Fans of NBC’s Olympics “Gold Zone” coverage need not worry about a world without it.
Scott Hanson, the host of “NFL Red Zone” who along with several other broadcasters brought the live whiparound style to NBC’s Peacock streaming service, appeared on an NFL Media Zoom call with reporters Tuesday to promote the upcoming season of “Red Zone.”
On the call, Hanson revealed that “Gold Zone” should be a “go” for the foreseeable future.
“The folks at NBC Sports were fantastic to work with,” Hanson said.
“They really wanted me to bring with me my style and institutional knowledge, how to execute a multi-tasking show. NBC told me that they don’t think they’ll do an Olympics again without ‘Gold Zone’ being a part of it. Pardon the double negative.”
The Post asked Hanson about the similarities and differences between hosting “Gold Zone” compared to “Red Zone.”
“It was an amazing experience, hosting ‘Gold Zone’ during the Olympics, and hearing from fans and media critics alike that we have apparently changed the way people watch the Olympics now. It’s similar to what people tell me all the time on ‘NFL Red Zone’ for football.”
Hanson said the similarities between “Gold Zone” and “Red Zone” are that it’s multiple events happening simultaneously at multiple locations with “multiple moments that you have to cut from here to there, and you have to try to shuffle them together into a coherent storyline.”
As far as the contrasts, Hanson said that it was “very, very different in regards to educating the audience [versus] assumed knowledge.”
Hanson continued, “When I say, ‘Let’s go to the Cowboys game,’ I don’t have to say, ‘The Cowboys are a football team! They play in Dallas. There are 11 men over here, and 11 over there, and the field is 100 yards.’ When I cut to fencing, I do need to explain, ‘Here’s how it goes. Here’s the final score. Here’s how you win.’ Those types of things. Let alone some of the exotic name pronunciations, and more than 210 countries and delegations — some of which I was unfamiliar with, and I like to consider myself a fairly educated individual.”
As far as the explainers go, Hanson does anticipate having to clue the audience in on the wonky new NFL kickoff rule when Red Zone returns on Sept. 7.
Later in the conference call, Hanson recounted being courted initially for the “Gold Zone” by NBC executive Molly Solomon and her team around last Thanksgiving.
“I was daunted by the prospect,” Hanson admitted.
“10,000 athletes, 329 medal events, 200+ countries and delegations, sports with which I’m unfamiliar. I demurred, but Molly has her charm.”
The upcoming season of “NFL Red Zone” is available through cable and satellite bundles, as well as over-the-top streaming through the NFL+ package on the league’s app.
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