Live Coverage of Nordic World Champs on NBC

LAHTI, Finland (Feb. 15, 2017) - NBC Sports Group is offering nordic ski fans in America the most robust opportunity ever to view their sport with wall-to-wall live coverage of the International Ski Federation's 2017 Nordic World Ski Championships in Lahti, Finland. Every event will be streamed live with commentary on NBCsports.com and for the first time, more than 24 hours of same day televised coverage will be broadcast on NBCSN or Universal HD. In total, NBC Sports Group will present more than 60 hours of Nordic World Ski Championships coverage.

The expanded coverage is a result of a U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association initiative to expand domestic coverage of nordic skiing - cross country, nordic combined and ski jumping. The USSA acquired the domestic rights for the 2015 and 2017 Alpine and Nordic World Championships, subsequently partnering with NBC to carry the programming coverage. The expanded reach through television partners NBCSN and Universal HD guarantees that the events and the U.S. athletes will receive more exposure to American audiences than ever before.

NBC commentator Bill Doleman will provide the daily play-by-play, with World Champion and Olympic medalist Johnny Spillane handling expert analysis. Spillane has provided strong coverage the last few years on both the Tour de Ski and Springertournee ski jumping series.

The World Championships opens Wednesday, Feb. 22 with NBC kicking off its coverage with the first event on Thursday, Feb. 23. On Thursday, NBCsports.com will provide live streaming of the head-to-head cross country classic sprint races beginning at 10:30 a.m. EST. Same day broadcast coverage on NBCSN will begin at 3:00 p.m. EST.

Each day of the Championships, NBCsports.com will provide live streaming with full same-day event coverage of each medal competition on either NBCSN or Universal HD.

"NBC Sports Group has significantly expanded its offering from the past to bring not only live streaming but daily television coverage," said USSA Chief Marketing Officer Michael Jaquet. "We have a strong team going to Lahti and this is a remarkable opportunity to expose our athletes to the American public a year before the Olympics in PyeongChang."

The USSA acquired the rights to the World Championships in a first-of-its-kind partnership between the rights-holding European Broadcast Union and a national ski association. In 2015, not only did the USSA expand the live streaming and broadcast coverage, but its distribution of digital highlights brought the events to millions more than ever before.

"The USSA has managed to secure electronic media exposure which exceeded our expectations, bringing ski racing broadcasts in USA to a new level," said EBU/Eurovision Head of Sports Winters/Winter Sports Ingolfur Hannesson. "Eurovision is extremely pleased with our constructive cooperation with the USSA during the period leading to the Championships."  

2017 FIS NORDIC WORLD SKI CHAMPIONSHIPS
Live Streaming and Broadcast Schedule (times EST)

Thursday, Feb. 23
10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. - Freestyle Sprint - LIVE STREAM
5:30 - 7:30 p.m. - Freestyle Sprint - TV: NBCSN

Friday, Feb. 24
3:30-4:30 a.m. - Nordic combined HS100m ski jumping - LIVE STREAM
6:30-7:30 a.m. - Nordic combined 10k - LIVE STREAM
10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. - Women's HS100m ski jumping - LIVE STREAM
1:30-2:30 p.m. - Women's HS100m ski Jumping - TV: NBCSN
2:30-4:00 p.m. - Daily broadcast coverage - TV: Universal HD

Saturday, Feb. 25
5:00-7:00 a.m. - Women's skiathlon - LIVE STREAM
7:30-9:30 a.m. - Men's skiathlon - LIVE STREAM
10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. - Men's HS100m Ski jumping - LIVE STREAM
8:00-11:00 p.m. - Daily broadcast coverage - TV: Universal HD

Sunday, Feb. 26
5:00-6:00 a.m. - Nordic combined team HS100m ski jumping - LIVE STREAM
6:30-8:30 a.m. - Team classic sprint - LIVE STREAM
8:30-9:30 a.m. - Nordic combined 4x5k team event - LIVE STREAM
10:30 a.m.-12:40 p.m. - Mixed gender HS100m ski jumping team event - LIVE STREAM
9:30 p.m.-12:30 a.m. - Daily broadcast coverage - TV: Universal HD

Tuesday, Feb. 28
6:45-8:45 a.m. - Women's 10k classic - LIVE STREAM|
5:30-7:00 p.m. - Women's 10k classic - TV: Universal HD

Wednesday, Mar. 1
5:00-6:00 a.m. - Nordic combined HS130m ski jumping - LIVE STREAM
6:45-8:45 a.m. - Men's 15k classic - LIVE STREAM
9:15-10:15 a.m. - Nordic combined 10k - LIVE STREAM
7:00-10:00 p.m. - Daily broadcast coverage - TV: Universal HD

Thursday, Mar. 2
8:00-10:00 a.m. - Women's 4x5k relay - LIVE STREAM
11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. - Men's HS130m ski jumping - LIVE STREAM
1:00-3:00 p.m - Daily broadcast coverage - TV: NBCSN

Friday, Mar. 3
6:30-8:30 a.m. - Men's 4x10k relay - LIVE STREAM
9:00-10:00 a.m. - Nordic combined HS130m ski jump - LIVE STREAM
11:15 a.m.-12:15 p.m. - Nordic combined 2x7.5k team sprint - LIVE STREAM
12:00-2:30 p.m. - Daily broadcast coverage - TV: NBCSN

Saturday, Mar. 4
7:30-9:30 a.m. - Women's 30k freestyle - LIVE STREAM
10:15 a.m.-12:15 p.m. - Men's HS130m ski jumping team event - LIVE STREAM
7:30-10:30 p.m. - Daily broadcast coverage - TV: Universal HD

Sunday, Mar. 5
7:00-9:00 a.m. - Men's 50k freestyle - LIVE STREAM
1:30-3:30 p.m. - Men's 50k freestyle - TV: Universal HD