Meredith Vieira to Be First Woman to Host OLYMPICS Primetime Coverage; Bob Costas Remains Sidelined

NBC has announced that Meredith Vieira will make history tonight, Friday February 14th by becoming the first woman to ever anchor NBC's prime time Olympic coverage solo, as host Bob Costas continues to recover from a severe eye infection.

Vieira will take over tonight's hosting duties from Matt Lauer, who has filled in for Costas for the last three day. Costas has broken his streak of 157 consecutive appearances as NBC's Olympics anchor in prime time due to the infection. It was the first time since 1988 that he did not host NBC's coverage.

"It's an honor to fill in for him,' Vieira said on TODAY Friday. "You think about the Olympics, and you think the athletes and then Bob Costas."

"Bob's eye issue has improved but he's not quite ready to do the show," NBC Olympics Executive Producer Jim Bell told TODAY.com from Sochi on Thursday. "If your eyes are sensitive to bright lights, a TV studio is not the place to be."

Vieira co-hosted the Opening Ceremony with Lauer last week, and has been in Sochi doing segments for TODAY on U.S. athletes to watch in the Games. She and Lauer shared co-anchoring duties on TODAY from 2006-2011. Before Costas, former TODAY anchor Bryant Gumbel served as Primetime host of NBC's Olympic coverage and was preceded by Curt Gowdy and Bill Henry, making Vieira the first woman to do the job. Hannah Storm, Mary Carillo, Gayle Gardner and Jane Pauley have previously hosted NBC's daytime and late-night Olympic coverage.

Source: Today.com

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