A familiar face will not be gone next year during NBC's prime time live coverage of the Winter Olympics from Pyeongchang, South Korea. Bob Costas, a staple figure in NBC's coverage of every Olympic Games, will not be around next year.
Bob Costas is stepping down as one of the hosts of NBC's coverage of the Olympics after 24 years, according to a report from the New York Times. Mike Tirico will be the one to replace Bob Costas.
Mike Tirico left ESPN to join NBC in May of last year, via a report from USA Today. Sean McDonough replaced Mike Tirico.
According to Bob Costas, he felt like it's the right time to step down as host. Bob Costas also added that he's been feeling that way for quite some time now.
"It just felt to me like the right time and it's felt like the right time for a while," Bob Costas said during an interview this week. "This was a good time to step away, while I could still do it."
During the 1988 Summer Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea, Bob Costas was NBC's late night host. Bryant Gumbel was still the prime time host during that time.
Bob Costas, 64, became the prime host of NBC during the 1992 Summer Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain. The only time Bob Costas was not the prime host was when CBS covered the Olympic Winter Games in 1992, 1994 and 1998.
Even before the 2016 Rio Summer Olympic Games, Bob Costas has already said that the Rio Games would be his final one as prime the time host. Bob Costas also said that the Olympics has changed dramatically in his 24 years on the job. The number of events has increased as well has the need to keep viewers engaged in the action. As a result, Bob Costas has less time to conduct interviews and deliver his essays.
