Olympic coverage is a mess

[CharlieMaxwell]

If a tree falls in the forest and no one hears it, did the tree really fall? If they hold an Olympics and no one is watching, did the Olympics really happen?

A solid case can be made for a negative answer in both instances. Ratings for the Olympics are so low only an ant can walk under them.

Read the rest of RX poster Winkyduck's guest article by going to the home page at www.therx.com

Charlie

 

[andynbg]

I have no clue for what reason americans are not interested into the games. The newspapers in Europe and I guess the rest of the world are packed with articles about the Olympics. Here in Germany we have 24 hour coverage of the Olympics. 5 Channels are broadcating 24 hours per day and you can see nearly every event live. That is pretty good.

 

[JohnnyDeMarco]

it doesnt help that NBC is showing the Olympics on odd channels like the Bravo network.

 

[deutscher]

I have enjoyed what I have seen on the 'minor' channels - it's only every four years that we will see badminton, table tennis, or weight lifting.

Having said that, the coverage on NBC proper has been very poor indeed. I enjoy watching sports because I don't know the outcome, and get into the action while the result is being determined. Having to watch NBC's coverage of sports where the USA is involved, and where I truly don't know the final score when I start to watch, has been like reading the score in the paper, then having to watch the match nevertheless.

A case in point: Last night, NBC breathlessly cut to the men's volleyball semi-final between the US and Greece, with Greece leading something like 17-10 in the third set. Was there ANY doubt about who would eventually win this match? None whatsoever, and so it happened, as the US closed the gap, then pulled out a very nice victory. This should have been great fun to watch - but wasn't, as I KNEW what was about to unfold (even though I had not seen the score anywhere else prior to the broadcast).

Same thing this afternoon in the women's water polo, where we joined the action of the Bronze Medal match at 5-5 with 5 minutes to go - guess who scores and win 6-5?

Sorry to vent - an otherwise great experience spoiled by lackluster broadcasting.

 

[MariaSharapova]

no offence,but low ratings??? maybe a little
research is in order.do a little research

 

[maxdemo]

I thought the numbers were up??

 

[RobFunk]

yes they have been awesome very entertaining to me. good example is the gold medal soccer match for the women on tv right now as i type this. going into extra time. . go USA!

brilliant goal by lindsey tarpley

 

[GreenDoberman]

If you work from 2-10 in the morning like I do, the Olympics are very enjoyable. I get to see most of the events live and the recap of the previous day's in an encapsulated format. That being said, I'm sure most of the normal workforce doesn't have my vampire hours in their schedule and for you guys I'm sure it sucks.

 

[drhockey]

The answer is pretty simple; First and foremost the United States no longer has a world enemy I.E. Soviet Union, who everyone rallies against. Secondly the replay coverage is horrible, who wants to watch an event where you already know the outcome, NBC really dropped the ball here. At least stations such as CBC show the events as they were intended... live. Also we tried the live events three channel thing, a few years ago we had a pay per view format called the Olympics triple cast, for $99.95 which was a complete failure.

Dr.

 

[RobFunk]

what is the time delay between eastern and greece anyways?

 

[andynbg]

7 hours

 

[winkyduck]

and if anyone is wondering how F****D up NBC is:

i was hoping to catch the women's soccer finals. i was told the game started @ 11A (PDT) so i looked for it at that time - couldn't find it. i found out the game was on Telemundo - meaning in spanish. ok - no problem there.

BUT

the game is being shown on 3 hour delay - meaning it is about to start now.

NBC - YOU SUCK!

why can't they show a game LIVE for the ENTIRE USA! why do they "bend over" the b(w)est coast like this. why do they insist on showing games 3 hours later.? don't you think people want to see them LIVE!

sorry for thinking logical. i promise i won't do that again!

 

[TheGeneral+]

I think it's just the time difference. If held here, we would know more about when and more popular things would be be primetime likely.

 

[RobFunk]

it should be live regardless wink youre absolutely right. there was a nearby apartment building was loud as hell during the world cup final with brazil at 5 am. becuase many brazilians lived there and wanted to see the game and support their team. same with me, i remember watching that usa upset over mexico as a +400 dog and being up at 4 am and drinking beer and getting rowdy as hell.

people perfer live over convience. we just want to enjoy the moment the same time the athletes do.

 

[andynbg]

or me as a European it does not matter if the games are in NA or Asia. When the games are in NA most of the events are at around 8 pm our time (having in mind the time difference of 6 to 9 hours). When the games are in Asia it is around 4 to 6 hours time difference for us here which means most of the events are starting in the early morning hours and take until the afternoon. Was way different with the Sydney games because at that time most of the event were held during the night (our time). However the ratings were pretty high. For most Europeans it does not matter at what time an event is held. We usually get up during the night for watching it (especially Formula One whenenever it is in Asia or Australia) or other public events. I guess the point is that most of the Americans are more focused on their sports such as baseball etc. than global sports and that is why they are not so interested in the Olympics. Another point is that the TV stations will never ever charge someone for watching the Olympics, soccer wc or other big events. Different with the broadcastings of american sports here because a pay tv broadcaster has the right therefore. but even they are cheap with around 450 euro for a yearly package (including sports channels, movie channels etc etc). They broadcast more than 1000 soccer games live this season, 3 mlb games a week live, 4 nfl games live, 2-3 nhl games and 2-3 nba games live). I know that is not too much but still ok as we will be able to get the north american sports network later this year including college football, hoops etc.

 

[MariaSharapova]

what's a mother to do with you tards???
the olympic games were the top 7 shows on tv
last week.check the link i posted. or find
a site with last week's tv ratings