NBC time shifting Olympic coverage....again.

[tarheelmjfan]

All NBC shows is Americans. Watching their coverage you would think that the USA was the only country competing.

I guess it depends on what sports you're most interested in. My favorite Olympic sport is basketball. There are times in the early rounds, when they televise other countries playing, but don't show Team USA's games at all. This is especially true for the Team USA' s women's team, but also happens with the men. I know they're often blowouts, but I'd still like to see the athletes representing our country. Now, if they wanted to show all of the basketball games, that would be even better. Diving & gymnastics coverage also show a lot of non-Americans. To me, track & field shows a good mix for the targeted audience. I enjoy watching the other countries perform, but not if it means we're not getting to see the American athletes, because they're featuring other countries. There isn't enough televised competition to watch the other countries to any extent & see the majority of the American athlete's performances. JMO

And don't even get me started on curling. At times, it appeared they were the only athletes who bothered to show up for the Winter Olympics. I don't even like the sport, but I knew the names of the competitors from all the countries, by the time it was over. Way too much curling IMO.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

Well, you can DVR whatever you want to watch. IF you have tv, you can sign into NBC Live Extras app, and then pick whatever you want to watch when it shows up there. They have it live for all sports and replay for some of them.

And yea I hate that delay thing. I can't wait til NBC's contract runs out after the next Olympics. Its not about prime time TV and ads. Its about SPORTS. Plus, everyone watches online and on DVR these days, so why delay it til prime time on the West Coast, thus ensuring that people in those states will be spoiled on the winners, get disgusted, and not watch at all? Just air them when they air, for either coast. And, don't force athletes to compete in the middle of the night so you can get it live prime time in New York! I was in Seattle at the last Summer Olympics. Missy Franklin was the home town hero. And they announced her winning gold on the news BEFORE they showed the broadcast. The next day, after a deluge of complaints, they had the newscaster say "If you don't want to know the scores, look away now..." like the BBC does. And then SAID THE WINNERS OUT LOUD. This is not rocket science, NBC!

Thanks

 

[cabanafrau]

Most of the time the excuse is dramatic time zone differences, but there's no dramatic difference this time. They've come up with a new one, though. Prepare to laugh.

"NBC Sports Group Chair Mark Lazarus said Monday that NBC will allow producers to "curate" the coverage to provide proper context."

So there you go Olympic fans. You are in need of someone to curate the coverage, and NBC will provide the service. They could save us all a lot of time and just admit it's ad revenue, ad revenue, ad revenue.


http://www.usatoday.com/story/sport...ony-of-rio-olympics-on-1-hour-delay/86965814/

I'm not sure if the laugh is on me or NBC, but if I had to guess their attempts to "curate coverage to provide proper context" is precisely what sucks all of the excitement, interest and feeling out of the whole darn thing for me, and I would guess many other potential viewers. I wonder if I can convince DH or either of my DDs to participate in a social media protest on my behalf by hashtagging criticisms of NBC's coverage?

 

[CPanther95]

ABC did much better with the Olympics, but I do remember they time shifted the 1980 US/USSR Hockey game to prime time - just because it was such a huge event at the time.

What I remember most about that game (next to our victory and the fact that it was the first and last time my whole family sat down to watch a hockey game) was after the 2nd period when the Soviets had a 3-2 lead there was a commercial break and during a promo for the local (Washington DC) affiliate's late night news, the idiot said, "Tune in at 11pm for coverage of the United States Hockey Team's dramatic victory over the Soviet Union"

 

[BrianL]

Yeah, the coverage is so lousy on NBC now. I agree that time shifting is okay if the time zones are very different (though they should still show stuff live, then just re-show it for prime time), but Rio is very close to US time zones. There is just no excuse now. Plus, when they do show the time shifted content, their packages cut out a lot of good parts and are so biased toward the US. I mean, I do want to see the US athletes perform, but it means noting if I can't also watch and judge the competition (thinking particularly about Gymnastics here). It'd be like showing a baseball game with only the home team's at bats, and skipping the other half of the innings entirely. Oh well, I still like Bob Costas anyway (but he's about the only guy at NBC I do like).

 

[BrianL]

ABC did much better with the Olympics, but I do remember they time shifted the 1980 US/USSR Hockey game to prime time - just because it was such a huge event at the time.

What I remember most about that game (next to our victory and the fact that it was the first and last time my whole family sat down to watch a hockey game) was after the 2nd period when the Soviets had a 3-2 lead there was a commercial break and during a promo for the local (Washington DC) affiliate's late night news, the idiot said, "Tune in at 11pm for coverage of the United States Hockey Team's dramatic victory over the Soviet Union"

I think I read that they never even planned to air that hockey game at all until the outcome. They did break-in live with the final call, once it became obvious it would be a US upset, but it was literally the last few seconds of the game.

 

[CPanther95]

I think I read that they never even planned to air that hockey game at all until the outcome. They did break-in live with the final call, once it became obvious it would be a US upset, but it was literally the last few seconds of the game.

Yeah, they tried to bump it to an 8pm prime time game, but the Soviets refused. If not for the US victory, I doubt they would have aired it in prime time.

 

[RedAngie]

ABC did much better with the Olympics, but I do remember they time shifted the 1980 US/USSR Hockey game to prime time - just because it was such a huge event at the time.

What I remember most about that game (next to our victory and the fact that it was the first and last time my whole family sat down to watch a hockey game) was after the 2nd period when the Soviets had a 3-2 lead there was a commercial break and during a promo for the local (Washington DC) affiliate's late night news, the idiot said, "Tune in at 11pm for coverage of the United States Hockey Team's dramatic victory over the Soviet Union"

Many people don't realize that game was on a tape delay. The result was announced on radio and the local affiliates of other networks before ABC showed it. I believe the game was a 5pm Eastern start. Sweden vs. Finland was being played live while the US vs. USSR game was being broadcast.

I suppose ABC could have shown the game live, but they decided to wait until prime time.

 

[CPanther95]

Many people don't realize that game was on a tape delay. The result was announced on radio and the local affiliates of other networks before ABC showed it. I believe the game was a 5pm Eastern start. Sweden vs. Finland was being played live while the US vs. USSR game was being broadcast.

I suppose ABC could have shown the game live, but they decided to wait until prime time.

You'd think with how careful ABC was about not revealing spoilers before the prime time broadcast that their own local affiliates would have the sense to keep their mouths shut during the broadcast.


EDIT: My recollection of the timing was off. Found this article which says she did it with 10 minutes left in the game with the score tied 3-3:

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/dcsportsbog/2010/03/miracle_on_ice_was_a_wjla_fail.html

 

[RedAngie]

I think I read that they never even planned to air that hockey game at all until the outcome. They did break-in live with the final call, once it became obvious it would be a US upset, but it was literally the last few seconds of the game.

True. That game was never scheduled to be aired at all. ABC originally had other events planned for that evening's show, such as skiing.

 

[RedAngie]

You'd think with how careful ABC was about not revealing spoilers before the prime time broadcast that their own local affiliates would have the sense to keep their mouths shut during the broadcast.

Yeah, your local DC ABC affiliate made a major faux pas revealing the result. But maybe they figured enough people had already heard about the final outcome.

I was watching in my college dorm's lounge with a bunch of people. Word got around about the final score, but the spoilers didn't mar the excitement of watching it.

 

[BrianL]

Yeah, your local DC ABC affiliate made a major faux pas revealing the result. But maybe they figured enough people had already heard about the final outcome.

I was watching in my college dorm's lounge with a bunch of people. Word got around about the final score, but the spoilers didn't mar the excitement of watching it.

I was too young to even remember the event, heard about the Miracle on Ice, have since watched clips of it and it still gets me excited and choked up. I also like the movie Miracle, despite knowing the outcome. I can't even imagine how exciting it was for those who were there live though!

 

[HM]

I miss ABC doing the Olympic coverage.
I've always been disappointed in NBC and it seems to get worse each year.
Too much time spent on individual athlete stories and not enough coverage of events, especially the lesser known ones. Wintertime is the worst.
And I miss hearing all the country's anthems play at the awards ceremonies. I don't want to just see when a US athlete is on the Gold stand.

 

[HM]

Yeah, the coverage is so lousy on NBC now. I agree that time shifting is okay if the time zones are very different (though they should still show stuff live, then just re-show it for prime time), but Rio is very close to US time zones. There is just no excuse now. Plus, when they do show the time shifted content, their packages cut out a lot of good parts and are so biased toward the US. I mean, I do want to see the US athletes perform, but it means noting if I can't also watch and judge the competition (thinking particularly about Gymnastics here). It'd be like showing a baseball game with only the home team's at bats, and skipping the other half of the innings entirely. Oh well, I still like Bob Costas anyway (but he's about the only guy at NBC I do like).

I agree with you on everything until you got to Bob Costas. I am SO over him.

 

[CPanther95]

I was too young to even remember the event, heard about the Miracle on Ice, have since watched clips of it and it still gets me excited and choked up. I also like the movie Miracle, despite knowing the outcome. I can't even imagine how exciting it was for those who were there live though!

The fact that we were EXTREME underdogs makes the "Miracle on Ice" stand on its own - but when you factor in everything that was going on in the World at the time, it really was an incredible moment in time.

 

[CPanther95]

I agree with you on everything until you got to Bob Costas. I am SO over him.

Yeah, they need to put Costas out to pasture.

 

[aprilchem]

I know that last time we didn't have cable during the Olympics, and there was no way to legally watch a lot of the events because of that. We don't steal, so we were out of luck when it came to watching our favorite events.

This time we have cable, mostly because my family is really into fencing (both of my boys fence) and mountain biking (all of my kids and my DH mountain bike) and we knew there would be no legal way for us to see those events. It is unlikely they'll broadcast much mountain biking at all; they'll probably show Ibtihaj Muhammad's bout for fencing but not much else. With cable we will (hopefully) be able to see all of it.

 

[CPanther95]

I have a feeling almost half the coverage is going to be related to major issues they are having due to Olympic infrastructure failures.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

As John Oliver said on his show a few weeks ago, "The Olympics: Americans' biannual reminder that NBC exists."

I highly suggest that piece. He exposes the seedy underbelly of the whole farce. Doping is rampant and tests are more like stupidity tests than actual doping tests. You'd have to be utterly stupid to get caught. Unfortunately due to content, Dis rules prevent me from linking. But googling John Oliver Olympics should get anyone interested to it.

 

[cabanafrau]

I know that last time we didn't have cable during the Olympics, and there was no way to legally watch a lot of the events because of that. We don't steal, so we were out of luck when it came to watching our favorite events.

This time we have cable, mostly because my family is really into fencing (both of my boys fence) and mountain biking (all of my kids and my DH mountain bike) and we knew there would be no legal way for us to see those events. It is unlikely they'll broadcast much mountain biking at all; they'll probably show Ibtihaj Muhammad's bout for fencing but not much else. With cable we will (hopefully) be able to see all of it.

Had no clue there were any mountain biking events at all. I wouldn't have bet on them showing any fencing at all, but even if they show the one bout you suggest it will be in pieces with far more focus on commentary attempting to make the audience understand how they should feel the drama. Takes a lot less commentary to simply show the event, as comprehensively as possible and the audience will actually engage in the competition. It's pretty sad when some middle age nobody who's never worked a day in broadcasting or in sports for that matter understands the rocket science of captivating the viewing audience better than the professionals who are paid $$ to presumably understand their business.