NBC Olympics sucks !!!

NBC's "Live" Olympics Fraud
stumble digg reddit del.ico.us news trust mixx.com

Posted August 9, 2008 | 12:14 PM (EST)
Read More: Live Olympic, Live Olympics, Nbc, Nbc Live, Nbc Live Olympics, Nbc Olympics Not Live, Olympics, Olympics Live West Coast, Olympics Not Live, Tape-Delay, Media News

Show your support.
Buzz this article up.
Buzz up!

* Share
* Print View
* Comments

Like this story? Get Alerts of big news events. Enter your email address

NBC means "Never Broadcast Currently." Having practiced in June by delaying the telecast of Roger Federer's Wimbledon semi-final for six hours (nine on the West Coast), NBC now is embargoing many of the most important events and running around the world, trying to prevent anyone from posting any video on the Internet.

As much as I enjoyed the victory of the Brazilian soccer team over North Korea this morning, not to mention the exciting Poland vs. Estonia badminton match that is presently on in HD, I would much rather have seen Michael Phelps break the worlds record in the men's 400 meters individual medley.

NBC knows this and that is why they won't let me see it. They want to hold it for their prime time show. Undoubtedly for the end of their prime time show, at which time I plan to be asleep.

This is ridiculous in 2008. It is now 8 a.m. and I know the result. Much of the fun of watching sports is not knowing the result. They are going to show the race in 15 hours.

But NBC is not catering to sports fans. It is catering to the ignorant sheep who are used to having "reality' cut up and organized by the likes of Mark Burnett. As Jay Leno demonstrated last night in his Jaywalking episode (link coming) , they don't know the score in more ways than one. But they buy stuff. It's the Olympics as a soap opera.

This "plausibly live" coverage, as annoying as it has been for years, is hopelessly anachronistic in 2008, when even NBC is offering thousands of hours of video on the web and seemingly dozens of TV networks. In fact, the Phelps story (and I just used Phelps because he was the one when I started writing: he already has been eclipsed by the loss of the top US men's beach volleyball team to Latvia, also delayed, although I did not check for it on the web) is the lead on the NBCOlympics.com site, there just is no video and, of course, no drama.
Story continues below
advertisement

Why can't NBC broadcast the most important events live on one of one of its subsidiary networks or even on its web site? Then I could choose: USA at 5 a.m. or NBC at 11 p.m.

They could do it complete with commercials targeted at the audience: think Bud instead of Olay.

But that would be outside the box. The current thinking is more from the school that blacks out home NFL games if there is not a sell out. Think Mad Men.

The days when you could avoid the results until the delayed broadcast are long gone. I learned of Phelps record on Drudge while checking up on the latest Edwards scandal news. (I had to check Drudge because I suspect that the proprietor of this site is asleep, but I digress) As the games go on, the top results will be on the Yahoo front page and just about everywhere else, including the little screen in the elevator I take up to my office.

I understand that NBC has bribed the Chinese into having several key events in the morning, so they will be live in New York. But, it is safe to say that many key events will not be live, and in any event, NBC's idea of "live" means a three hour delay in California. I think NBC is pretty much alone in tape delaying major sports for time zones. Thank God they don't have much to show.

I plan on voting with my eyeballs and watching Manny vs. Los Gigantes instead.

Update: Chris Chase on Yahoo emphasizes the insane three hour delay of even putatively live events for the West Coast, an indignity on which NBC is a past master.

I did enjoy hearing the score of the China-USA basketball game on NPR while driving home to view it.

Contrary to some of the comments, sports are almost universally broadcast live on the West Coast. TNT has some transgressions, but three hour delays are almost always from NBC. I guess the execs in Burbank get private feeds.
Olympics
NBC
stumble digg reddit del.ico.us news trust mixx.com
More in Media...
Butterfingers Relay Team Leaves Americans 0-For-6 in...
IOC Slams Usain Bolt For Post-Race Showboating
Softball Stunner: USA Denied 4th Consecutive Gold
US Women's Soccer Grabs Gold in Win...
HuffPost Stories Surging Right Now
New Bush Rule: Doctors Can Refuse To Give Women Abortions
Fineman: McCain Is Trivializing His POW Past
IOC To Launch Investigation Into Ages Of Chinese Gymnasts
Brandon Friedman: John McCain Needs to Lay Off the POW Talk
Johann Hari: John McCain's Secretive Plan to "Kill the UN"
Oliver Willis: McCain Camp Lies Again: There Are No Private Beaches In Hawaii



Comments
80
Pending Comments
0
FAQ: Comments and ModerationFAQ: HuffPost Accounts
Post Comment
Post Comment
You must be logged in to comment of this article. Log in or Create and account

Want to reply to a comment? Hint: Click "Reply" at the bottom of the comment; after being approved your comment will appear directly underneath the comment you replied to
View Comments:
Page: 1 2 3 4 Next › Last » (4 pages total)
- + RonaldRayGunz See Profile I'm a Fan of RonaldRayGunz I'm a fan of this user

NBC is a joke...from "news" to sports.

What else do you expect from the Olblabermann network?
Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 04:51 PM on 08/21/2008
- + kyvette68 See Profile I'm a Fan of kyvette68 I'm a fan of this user

Thank you for expressing what I have been feeling for over a week. I'm luck because my cable provider carries CBC from Canada so I have caught more events and in real time than I would have waiting on NBC. The coverage by NBC has been horrible and the time delay especially on the west coast has been painful. Do they not realise that people have jobs and don't want to stay up till midnight waiting to watch an event?
Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 02:17 AM on 08/18/2008
- + BigMike75 See Profile I'm a Fan of BigMike75 I'm a fan of this user

I'm down here in Toronto for the summer, and the CBC network is showing all the major events in real time. Then again their a goverment owned network, and not a coporate hack machine like NBC.
Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 12:15 PM on 08/17/2008
- + Oceanea See Profile I'm a Fan of Oceanea I'm a fan of this user

Im glad someone apoke out about this because I had to send NBC a letter this morning stating the same thing. They showed the basket ball qualifying game in full yet the men 100 meter finals this morning was not even covered. The race was less than a minute. NBC is just doing the olypics for the ratings and the money it will bring in they are not true to the game.
Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 01:50 PM on 08/16/2008
- + ianrthorpe See Profile I'm a Fan of ianrthorpe I'm a fan of this user

Pre-recorded "live" broadcsts
Lip synching singers
gold medals made of lead
television extras bussed in to boost the crowds.

None of that would happen in a western democracy would it?

Western phoniness is without equal, accept no far eastern imitations.

http://greenteeth.blog.co.uk/2008/08/13/if-it-s-good-enough-for-madonna-it-s-goo-4583636
Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 01:02 PM on 08/16/2008
- + MinYee See Profile I'm a Fan of MinYee I'm a fan of this user

If you live where you can pick up Canadian cable, you can watch in real time.
We've got Vancouver's CBUT here in western Washington / Puget Sound.
Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 06:47 PM on 08/14/2008
- + luziannagirl See Profile I'm a Fan of luziannagirl I'm a fan of this user

NPR just reported that stunning broadcast shots of Olympic fireworks over the Bejing night sky were in actuality, computer-generated animation in footage provided by the Chinese.

Well, that little technicality apparently was not made clear to the viewing audience at the time, by gushing MSM "reporters".

Fake live shots. Fake fireworks. What's next? Fake athletes?

Oh, yeah, lest I forget, we've had fake athletes for years, courtesy the pervasive use of performance-enhancing drugs. It's now to the point that conscientious parents are quietly discouraging their children from serious pursuit of high school competitive sports, for fear they'll be pressured into using behavior-altering, body-ravaging, life-shortening anabolic steroids. Yeah. It's reached the high school level, y'all.

I lost interest in Olympics years ago, sometime after the golden-shoe guy was accused of cheating. Blew off the Olympics to watch the special effects-loaded , intelligently-written, action-packed, stunt-rich kick-ass sci-fi TV series thriller, "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles " .

At least "Terminator" makes no claims to be anything other than pretend.
Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 10:07 AM on 08/12/2008
- + TRYKER See Profile I'm a Fan of TRYKER I'm a fan of this user

I dream of that day when tax deductions for advertising are LIMITED. So that every damn second of every day isn't loaded with sales pitches for more waste and indulgence than anyone should ever afford.

Think of all the $$$$ spent on pharmaceuticals, full pagers in every mag every day/week/month that WE PAY FOR with our horrendous charges for medical care.
The advertisers get to dictate when we see the Olympics, they dictate everything we see on TV...its really getting way overdone.
You'd think they'd want to leave viewers with a positive feeling about their products, but how can they expect that when they butcher it all in their names?
Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 07:41 PM on 08/11/2008
- + myvoice08 See Profile I'm a Fan of myvoice08 I'm a fan of this user

Actually, NBC lobbied the IOC (not the Chinese) to have "several key events in the morning, so they will be live in New York". The host country does not have such authority. It was the decision of the International Olympic Committee.
Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 04:24 PM on 08/11/2008
- + luziannagirl See Profile I'm a Fan of luziannagirl I'm a fan of this user

So it's NOT live!

One more instance of the virtual world trumping the real world, fakery trump. It's all the more reason to question the veracity, validity, and ultimately, the relevance of pretty much all one sees on commercial tee vee.

All the saccharin personal backstories, color commentary, and fancy hi-tech framing of the event coverage was something to be endured, anyhow. If I never again hear that "swoosh" sound accompanying screen changes, it will be too soon.

Instead of watching the "live" Olympics, I'll take this opportunity to actually engage in some real world sportswomanship; re-stocking tackle boxes and organizing hunting equipment.

No great loss.
Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 02:57 PM on 08/11/2008
- + Schallvain See Profile I'm a Fan of Schallvain I'm a fan of this user

I absolutely agree. It is unbelievable that they are as beholdened as they are to their advertisers. This schedule is purely an issue of money. They promise their advertisers that they will get prime time with the main events.

My other issue, which has been brought up in other comments, is the disrespect and condescension that the commentators have for other countries. Some of the comments are borderline racial at many times, and I not a person who is typically sensitive to such things. I have been disgusted by NBC and they, as a company, should be ashamed of the poor product that they have produced.
Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 02:11 PM on 08/11/2008
- + clemenj98 See Profile I'm a Fan of clemenj98 I'm a fan of this user

I don't really care about the Olympics, but i had it on, "Live" last night at 10:30. When i got up at 3:30 am to feed my son again, the exact same race was on and the little "Live" logo was still on. I haven't been all that sleep deprived, but it did make me wonder if i was a little delerious.
Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 01:18 PM on 08/11/2008
- + devilyousay See Profile I'm a Fan of devilyousay I'm a fan of this user

I get the pleasure of watching both CBC and NBC and, not surprisingly, NBC is behind the CBC on major stories and can't compete on the China and human interest stories. I'm seeing what you want to see, before you.

I have to also say that Jim Lampley is an annoying and ignorant announcer. When the Latvians won at Beach volleyball, his comment of " what next, Siberia or antarctica?" was just plain stupid and demeaning to the efforts of the Latvians.
Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 12:58 PM on 08/11/2008
- + jpcline004 See Profile I'm a Fan of jpcline004 I'm a fan of this user

I can see how it would be annoying to live on the West Coast and have a delay, but some people are so spoiled. The modern Olympics have been going on for over 100 years. In the past everyone had to wait for the next day's newspaper to find out who won, or wait for the highlight reel on the local news. The games are exactly 12 hours away from NYC, which means a bunch of events actually HAVE been live since they are held in the morning aka primetime US tv time. The relay was on at 11:30 last night, hardly prime time viewing. Now if they saved the result to show it at 8pm tonight, you would have something to complain about.

Oh and you gotta love the irony of a Drudge Report reader calling people "ignorant sheep who are used to having "reality' cut up and organized by the likes of Mark Burnett." I know this is shocking to you, but most people in this country actually have jobs where they can't just sit around and watch TV all day or surf the internet waiting for instant updates on the scores. Not everyone can be a blogger journalist.
Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 11:58 AM on 08/11/2008
- + Stephen Kaus - Huffpost Blogger I'm a Fan of Stephen Kaus I'm a fan of this user

See Stephen Kaus's Profile

I have a job. This was Saturday.

Also, part of the point is that it is 2008. In 1960, I was happy to see Muhammad Ali win on tape delay.

Here in California, the relay was at 11:30 because NBC chose not to show it live at 8:30.
Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 10:28 PM on 08/14/2008
- + PioneerKing See Profile I'm a Fan of PioneerKing I'm a fan of this user

NBC has blown it. this is going to be one of the least watched Olympics.
Also, NBC's commentators are lame and; NBC's promotion of China is not fooling anyone.
Americans know that China did not meet it's commitments and continues to violate human rights.
NBC really stands fro nothing but crap, which is exactly what their Olympic coverage has turned out to be.
Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 11:21 AM on 08/11/2008
Page: 1 2 3 4 Next › Last » (4 pages total)

You must be logged in to reply to this comment. Log in
New comments on this entry — Click to refresh
spinner Loading comments…

Ads by Google