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'Today' To Take On Tampa During Super Bowl

NBC

Ann Curry, left, Meredith Viera, second from right, and Al Roker, right, will appear on 'Today' from Tampa, while Matt Lauer, second from left, reports from Washington.

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By WALT BELCHER wbelcher

@tampatrib.com

Published: January 28, 2009

Updated: 01/28/2009 09:48 am

Tampa is going to get a lot of exposure on NBC's "Today" show when Meredith Vieira, Al Roker and Ann Curry come to town for the Super Bowl.

Roker is scheduled to be live from Seventh Avenue at 16th Street from 7 to 11 a.m. Thursday. Fans of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Arizona Cardinals are encouraged to show up in their team colors.

Vieira will join Roker on Friday to broadcast live from the NFL Experience, the pro football interactive attraction at Raymond James Stadium.

On Sunday morning, Vieira, Roker and Curry will host a special two-hour edition from Raymond James Stadium. Look at it as a pre-pregame show.

Matt Lauer isn't coming to Tampa. He will beam in live from the White House on Sunday during the pregame show, from noon to 6 p.m. He'll have a one-on-one with President Barack Obama (who may give us his Super Bowl pick).

According to NBC, the two-hour Sunday special beginning at 9 a.m. will feature "a rare behind-the-scenes look at the sights, sounds, parties and food of the big game as well as the preparations that go in to Super Sunday."

The "Today" gang also will explore Tampa and "experience the local Super Bowl fever." NBC's Tiki Barber will get a VIP tour of the stadium from his twin brother and Tampa Bay Buccaneer Ronde Barber.

At an informal interview session Tuesday at the Tampa Convention Center, Tiki Barber said he doesn't think his brother will follow him into broadcasting when Ronde Barber's NFL career ends.

Tiki Barber retired from the NFL at the end of the 2006 NFL postseason as the New York Giants all-time rushing and reception leader.

"I think my brother is going to be a general manger," he said. "He has connections all around the league, and he loves the game. He could run a team or he could just kick back and do nothing. He just bought a 172-acre farm in Charlottesville, Va., and he's keeping his place in Tampa."

Tiki Barber will be working the pregame show with MSNBC's Keith Olbermann, who was a sports reporter long before he became a political commentator and host of "Countdown."

"I've managed to keep a line between sports and political commentary," he said Tuesday (another informal interview).

"Although there are some people whose heads will explode just seeing me read a sports score, I say nothing remotely political when I do sports," he says.

Dick Ebersol, head of NBC Sports, surprised Olbermann and NBC analyst Cris Collinsworth with birthday cakes during the media mix and mingle. Both men turned 50 Tuesday (see a photo on Walt TV at TBO.com).

Roker also will be part of the pregame show. He will interview Super Bowl red-carpet celebrity guests at an NBC private party for NBC stars and stars of movies being advertised during the game.

There also will be a special Saturday edition of "Today," with Roker and NBC News entertainment reporter Jenna Wolfe live from Universal Studios in Orlando.

Vieira and Roker will remain in Tampa for Monday's "Today" and a recap of the game and events.

MAHER GETS GIG: Former WFLA health reporter Irene Maher is returning to TV. She will host "Florida Matters," a public affairs program debuting at 8 p.m. Friday on one of the digital channels broadcast by WUSF, Channel 16.

Modeled after the "Florida Matters" radio show that airs on WUSF (89.7 FM), the program will feature reports by independent filmmaker Larry Elliston, former WTVT, Channel 13 reporter.

Maher, 52, was laid off in July after 23 years at the station. She was let go as part of reduction in the work force at WFLA, Channel 8.

TUNE IN TONIGHT

"Life on Mars," 10 p.m., ABC

Jason O'Mara stars as a New York police officer stuck in a time warp or a bad dream. After an injury, he wakes up in the 1970s where the streets are really mean.

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