NBC Sports and Universal Sports Network Combine for 16 Hours of 2011 World Gymnastics Championships Coverage

NBC Sports and Universal Sports Network will exclusively present all of the final events from the 2011 World Gymnastics Championships from Tokyo beginning Wednesday, Oct. 12, and continuing through Sunday, Oct. 16. Universal Sports will broadcast from the championships every night, while NBC will air afternoon weekend coverage.

In addition, UniversalSports.com will provide extensive online coverage with live streaming of the team finals, all-around finals and individual apparatus finals available for $19.99. For more information, go to http://www.universalsports.com/gymnastics/index.html.

NBC’s Olympic gymnastics broadcast team of Al Trautwig, Olympian Elfi Schlegel, and 1984 Olympic gold-medalist Tim Daggett will handle all NBC events and Universal Sports’ weekday coverage. Play-by-play announcer Paul Sunderland, along with Schlegel and Daggett, will handle Universal Sports’ weekend coverage.

The World Championships will set the stage for the teams to watch as the Countdown to London for the 2012 Summer Olympics begins, with the U.S. men’s and women’s teams testing themselves against the world’s best gymnasts. This marks the first of two opportunities for countries to qualify for the Olympics, with the top eight teams in the final team rankings automatically qualifying for London.  The second opportunity for countries to advance is the Olympic Test Event in January at London’s North Greenwich Arena, the gymnastics venue for the Games.

NBC will air the Women’s Team and All-Around Finals, while Universal Sports Network will air the Men’s Team and All-Around Finals, and two days of Individual Event Finals, along with re-airs of NBC’s coverage of the Women’s All-Around and Women’s Team Finals.

The World Gymnastics Championships is the latest Universal Sports Network event to highlight the network’s national marketing campaign alerting viewers about its transition from multicast to a multi-platform, high definition service beginning in 2012.  Viewers can make their voices heard by calling 1-800-55-GET-US to speak with their TV providers and demand access to Universal Sports Network and upgrade their experience through Universal Sports in HD.