October 7, 2015

Jim Bell is known as an innovative, hands-on Executive Producer who has been central to NBC’s Olympic coverage. He was the Executive Producer of the 2014 Sochi Winter Games and the 2012 London Olympics, the most-watched event in U.S. television history. Bell is currently preparing to produce the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. His extensive Olympics coverage began with the 1992 Barcelona Games, and since then he has worked on every NBC Olympics coverage, in addition to leading the TODAY show for seven years (2005-2012). On Wednesday, October 21, he’ll visit Drexel to discuss his extensive experience in leading award-winning, comprehensive and innovative Olympic coverage. Bell’s talk, which is co-hosted by Westphal’s Rudman Institute for Entertainment Industry Studies and Drexel’s Center for Hospitality and Sport Management, is free to the public and will take place at 6:30pm in the URBN Annex Screening Room (3401 Filbert Street). 

Bell has received numerous Emmys for his Olympics coverage, as well as for the 1997 NBA Finals and Wimbledon tennis in 1998, and a Peabody for NBC’s coverage of the 2008 Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony. He developed NBC’s AFL in-game live telecast interviews, a technique used throughout the industry today.

During his tenure at TODAY, Bell guided the show through some of its most challenging transitions and ambitious initiatives. He oversaw news coverage that included the 2008 Presidential Election, Hurricane Katrina, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the earthquake in Haiti. He also led TODAY’s six-hour live broadcast of the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton. He was responsible for the “Ends of the Earth” series that aired the first-ever live simultaneous broadcast from the Arctic, the Antarctic and the Equator; and he was the executive producer of Matt Lauer’s primetime special of George W. Bush’s first one-on-one television interview after leaving office.

For more information about the event please contact Karen Curry, Rudman Institute Director, at kac387@drexel.edu.