THE TORINO WINTER OLYMPICS BEGIN TOMORROW ON NBC

Bob Costas & Brian Williams Co-Host NBC's Opening Ceremony Coverage Friday at 8 P.M. ET/PT

"Olympic Ice" Debuts Friday on USA Network at 6 P.M. ET

NOTE: This is a daily listings document that will be distributed by the NBC Olympics press office throughout the Torino Games.

TORINO, Italy -- February 9, 2006 -- NBC's 2006 Winter Olympics coverage begins Friday with the Opening Ceremony of the Torino Games, which promises a dramatic entrance of some 2500 athletes from 80 countries during the Parade of Nations as they gather in the Olympic Stadium in Torino to experience a high-tech, high-energy spectacle with a uniquely Italian flare and the lighting of the Olympic Cauldron. Bob Costas and Brian Williams will co-host NBC's primetime coverage of the Opening Ceremony at 8 p.m. ET/PT. Mary Carillo will join them in a featured role along with reporters Andrea Joyce, Melissa Stark and Jimmy Roberts. Jim Lampley, working his 13th Olympics, which surpasses the legendary Jim McKay for most-ever Olympic broadcast assignments, will man the anchor chair in the main studio. Costas will host NBC's primetime coverage throughout the Games, Feb. 10-26.

Five-time Olympian and 2002 gold medalist Chris Witty (West Allis, Wis.) will carry the flag leading the USA delegation into the Opening Ceremony. The U.S. will be the 67th delegation to march in the Parade of Nations, after Spain and before South Africa.

"The Olympic Opening Ceremony is the most important event for the vast majority of the athletes here. Most won't come close to a medal, and for them, this is the pinnacle of their athletic careers," said Dick Ebersol, Chairman, NBC Universal Sports & Olympics, who is working his eighth Olympics and sixth as executive producer of NBC's coverage. "There is the obvious curiosity of people all over the world wanting to see their athletes come into the stadium, but this event is much more than that. In a world that has as many tensions as our world today, there is a moment of hope that comes from seeing all the world's best, young athletes gather peacefully together. It represents a greater sense of nations working together than we ever get from the U.N."

NBC Universal's unprecedented 418 hours of Winter Olympics coverage actually begins at 6 p.m. ET with the debut of "Olympic Ice" on USA Network, hosted by Carillo and co-host Dick Button, who notes that the program "is going to be more fun than anything for me because for once we'll be able to say what we want." Olympic gold medalist Scott Hamilton will alternate with Button as co-host.

Highlights for Friday, Feb. 10, 2006, include:

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 10

NBC

8:00 p.m.-Midnight Opening Ceremony Parade of Nations Lighting of the Olympic Cauldron

2:39 a.m.-6:00 a.m. Primetime Replay

USA

6:00 p.m.-7:00 p.m. Olympic Ice

UNIVERSAL HD

6:00 p.m.-7:00 p.m. Olympic Ice

NBC HIGHLIGHTS (Primetime):

The Torino Opening Ceremony promises a dramatic entrance of some 2500 athletes from 80 countries during the Parade of Nations as they gather in the Olympic Stadium in Torino to experience a high tech, high-energy spectacle with a uniquely Italian flare.

Four years ago, at the Opening Ceremony in Salt Lake City, the members of the 1980 "Miracle on Ice" hockey team reunited to light the Olympic Cauldron, adding to the long tradition of memorable Olympic flame lightings. The question still remains, who will add to the legacy and ignite the cauldron in Torino?

Note: The Olympic Stadium in Torino, the former Stadio Comunale, built in the 1930s, was used as the historic home of football matches by the Torino Calcio and Juventus FC football teams until the 1980s.

USA HIGHLIGHTS:

"Olympic Ice" will provide a daily all-access pass inside the world of figure skating-the Winter Games' most popular and intriguing sport. The one-hour program, dedicated to an entertaining mix of breaking news, in-depth analysis and exclusive athlete interviews, will present the most comprehensive skating coverage in Olympic broadcast history.

"Olympic Ice" will be hosted by Mary Carillo with distinguished skating analyst and two-time Olympic gold medalist Dick Button and 1984 Olympic gold medalist Scott Hamilton alternating as co-hosts. "Olympic Ice" launches February 10 and airs nightly through the Games' figure skating competition, 6-7 p.m. ET, on USA Network.

Highlights for Saturday, Feb. 11, 2006, include:

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 11

NBC

3:00 p.m.-6:00 p.m. Luge-Men's Singles Competition Nordic Combined-Individual Gold Medal Final Alpine Skiing-Men's Downhill Final Timed Training Figure Skating-Pairs Preview

8:00 p.m.-11:30 p.m. Figure Skating-Pairs Short Program Freestyle Skiing-Women's Moguls Gold Medal Final Speed Skating-Men's 5000m Gold Medal Final Alpine Skiing-Men's Downhill Final Timed Training

Midnight-1:00 a.m. Ski Jumping-K95 Individual Competition Figure Skating-Pairs Analysis Medals Plaza-Awards Ceremony

1:00 a.m.-4:30 a.m. Primetime Replay

USA

7:00 a.m.-9:00 a.m. Biathlon-Men's 20km Gold Medal Final (LIVE)

Noon-2:30 p.m. Hockey-Women: USA vs. Switzerland (LIVE)

6:00 p.m.-7:00 p.m. Olympic Ice

CNBC

7:00 a.m.-Noon Hockey-Women: Finland vs. Germany (LIVE) Sweden vs. Russia (LIVE)

2:30 p.m.-5:00 p.m. Hockey-Women: Canada vs. Italy (LIVE)

UNIVERSAL HD

7:00 a.m.-Noon Hockey-Women: Finland vs. Germany (LIVE) Sweden vs. Russia (LIVE)

Noon-2:30 p.m. Hockey-Women: USA vs. Switzerland (LIVE)

2:30 p.m.-5:00 p.m. Hockey-Women: Canada vs. Italy (LIVE)

6:00 p.m.-7:00 p.m. Olympic Ice

NBC HIGHLIGHTS (Primetime):

Gold medal favorites in the 2006 Olympic pairs competition are Russia's Tatyana Totmiyanina and Maxim Marinin, who live and train in Chicago. The two-time reigning world champions are back after a scary crash at a competition in Pittsburgh in October 2004-Totmiyanina fell to the unforgiving ice headfirst. The crash and her remarkably quick recovery received widespread media attention last fall and an outpouring of fan support. Also watch for the top U.S. team, Rena Inoue and John Baldwin (Santa Monica, Calif.) who became the first pair in history to land the throw triple Axel in competition at the 2006 U.S. Championships.

America's first look at Houston's Chad Hedrick, the two-time reigning world champion in the men's 5000m makes his Olympic debut today. Hedrick, a former inline skating world champion, was inspired to switch to speed skating just four years ago when he watched former inline rival Derek Parra win gold in Salt Lake City while playing blackjack in Las Vegas.

Reigning world champion in women's moguls Hannah Kearney makes her Olympic debut tonight. Just two years ago, the 19-year-old New Hampshire native was a high school star in soccer and track that also happened to be an up and coming freestyle skier.

The men's downhill final timed training helps determine the start order for Sunday's downhill and offers a first look at the men who will make one daring downhill dash for gold tomorrow night, including reigning world champion Bode Miller (Bretton Woods, N.H.) and veteran Daron Rahlves (Sugar Bowl, Calif.) of Team USA. Miller and Rahlves won gold and silver at the 2005 World Championships in Bormio, Italy.

NBC HIGHLIGHTS (Daytime):

The USA has never won a medal in Nordic Combined, in which athletes must combine the power and agility of ski jumping with the endurance and determination of cross-country skiing. Veteran U.S. Olympian Todd Lodwick (Steamboat Springs, Colo.) has a chance to end that drought, if he can keep pace with German world champion Ronny Ackermann, the gold medal favorite.

In the men's singles luge competition, defending Olympic champion Italian Armin Zoeggeler begins his chase for a second straight gold, which could be the first for the host country Italy at the Torino Games. Also watch for Minnesota's Tony Benshoof, an emerging contender who's having his best season.

NBC HIGHLIGHTS (Latenight):

Ski Jumping begins as the world's best soar beyond the length of a football field in pursuit of Olympic gold. Watch for Finnish star Janne Ahonen, who doubles as a drag racer back home.

USA HIGHLIGHTS:

The puck drops for the first day of two scintillating weeks of Olympic hockey, featuring LIVE coverage of the world champion U.S. women's hockey team against Switzerland. Olympic veterans Angela Ruggiero (Harper Woods, Mich.) and Krissy Wendell (Brooklyn Park, Minn.) and Team USA as they attempt to reclaim gold after falling to archrival Canada four years ago.

Be sure to set your alarm in time to catch LIVE coverage of the men's 20km gold medal biathlon final, the Torino Winter Games' first medal event, featuring one of stars of the Salt Lake Games, five-time Olympic gold medalist Ole Einar Bjoerndalen of Norway in the first of five chances to strike gold in Torino.

Listings subject to change, please check NBCOlympics.com for updates.