japan coverage:

ABOUT OLYMPIC CHANNEL: HOME OF TEAM USA

Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA is a partnership between the International Olympic Committee, the United States Olympic Committee, and NBCUniversal. The TV network offers fans year-round programming of Olympic Sports from around the world, highlighting their favorite American athletes and teams. Programming emphasizes live events from a broad portfolio of summer and winter Olympic Sports. It also includes Olympic-themed original content produced by all three parties, such as original programs produced by filmmakers from around the world commissioned by the global Olympic Channel; rich archival footage from the IOC and NBCU’s libraries of Olympic features and documentaries; and original Team USA programming produced by the USOC that provides authentic, wide-ranging and athlete-focused coverage of the Olympic Movement in the United States. Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA is live streamed on OlympicChannel.com, the Olympic Channel app, NBCSports.com, and the NBC Sports app. Select replays and highlights are available on these digital platforms as well as TeamUSA.org.

–NBC SPORTS GROUP–