Snoop Talks Paris Olympics on NBC at Press Tour (TCA)

Snoop Dogg, NBC Olympics special correspondent
NBC Olympics special correspondent Snoop Dogg (Image credit: NBCU)

PASADENA, Calif. — Snoop Dogg was a surprise guest for NBCU’s Olympics presentation at the Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour here. Snoop will be a special correspondent for NBC at the Olympics, offering his own unique take on the competitions and athletes. 

Snoop called the Olympics “a time when the whole world can come together and cheer for their athletes,” and “a chance for the world to be on one page.”

Also Read: More Coverage from the TCA Winter Press Tour

Snoop described the Games as a peace offering, and added, “I always represent peace.” 

Snoop, in NBC Olympics sweats, shared the stage with Molly Solomon, executive producer and president, Olympics Production, and swimming analyst Rowdy Gaines. 

Solomon said the Games will be live all day from Paris, which is on a six-hour time difference from the East Coast. Today will be live in Paris from 7 to 9 a.m. 

Prime will see NBC distill the day’s events into a three-hour highlights package. “We will take those three hours and make sure it’s the best performances of the day,” said Solomon. “We are additive in primetime — we’ll tell you the why behind the stories.”

She mentioned Paris itself having a key role in the broadcasts, promising “joy, spectacle and crowds.” The opening ceremonies will see the world’s athletes on boats, floating down the Seine, and the lighting of the cauldron at the Eiffel Tower. 

Also Read: NBCUniversal Says Paris Olympics Ad Sales Are Pacing Ahead of Tokyo 2021

Snoop shared his earliest Olympics memories, mentioning watching sprinter Edwin Moses in the 1984 Games. “My whole family was watching as if we knew this man,” he said. 

Asked if he would research the sports and participants, or come in to the broadcasts cold, Snoop said he always comes in hot. “Don’t worry about the research,” he said. “I know everything about everybody.”

Asked about what to look for in swimming, Gaines said, “Katie Ledecky — you always start with her,” adding that she had her first loss in many years last week. 

Snoop promised NBC would be “shaking it up in many different ways.”

He added, “You only get it every four years, so we’re gonna make the most of it.”

Michael Malone

Michael Malone, senior content producer at B+C/Multichannel News, covers network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television. He hosts the podcasts Busted Pilot, about what’s new in television, and Series Business, a chat with the creator of a new program, and writes the column “The Watchman.” He joined B+C in 2005. His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Playboy and New York magazine.