The 2018 Winter Olympic Games are just three weeks away, but that doesn't mean details aren't still emerging. The latest news: NBC announced that Katie Couric will co-host the opening ceremony on February 9 in Pyeongchang, South Korea, alongside sportscaster Mike Tirico.
"Surprise! I'm really excited and thrilled to be included in this and to work with Mike," Couric said at a NBC Sports' Winter Olympics media event in New York. "We go way back, since 45 minutes ago." Couric has previously hosted the opening ceremony during the Sydney, Salt Lake City, and Athens games — which the journalist gave a nod to on Instagram after her most recent announcement.
This decision comes in the wake of Matt Lauer being fired from NBC over allegations that he had sexually harassed multiple staffers at the Today Show. Lauer previously co-hosted the Rio opening ceremony with co-hosts Meredith Vieira and Savannah Guthrie, as well as the Sochi opening ceremony with Vieira. However, after Lauer was terminated, Jim Bell, president of NBC Olympics production and programming, reached out to Couric to offer her the opening ceremony job. "I couldn't be happier to lend a helping hand, and I'm just thrilled to be here," Couric said.
As reported last year, Bob Costas, the face of NBC sports, decided he would no longer cover the Olympics, giving the role to Tirico.
This year will also be the first time the opening ceremony is live streamed ahead of its time-delayed airing that evening. Viewers can tune into NBCOlympics.com and its NBC Sports app to find a tape-delayed version in prime time beginning at 8 p.m. EST.
NBC also announced that the ceremony will air live in virtual-reality, an interactive, 360-degree viewing experience available on a variety of devices and platforms. Clearly, there are a lot of firsts this year, so it will be nice to have a familiar face like Couric's in the hosting seat. Want to learn more? Here's everything else we know (so far!) about the opening ceremony.
