Goodyear Blimps Return to Today Show
19 November 1998
Goodyear Blimps Return to Today ShowSUFFIELD, Ohio, Nov. 19 -- For the second time in less than six months, NBC's top-rated Today Show will feature Goodyear's blimps and the company's chairman. Hosts Matt Lauer and Katie Couric will interview Goodyear Chairman Sam Gibara Monday morning on the company's 100th anniversary while, in a television first, the network will simultaneously receive aerial views from airships in the U.S. and Europe. The Today Show, between 7:30 and 8 a.m., will simultaneously air views from the California-based Eagle, stationed over the Hotel Del Coronado in San Diego, and the Spirit of Europe I providing a view of St. Tropez, France. The Spirit of Akron will hover over the Suffield blimp base flashing special messages on its side. The Today Show will air a 90-second history of the Goodyear blimps and Couric will engage Gibara on his role in the recent expansion from three domestic blimp operations to six worldwide. Due to segment time constraints, The Stars and Stripes in Pompano Beach, Fla.; the Spirit of Europe II in Barcelona, Spain; and the Spirit of the Americas in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, will not be on-air. In September, Today Show personality Willard Scott was live from Wingfoot Lake while Salma Gibara, wife of the Goodyear chairman, christened the new Florida blimp, The Stars & Stripes. Couric and Lauer host the popular morning show that airs from 7 to 9 a.m. on NBC affiliates. Although the blimp base at Wingfoot Lake will not be open to the public during the event, interested media are invited.