Olympic Coverage - I don't get it

Clarkmeister · #1 02-12-2006, 11:54 PM

For years, NBC has done this and I just don't get how they haven't fixed it. Namely, their coverage is abominable. They have two cable networks and a national network and somehow there's virtually zero live coverage of anything, and in the internet age we are forced to wait until "prime time" to see tape delayed coverage of events. And even then, it's about 60/40 between actual sports and lame vignettes about the competitors.

With the huge investment they have made in the Olympics, why on earth does NBC continue to give us virtually no real coverage? Why was the only option all day long on a Sunday a blowout preliminary women's hockey match? People wonder why the Olympics continue to lose ratings in the US, and this is why. There's nothing stopping NBC from showing the major events live and then replaying them in their premade prime-time package.

TheNoodleMan · #2 02-13-2006, 12:00 AM

great post. I have felt the same way for years.

voltron87b · #3 02-13-2006, 12:16 AM

I totally agree. My other complaints:

Gushing sidestories of american athletes, or the token story about a foreigner who grew up in a destitute village or lived through a similar tragedy. If there is something genuinely interesting about a competitor, tell it, but obviously it doesn't work that way.

Showing some american win a pre pre heat speed skating thing and focusing 100% on him. It is ridiculous how the commentators focus on the US in the induvidual races. And when the american qualifies for the next round of heats, they commentator repeats 15 times about how his race was "so solid, he came in and did what he had to do, just not using any extra energy, very solid." I mean come on. When the anton apollo ono guy missed the medal round of the 1500m skating, you could tell that the commentators just did not give a [censored] when 3 koreans and a chinese guy raced for the final, and they showed it.

In general, the coverage is just lame. If I hear once more about the flying tomato I will flip. The tape delay and choice of programming is of course insane.

Also, when I am watching I feel like NBC is loading up the schedule with events the US wins or does awesome in and ignores everything else. It definitely jades me, that is a kind of crappy attitude for your audience to have.

Wes Mantooth · #4 02-13-2006, 12:19 AM

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People wonder why the Olympics continue to lose ratings in the US, and this is why. There's nothing stopping NBC from showing the major events live and then replaying them in their premade prime-time package.

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I thought the ratings during the last winter Olympics at Salt Lake city were some of the highest ever? For the most part I agree that NBC not showing many events live is weak.

Clarkmeister · #5 02-13-2006, 12:28 AM

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People wonder why the Olympics continue to lose ratings in the US, and this is why. There's nothing stopping NBC from showing the major events live and then replaying them in their premade prime-time package.

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I thought the ratings during the last winter Olympics at Salt Lake city were some of the highest ever? For the most part I agree that NBC not showing many events live is weak.

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Ratings are always higher when the events are located here IIRC.

nolanfan34 · #6 02-13-2006, 12:41 AM

Agreed 100%. And you know the guys who are updating ESPN.com and the like, just love to post the results ASAP knowing no one will be able to see the actual event for hours.

That's part of why it makes even less sense in this day and age. It's like they don't recognize the fact that the sources of news and information are more immediate than ever - people want instant results and updates, tape delayed events aren't going to cut it anymore.

pryor15 · #7 02-13-2006, 12:43 AM

i thought they tape delayed it in the states b/c of the time zones?

although, i haven't done the math, but no one's watching moguls at 3am

nolanfan34 · #8 02-13-2006, 12:46 AM

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i thought they tape delayed it in the states b/c of the time zones?

although, i haven't done the math, but no one's watching moguls at 3am

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Some tape delay is OK, but I think the point is, with all of their networks there should be more than a few hours of coverage on a weekend day. Shouldn't they be able to broadcast most of every event somehow?

roundmound · #9 02-13-2006, 12:49 AM

Most of the viewers of Olympics aren't hardcore sports fans. Its the casual fans who only watch sports when the Olympics is on. The highest rated events are the figure skating. Women and the men who are forced to watch this stuff. My mom, grandma aren't gonna be on ESPN.com looking stuff up. They also won't be watching TV at 6 in the morning on a Tuesday. If you don't tape delay stuff it won't get seen.

Also, at 4 this morning eastern there will be 6 hours of live coverage on USA

Another 5 hours of live coverage on MSNBC at 9 am eastern.

TheNoodleMan · #10 02-13-2006, 01:05 AM

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i thought they tape delayed it in the states b/c of the time zones?

although, i haven't done the math, but no one's watching moguls at 3am

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The point is that no one is going to be watching whatever the hell else they put on at 3 am, so why the hell aren't they running stuff live and then replaying the good stuff later?
And believe it or not NBC is going to be rebroadcasting non-live events that they already aired at 3:30 am tonight instead of showing live events. WTF?