Olympic Champion Michael Phelps to Appear as Co-Host on Wednesday's AMERICA'S GOT TALENT

Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympian of all time with 23 gold medals, including five at the just-concluded Rio Games, will appear as a co-host on the Wednesday, Aug. 24 live telecast of NBC's "America's Got Talent" at 9 p.m. ET/PT.

Phelps has won 28 medals over the course of his Olympic career, which goes back to the 2000 Games in Sydney, Australia when he was 15. He is a five-time Olympian (2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016); was a captain of this year's swim team. He won his first gold medal at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece, and went on to win a total of six during those Games to begin his medal binge. During the Opening Ceremony of the Rio Olympics on Aug. 5, Phelps had the honor of the being the United States flag bearer as the team entered the stadium.

Summer to date, "America's Got Talent" is averaging a 3.2 rating in adults 18-49 and 14.1 million viewers overall with its Tuesday edition, according to "live plus seven day" figures from Nielsen Media Research, to rank as the summer's #1 series in both categories. The Tuesday "Talent" is up year-to-year by +7% in adult 18-49 rating (3.2 vs. 3.0) and up +13% in total viewers (14.1 million vs. 12.5 million), making this its top summer in 18-49 in three years and best summer in total viewers in five years. "Talent" has ranked #1 among entertainment shows on the broadcast networks every week it's aired so far this summer in both 18-49 and total viewers.

The "Got Talent" format was created by Simon Cowell and is co-owned by Syco Entertainment and FremantleMedia. "Got Talent" holds the Guinness World Record as the most successful reality TV format. The show can be seen in 190 markets worldwide with more than 500 million global viewers since it began airing in 2006. "Britain's Got Talent" is the U.K.'s highest-rated entertainment show of the century and in 2009, discovered the global singing sensation, Susan Boyle, who has sold 19 million records to date.

"America's Got Talent" is produced by FremantleMedia NORTH AMERICA and Syco Entertainment. Simon Cowell, Sam Donnelly, Jason Raff, Trish Kinane and Richard Wallace are the executive producers.

About FremantleMedia North America

FremantleMedia NORTH AMERICA (FMNA) is the U.S. arm of global media giant FremantleMedia, which includes a distribution arm, FremantleMedia International, a digital and branded entertainment division and a kids & family entertainment business. As one of the world's largest and most successful creators, producers and distributors of TV brands in the world, FremantleMedia's comprehensive global network has operations in 28 countries, creating over 10,000 hours of programming a year, rolling out more than 45 formats and managing over 350 individual titles. The company also distributes more than 20,000 hours of content in over 200 territories. FMNA and its portfolio of companies, including Original Productions and 495 Productions, produce entertaining and innovative scripted and alternative programs for network, cable, Syndicated and online platforms. Their slate includes a diverse range of both critically-acclaimed and award-winning successes including "American Idol" (FOX), "America's Got Talent" (NBC), "Family Feud" (SYN), "Let's Make A Deal" (CBS), "The Price Is Right" (CBS), "The Great Christmas Light Fight" (ABC), "Deadliest Catch" (Discovery), "Married to Medicine" (Bravo), "Party Down South" (CMT), "Ice Road Truckers" (HISTORY), "Storage Wars" (A&E), "Celebrity Family Feud" (ABC), "Celebrity Name Game" (SYN), "To Tell The Truth" (ABC), "American Gods" (STARZ), among others.

About Syco Entertainment

Syco Entertainment, a joint venture between Simon Cowell and Sony Music, is one of the world's leading global music, film and television production companies responsible for some of the most successful global TV and music franchises and is the world's most successful producer of international talent. Syco Music was named the UK's number 1 record label for both A&R and sales in 2014 and is home to international best-selling artists who have sold more than 300 million records to date. Syco is the record label home to Labrinth, One Direction, Susan Boyle, Little Mix, IL Divo, Fifth Harmony, and Ella Henderson amongst others. Syco's television assets include the global franchises THE X FACTOR and Got Talent. Around the world, THE X FACTOR airs in 168 countries and is watched by more than a half billion people. The Got Talent format officially holds the Guinness Book of World Records title for highest number of adaptations, making it the "World's Most Successful Reality TV Format." America's Got Talent airs in 186 countries around the globe and has been the #1 US summer reality series for the past decade. Syco Film have recently partnered with ANIMAL Logic (The Lego Movie, Happy Feet) to produce a number of music-based live action-hybrid animated movies.

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