Should the Olympics even be on network TV? (1 Viewer)

[LarryDavenport]

BTW, I am not anti-Olympics, but I question why the Olympics be on network TV (or at least a single "network" like NBC and its offspring. It is getting trounced in the ratings by America Idol, Lost, and Grey's Anatomy. A lot of the "sports" like figure skating, that appeal to or inspire children, are often on after the kids have gone to bed.

With so many people having cable or satelite, a minority of people watch over the airwaves (which means they are only able to see the NBC portion).

I think the time of one network buying the exclusive rights to an Olympics should end and have the networks (both big 5 and cable) bid on individual sports. In the end I think there will actually be more Olympics on TV and the coverage would be better with so much competition.

Discuss.

 

[Joseph S]

It should be on OTA network TV in full bandwidth HDTV and live. The delays and "packages" are the reason I don't watch more. Bid on "sports" is something I completely disagree on. It would just pit everything against each other to our disadvantage. They could in fact show live and still put together the packages for off hours. In addition, I would like an HD Sat/Cable package that shows everything like the old "Triple Cast."

 

[Glenn Overholt]

Well, there is something wrong with it. If this is on 'live' eastern standard time, then shouldn't it be on 'live' on the west coast of the US 3 hours earlier?

I don't watch it but last time there were complaints that some events that didn't have US participants were just not shown. You can't squeeze an 8 hour day in Italy to 3 hours here without missing something, right?

But worst of all, this is sweeps month, and I have never seen so many reruns on the other channels. How can advertising rates be set up for the rest of this season if the only thing 'new' on is the Olympics? Hey, at least I am getting caught up on my new DVD's!

I did hear that in some countries, the schools give out passes to students so that they can stay up to watch the Olympics, sleep in and start school later the next day. Wow!

Glenn

 

[ScottR]

Keep it on the networks.....can't we keep some of our traditions alive. Why is it that so many people are drifting away from traditions? BTW, the Olympics will be around long after people have forgotten about American Idol.

 

[PaulP]

I just wish there'd be some order to the broadcasts, and I wish that everything would be shown (live or on delay) but unedited and complete - every event, every race, everything. I'd pay good money for satellite coverage where they can have 24/7 coverage (live then delayed), commercial-free (kinda like the Woodstock PPV back in 1994).

 

[Chris_Morris]

I think they should put all other shows on hold (it's only 16 days, I don't think too many people would die of Lost/DH/etc withdrawals. Those that did would be acceptable casaulties ) and make it a source of national pride again.

 

[Patrick_S]

I guess I’m in the minority because I think NBC is doing a great job. I like the fact that there almost always something on USA, CNBC, MSNBC or NBC.

As for the statements about showing EVERY RACE of an event, I say no thanks. I really don’t care to waste the time watching the Alpine Down Hiller from The Virgin Islands.
Show me those who have a chance and maybe one or two sentimental choices but I don’t care to watch the scrubs.

 

[Joseph S]

I'd rather watch scrubs live at 4AM than have to wait until 19 hours later to see that which has been reported in the news all day. Heck, I'd rather watch the delay in the Super G right now than have to sit through the garbage broadcast on NBC tonight. One event per channel until complete or a natural delay occurs is what I want. We don't watch football with 2 hours between each quarter or 30 minutes between an inning. Show it as it happens and you have real drama worth watching and even replaying later when the day's events are over.

 

[Carl_G]

No Earl.

No Office.

No fun on Thursday night!

 

[KevinJ]

Ice dancing shouldn't be on in primetime but hockey should imho.

 

[AlexF]

It's nice being in Canada. CBC's been showing 90% of the stuff live, then packaging the 'interesting' events of the day into a ~4 hour "highlight" package.

And with TSN showing the more 'specialty' stuff (ie Curling, non-Canada hockey, etc), we get a surprising amount of live stuff.

Right now in fact, Canada/Switzerland hockey is on CBC (mid 3rd) and Latvia/Sweden hockey on TSN (end of the 1st).

 

[brentl]

I agree with AlexF, the Canadian coverage is great, I've watcheed LOTS of coverage this week.

Please don't talk about the men losing to Switzerland .....Please

I'm REALLY suprised the U.s. girls lost to Sweden, but it means Canada should walk through the finals.

Brent

 

[andrew markworthy]

We get the Olympics 24/7 on Eurosport (a satellite channel) and similar to what I guess you guys are getting (but with I would imagine less emphasis on the ice hockey and more on curling) on the BBC. I would guess that unless you are heavily into things like the biathlon and cross-country skiing then you aren't missing all that much by just getting the highlights.

 

[Hunter P]

I think it should stay on broadcast TV because even today not all of America gets cable. Keep it on free TV.

However, I do wish they would broadcast some events live for those that wish to stay up (or wake early) to watch them. They can still do their "highlight" show during the primetime evenings.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

As someone with basic cable only in his apartment, I also support keeping the Olympics on NBC. Cable can have pro sports, but the Olympics is an event.

Just finished watching the live coverage of the USA/Slovakia game on NBC. Excellent presentation, with a minimum of on-screen distractions. This was the first time in a long time when I'd seen shots with no logos or network bugs; IMO, fantastic! The announcers were also really good.
By the way, what a fantastic game. Both teams played their hearts out.

 

[Fredster]

Why bother having the Olympics at all? When 11 of the Italian men's hockey team are "North American", isn't this just a pointless contest of ringers and has-beens representing counties who will bankroll their specialty? I like sport and all, but this all seems pretty silly to me.

Perhaps they can revamp the whole business. Forget the nations. Get the corporate sponsors up front where they already are anyway. Team Coke vs Team Pepsi, Team Toyota vs Team MacDonald's. And you know you'll love the outfits for Team Victoria's Secret...

 

[Ken Chan]

No, supposedly they appeal to women, or try to anyway.

 

[Joe Wong]

Not showing some events live is one of my peeves... For sure, you can still have your 8pm primetime, delayed stuff, NBC...but you payed big $$$ for the coverage and last weekend you had Nascar on Sunday around noon when the Olympics was going on???

In this day and age of internet coverage, I've lost interest in delays...it's not as if 2 weeks of no daytime soaps or whatever they show in the afternoon should be that big a deal to be pre-empted with live coverage, is it?

International sporting competitions just don't seem to be all that important here in the US...

 

[Tarkin The Ewok]

I definitely support keeping the Olympics on national broadcast TV. I don't watch enough programs to make cable worth it, but I love the Winter Olympics.

The coverage on NBC this year has been adequate. One way that they could improve: show all of the coverage of an event at the same time. The figure skating is especially guilty of this. While it is a big draw to viewers, I don't think anybody likes having to watch all 3.5-4 hours of primetime coverage to see all of the NBC-selected skaters perform.

I wish there was 24/7 coverage, either live or taped. However, since tape delay has been chosen for these Olympics, I accept seeing just the highlights as a reasonable compromise. These network people have been covering sports long enough that I trust that they will pick the most interesting and important footage to air.

One last comment: please stop commenting during the figure skating performances! They should be enjoyed as art first, and you can then dissect the performances during the replay while waiting for the scores.

 

[Bob McElfresh]

I like that I could see all the hockey games on USA, but then the prime-time coverage showed the highlights of various different sports so I did not get too burnt-out on one sport.

It is disapointing that many of the other channels are showing re-runs. On the other hand - they are not fighting tooth-and-nail for ratings and forcing people to make choices. This shows .. unusual cooperation. Since I believe these athletes deserve their "15 minutes" of fame, this helps.

Riddle: How does a snow-boarder introduce themselves?

Whoa Dude - sorry about that!


I'm even enjoying some of the snow-board events.