NBC's Olympic Coverage: Gold, Silver or Lead?

I was annoyed by it–mainly because I don’t have cable so I couldn’t catch any of the USA hockey game. Also, they showed the entire boring Russia hockey game all afternoon on NBC.

Then they showed this whole “Miracle on Ice” program right before prime time. And then the NBC Nightly News hyped the Canada/USA hockey game. So for them not to show any of the USA hockey game seemed quite ridiculous.

Also, ice dancing bores me to tears.

I’m just mad that they think ice dancing is what everyone wants to see. TV is not the only means of content delivery anymore.
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When they DO decide to air the events where it’s not a mass start like cross country or biathlon (such as ski cross, or alpine skiing), they only show the races of the top competitors and the USA team. If ESPN and the other major sports networks can find a way to air all 32 games of the first round of March Madness (either online or on TV), then NBC should be able to find a way to air most of the Olympics in full. If not, then give up the rights to someone else who will.

Watch it with the Ice Dancing insults! :-) Just kidding. But I do love Ice Dancing. I think it’s my favorite of the figure skating events – tho, none of the pairs have anything on Johnny Weir.

I commented yesterday on the tragedy that is NBC’s coverage of the Games. And I totally agree with you on the Hockey coverage – why on earth did they air the Russia game on NBC and put the USA/Canada game on cable?? It must have had something to do with scheduling, but give me a break!

I think I wouldn’t be so bothered by the tape-delayed coverage if they were at least better at it. If it’s tape-delayed, they should at least up the production values. And it really bugs me that I had to sit through 2 hours of ski-jumping before getting to watch Ice Dancing.

But I, like the rest of the country, have played their little game just the way they wanted me to. I stayed up till 1am last night watching the coverage.

Hook. Line. Sinker.

Have you ever tried to watch a hockey game on TV? It stinks. I was annoyed by NBC’s decision to put the hockey game on MSNBC. I looked for it first on NBC found it on MSNBC and quickly remembered that it’s a total pain to watch on TV. I ended up watching NBA games on ESPN instead.

As to NBC’s coverage, is anyone else disgusted by the HD? It has to be the worst HD ever broadcast. What are they doing? Is the contrast to high? I tried fiddling with the settings on my TV, but no matter what I try, the athletes’ skin always looks pale and facial hair, even stubble, looks likes chunks of black stuck to their faces. This doesn’t happen on any other channels with HD. It doesn’t happen when I watch the Office in HD on NBC. The men’s figure skating was all but un-watchable. Is anyone else seeing this? I’ve seen HD programming, HD sports and NBC HD before but never have I seen anything like what’s happening with the Olympics.

Look here is the deal, NBC’s OLYMPIC COVERAGE SUCKS!!!!!!! They spend all night on Ice Dancing and very little on the exciting events like everything else. The men’s downhill only got 30 minutes of coverage and 20 minutes of that coverage was commercials. The women’s downhill got a bit more coverage because they had a few big crashes, but still the time spent on commercials was more.

What I don’t understand is why they wpn’t give coverage to events that are one chance for it all and opt to focus on events that play out over a number of days. That to me is more the Olympic spirit than Ice Dancing!!!!!! Those athletes train and sacrifice for 4 years for that ONE chance to win the Gold, talk about drama. All Figure skating events has gotten more coverage than the supposed darling of the US, Lindsey Vonn!

Let’s see, the US Ski Team has pretty much dominated the Olympics and we see very little of the events on TV. This is just another reason as to why NBC is in the dumps as a network, give the Olympics to another network, like … well … any network not associated with NBC!

I agree with you in principle and in spirit. But there are a couple of reasons why Ice Dancing (and other figure skating events) get so much coverage. (And I’m trying really hard to not take offense to your Ice Dancing bashing.)

First, RATINGS. Obviously, the figure skating events are what the majority of viewers want to see. Otherwise, NBC wouldn’t manipulate the schedule to feature it the way they do.

Second – I don’t think you fully appreciate how BORING Downhill and other Alpine events would be if they were truly aired live. There can be serious lag time between skiers – more if there’s a bad crash. You want hours of commercials?? Try filling in the dead air of the wait between skiers.
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And finally, I think you underestimate the impact of each element of each portion of the skating competitions. ONE missed jump or spin means the difference btwn a Gold medal and nothing. And the skiers don’t just get one shot. They have time trials, and often combine 2 runs to determine the winner.
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My major complaint w/ the ski coverage has been the fascination with Vonn. Yes, she’s hot. I get that. But Julia Mancuso is an amazing skier. She took Silver TWICE. And she’s getting crap for coverage b/c Vonn is cuter. Pathetic.

Not bashing ice dancing — I just don’t love it all night long. And somehow, people dressed in Daisy Dukes while dancing to “I’ve Been Everywhere” just doesn’t scream “Olympics” to me.

And I think they could’ve at least cut in and out of the hockey game like they do with all the other events.

I was mostly kidding about the bashing bit. Mostly. :-)
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And I agree – if they’re going to cut in and out of some sports (like the Alpine events b/c of the significant time between runs), then they should cut in and out of all of them. Why they choose to air the Ski Jump live, I can’t fathom. BORING!
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And to @tyrant’s point – watching Hockey on TV is a drag – in general. But the Canada/USA game was huge, and deserved the major network showing – not cable.

pbmama, I appreciate your comments but seriously! You must be an Ice Dancer and that’s why you enjoy the coverage. I am not bashing Ice Dancing either, its just that is all that seems to be on when you turn on the Olympics, that and cross country skiing. It has nothing to do with, as you say, how cute Lindsey Vonn is, it’s the fact that she is the reigning World Cup Champion and the most decorated US Women skier. Yes, I know Julia Mancuso is great but she has not been hot until the last 3 events, they just happen to be the Olympics. The down time between racers is actually a good time to go to commercials instead of in the middle of the action. I don’t underestimate the impact of each move, I just don’t think it should be the main focus of the coverage.

I do think you don’t really know much about skiing as you say, they don’t have time trials for downhill just training runs tha don’t mean anything, they draw for bib numbers, the superG is one run no training, just a course inspection. The Combined is course inspection on the downhill and the one run and the slalom is course inspection and one run. The only events that have qualifying is the freestyle events.

Finally, and this is a jab at Ice Dancers, at least the female skiers don’t have caked on make-up.

nope, not an Ice Dancer, nor skier, not bobsledder, nor anything having to do with the cold and snow and ice. but it’s all fun to watch. i’m a sports enthusiast in general, with a deep appreciate for the sheer discipline required to compete at this level.
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thanks for the ski education, tho. truly helpful, b/c honestly, i didn’t understand where the bib numbers and all that came from.
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as for the Vonn/Mancuso debate – yes, Vonn is great. but Mancuso is the defending Olympic champ – doesn’t that count for something? i just thought it was pretty terrible that she took Silver in the same event Vonn took Gold, and she got slighted in the coverage. but i suppose it can also be argued that Vonn did win the Gold and deserved the lopsided coverage…
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yes, the makeup is ridiculous, especially on the men! my least favorite part of the skating is the silly costumes (with the exception of Weir). i think the Russians should have been DQ’d just for the lame get-ups.

LOL! Yes, being the defending Olympic champion does count for something but she really dropped off the radar after the 2006 games (bad finishes and injuries). As for being slighted by NBC, that sorta sums up the coverage debate doesn’t.

I guess what makes things excited about Alpine events is that you never know who will win, prime example Ted Ligety in 2006. In the skating events, it’s almost always the big players and they just jockey for who will be judged better. There is no judgement in skiing just you, the hill and the clock. I know that all sports have rules but the main alpine rule is go around the correct gate, if not you are DQ’d.

Basically, the NBC Olympic Broadcast SUCKS!!!!!! I think the need more action less talking heads.

I have one more thing to say:

THE US SKI, FREESTYLE AND SNOWBOARD TEAMS HAVE WON A MAJORITY OF THE US MEDALS IN THIS OLYMPICS TO DATE AND HAVE GOTTEN THE LEAST AMOUNT OF COVERAGE!!! ICE DANCING PRETTY MUCH BLANKED EXCEPT FOR SILVER I THINK, I DON’T KNOW I DIDN’T WATCH IT. A rerun of How I Met Your Mother more interesting.

A lot of people disagree with this, but I’m of the opinion that team sports (more than two, that is) don’t belong in the Olympics at all.

If Hockey fans want their sport to be better covered, let them hold a world championship every two to four years all by itself. Invite the best of every country and hold a competition to see who makes it to the finals. Why are we bringing that to places that don’t even HAVE ice or any following of the sport?

The same can be said of basketball (Softball has already been removed). There’s no great point to that kind of team competition on the Olympic stage – especially in light of the fact that they are more often than not professional players and few of these games are televised.

Let them get together outside of the venue of the Olympics. Let them have their own spotlight so the fans can enjoy the games and the players can bask in the attention. Let the Olympics, as originally intended, be dedicated to the individual or couples who are the best in the world.

on your last comment we agree almost entirely. i think it’s a crying shame the other US athletes haven’t gotten more attention. and i love how unpredictable the results can be – i wish they made more of that fact.
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i watched Psych during the majority of the ice dancing. really just wanted to see the final north american teams compete. if i can persuade you at all, take 10 minutes and grab video of the top 2 teams. truly spectacular athleticism (and their costumes were the least ridiculous). and for once, it seems everyone agrees – the best team won. no politics or corrupt judges. just phenomenal skating.
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dead horse beaten yet? :-)

would you make an exception for the 4-man bobsled teams?

Can’t they get the best of both/all worlds? Tape delay (slightly) the figure skating events so that they can edit down the delay time as individuals/pairs warm up and/or sit around waiting for scores, and all of a sudden you increase ten-fold the amount of time NBC could spend showing ski-runs, snowboard cross races, or half-pipe runs.

I mean, I know many people HATE the tape-delaying of the sports. But if you’re going to do it, why not USE that to essentially edit out the dead-time in each sport…..no more 5 minutes of a pair hugging their coach/consoling each other while awaiting scores — just ZOOM, they’re off the ice, and here are their scores!

As a dilettante figure skating fan, I’d say that coverage of the sport in the US pretty much sucks too. It’s not just NBC, though; when ABC covered it, it was pretty the same situation. As someone who’s attended two Nationals (in 2007 and 2010 in Spokane, WA), I can attest that figure skating is better when the whole event is viewed, too. There’s a fuller picture that emerges when you see every competitor, even those who came in dead last. Instead, US coverage is about presenting who they think the public wants to see, meaning the stars.

For example, I’d bet that tonight, for the women, they’ll show Joanne Rochette because of her mother’s tragic death. They probably would’ve showed her anyway, since she’s one of the elite Canadian skaters, but I’d bet they’d show her even if she weren’t.

Other countries like Canada and throughout Asia present an entire event, from beginning to end, but not here. I suspect that the lack of popularity of figure skating here is due to the bad coverage, and not showing competitions as complete wholes as they’re supposed to be seen. The only option for rabid American figure skating fans is IceNetwork, which sucks just as badly.

Hogwash. As the other commenter says, what about bobsled? Curling? How about volleyball? Water polo? Rowing, field hockey and handball?

What about team events like relays in speed skating, sprinting and swimming? How about the team medals in gymnastics?

Would you get rid of all of those?

Wow, I really feel sorry for you Americans and your crappy Olympic coverage. Up here in Canada we have THREE, count em, three networks covering the games pretty much 24/7. I haven’t watched anything but Olympics in the past week and a half (well except for Lost on Tuesday). It’s a sports fans dream come true.

Here’s a little something for you sport fans who are feeling deprived. Every single second of of every single event is available online at ctvolympics.ca. Hopefully there won’t be regional restrictions, and your browser needs to be able to run Microsoft Silverlight, but if it can then you’re set.

That’s not right at all. We have one Network (CTV) and several cable channels (TSN & Sportsnet are the Canadian equivalent to ESPN), just like they do.

The big difference is, the Canadian coverage focuses on live events exclusively. I literally have not seen one tape delayed event period on Canadian TV. The closest we get is when they reshow gold medal performances from shorter events.

Having watched both the American and Canadian coverage, the biggest problems for NBC are:

-They have more commercials they need to air than the Canadian channels.
-They don’t cross promote nearly as well. All three Canadian channels have constant pop ups to tell you events are starting and where. You get things, along with a chime, saying “so and so skating on SportsNet in 21 minutes.”
-It seems like the games were scheduled with a Canadian audience in mind. Medal ceremonies for Canadians don’t clash with hockey games, key speed skating events tend to wrap before hockey starts, and things like figure skating tend to end (and thus the key Canadians go) after hockey ends. If they’re scheduling with Canada in mind, that makes it easier on CTV and makes it harder for the US Network to program for the US audience.

Honestly, three channels working in conjunction are enough to show even long form sports adequately. Canadian channels naturally focus on hockey (men’s and women’s) and curling, both of which take hours. Despite this, I have literally been able to catch every single men’s game live save one (all countries), many of the female games including all Canadian ones, and any Canadian curling period.

In fact, there has not been a single event I had even an inkling to watch that I couldn’t get live. I suspect, looking at the schedule, the only things I couldn’t have watched live on TV (and they are all streaming live online) were several of the cross-country skiing events.

The fact that NBC didn’t show Canada/US is fine. Sometimes things get relegated to cable, but it doesn’t justify the glorified longform SportsCenter that their prime time coverage is. They have at least three channels showing this around the clock and if they have each focus on one event, they could easily fit them in.

Faux Olympic purists are my favorite. You want to get the games back to the way they were originally intended? It offends you that pro athletes are there? Or team sports?
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Well if we’re going for the way they were originally intended we also need to remove the following: women’s sports, female spectators, and anyone who doesn’t speak Greek.
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Also, we won’t have to worry about offensive ice dancing costumes. Most Olympic sports, in a pure Olympics, must be performed naked.

The winter Olympics are basically welfare for Curling. Agree or disagree.

Definitely lead. NBC is more interested in promoting their commentators and themselves than they have interest in the Olympics. Each Olympic year it is an event to look forward to; yet this year, for children who aspire to be Olympians; well, the late night coverage after the commercials for three hours; is hardly children’s hours. So no, the worst that could happen is the Olympic committee award NBC another contract. Their coverage has been an atrocity; and embarrassment to the US and its citizenry.

Gold. The camera angles and HD terrific.

http://www.sawyerspeaks.wordpress.com

Lead is too good a classification. NBC took a diamond and turned it into COAL. The final insult was dumping out of the closing ceremonies to air that insipid “Marriage Ref.”

I live in the States, so I didn’t have access to Canada’s TV coverage, but even CTV’s iPOD app was better than NBC’s.

NBC has placed the US behind a commercial iron curtain when it comes to Olympic coverage.