US broadcast 'army' descends on London to cover Olympics

The giant team from US television channel NBC dwarfs the BBC’s 765-person London 2012 crew, and includes Martin Bashir and London adventurer Ben Fogle. An unprecedented 21,000 journalists and broadcasters will arrive in the capital for the Olympics this week.

NBC is renowned for flexing its muscles at major sports events from the SuperBowl to Wimbledon and has gone one step further for London 2012 as the Games become a battle ground in its bitter ratings war with rivals ABC. It is seeking to justify the £1.4 billion it paid for the US rights to the London Games and the 2010 Winter Olympics.

The channel has taken the high-stakes decision to dispatch its entire roster of “anchors”, including some familiar British faces, as it beams its flagship breakfast show Today from Stratford’s Olympic Park straight into American homes every day of the Games.

The BBC’s big-name pundits include Gary Lineker and Olympic champions Michael Jordan, Sir Steve Redgrave and Denise Lewis. It will broadcast 2,500 hours of live sport and will have to shuttle a quarter of its team down from Manchester, having moved many to BBC Sport’s new headquarters in Salford last year. The BBC says those staying overnight will be given “low-cost student-style accommodation” — NBC’s top staff will live in the Savoy on the Strand.

NBC plans to broadcast a three-hour show live from noon London time. It will have studios at the Olympic Park and Hampton Court Palace as well as a vast suite in Hackney’s new £280 million international broadcast centre.

The big-name presenters fly in next week amid reports of tension in the team. It will be led by Matt Lauer, one of American TV’s most famous faces and — with a £15 million salary — one of the richest. He will share a sofa with Savannah Guthrie and Meredith Vieira.

Veteran reporter Ann Curry returns to the couch after being stripped of an anchor role by bosses desperate to keep some ratings advantage over ABC’s Good Morning America.

An NBC insider said: “Ann was heartbroken to be forced out of Today and working alongside the same people who helped get her out the door is something nobody is looking forward to. It’s going to be a nightmare for Matt too — he watched Today slide in the ratings and it was all because the chemistry with Ann didn’t work out.”

Bashir, famed for his confessional interview with Princess Diana, is part of the team and Fogle will act as a special correspondent.