NEW YORK (AP) – If you want to watch the Winter Olympics, NBC and its related cable networks will have something for you at virtually any hour of the day or night. The games begin Friday and end Feb. 26.

Besides NBC prime-time, there will be coverage on USA, CNBC, MSNBC, Telemundo and Universal HD.

Among the highlights:

Friday: Opening ceremonies at Olympic Stadium, with some 2,500 athletes from 85 countries marching in. NBC’s coverage is anchored by Bob Costas and Brian Williams. USA Network also debuts “Olympic Ice,” a daily, one-hour show with exhaustive coverage of ice skating.

Saturday: Let the skating begin! Despite being Chicago residents, Tatyana Totmiyanina and Maxim Marinin are skating in the pairs competition for Russia, with Totmiyanina back after falling headfirst on the ice a little more than a year ago.

New Hampshire moguls competitor Hannah Kearney is on the slopes, and the U.S. women’s hockey team opens competition against Switzerland.

Sunday: U.S. skiers Bode Miller and Daron Rahlves compete in the men’s downhill ski race. Speed skater Apolo Anton Ohno, a gold medalist in Salt Lake City, returns to the ice. Armin Zoeggeler has a chance to capture Italy’s first gold medal of the Olympics in the luge.

Monday: Casey FitzRandolph won the gold medal in the men’s 500-meter speed skating competition in Salt Lake City, and he’ll try again in Turin.

A deep U.S. women’s halfpipe team, including defending gold medalist Kelly Clark, will be in action.

Tuesday: Another chance for gold for Miller, this time in the men’s combined action. With the women’s 500 meters final, women vie for the title of fastest speed skater in the world. Colorado’s Courtney Zablocki looks to upset the Germans in women’s luge.

Wednesday: The women’s downhill skiing competition takes center stage, with longtime American rivals Lindsey Kildow and Julia Mancuso on the slopes. Mark Grimmette and Brian Martin, competitors in the men’s double luge, try to become the first American men to win medals in three different Winter Olympics. And the U.S. men’s hockey team opens against Latvia.

Feb. 16: With Russian Yvgeny Plushenko leading the package, men’s figure skating heats up. The snowboard cross competition makes its Olympic debut, and the skeleton final will send 15 women hurtling face-first down the ice.

Feb. 17: Ski jumping, a sport dominated by Finns, is highlighted. Vermont’s Lindsey Jacobellis will try to win the first gold medal in women’s snowboard cross. Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto of Michigan are attempting to be the first Americans to win a medal in ice dancing since 1976.

Feb. 18: The men’s Super-G gold medal final features the world’s best skiers. Ohno skates for a gold medal in the 1,000-meter speed skating final, and the bobsled competition begins.

Feb. 19: In curling, featured on the USA Network, the U.S. women’s team takes on Switzerland live. The two-man bobsled finals are held, with American Todd Hays in the mix. The acrobatic aerialist competition begins.

Feb. 20: The women’s gold medal hockey match will be aired live on the President’s Day holiday. The ice dancing competition concludes with the free dance. The U.S. men’s curling team takes on Canada.

Feb. 21: Can Michelle Kwan finally win gold? The women’s figure skating competition begins. Chicago’s Shani Davis, the first black American to compete on a speed skating team, is among the favorites in the men’s 1,500 meter race. The first black athlete ever to win gold for a U.S. team, Vonetta Flowers, is back in the bobsled trying to win again.

Feb. 22: Ohno tries to be crowned fastest speed skater in the world in the men’s 500 meters competition. Cross-country skiing is featured on NBC daytime, and it’s down to eight teams in the men’s hockey competition.

Feb. 23: The gold medal night for NBC: the finals of the women’s figure skating competition, usually the Olympics’ most-anticipated event. Women’s snowboarding and curling conclude.

Feb. 24: Hays is back in the four-man bobsled competition. An exhausting 18-mile course must be navigated for cross-country skiing gold. The semi-finals of the men’s hockey tournament will be covered live.

Feb. 25: The slalom competition concludes with a probable confrontation between Miller and Austria’s Benjamin Raich. Ohno is in action in two races, and Germany’s Claudia Pechstein tries to win her fourth straight gold medal in the 5,000 meter speed skating competition.

Feb. 26: After the men’s hockey gold medal game and the 30-mile cross-country skiing competition, the closing ceremonies are held.

AP-ES-02-08-06 1847EST