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A Glaring Omission In NBC's Opening Ceremonies Broadcast

J

Joseph_Gallant

Guest
Perhaps the only advantage of NBC's broadcast of the Winter Olympics Opening Ceremonies being on tape was that the network could show it in full, without missing any of it due to commercials. They could stop tape, run the commercials, and start-up the tape again.

But one important part of the Opening Ceremonies was not broadcast on NBC: The Athletes' and Officials' Oaths. After what happened four years ago in Salt Lake City (a judging scandal in figure-skating which resulted in the scoring system for the sport being completely overhauled), one would think NBC would show the oaths.

The ceremonies lasted a little more than two-and-a-half hours. Tonight's (February 10th) prime-time telecast ran four hours (8 P.M.-12 Midnight ET/PT). So it wasn't a case of "there wasn't enough time in the prime-time broadcast to show the entire Opening Ceremony; we had to leave a few minutes out".

NBC could have cut a couple of minutes out of the first hour (before they even showed the Opening Ceremonies), during which they showed practice sessions for men's downhill skiing and men's snowboarding, to fit-in the taking of the oaths.

I would think that north of the border, CBC showed the oaths both on their live afternoon broadcast (something NBC should have also done) and the prime-time repeat (Hopefully, someone in Canada or in a border area who gets CBC television can let me know if indeed CBC showed the athletes' and officials' oaths).

Didn't NBC also ignore the athletes' and officials' oaths during their coverage of the Opening Ceremonies of the 2004 Summer Games in Athens, despite it also being on tape??
 
CBC's coverage of the Opening Ceremonies - all 3 hours and 45 minutes of it (more or less) - reaired in its entirety in Prime Time tonight, and is now airing one last time as I type this out.

CBC did one thing NBC probably doesn't dare do: go mostly commercial free for about two hours, only breaking away once from the entry of the athletes to the lighting of the cauldron.
 
> But one important part of the Opening Ceremonies was not
> broadcast on NBC: The Athletes' and Officials' Oaths. After
> what happened four years ago in Salt Lake City (a judging
> scandal in figure-skating which resulted in the scoring
> system for the sport being completely overhauled), one would
> think NBC would show the oaths.

What's the point?! Considering the number of cheating athletes getting caught using steroids and other substances, corrupt judges and sports gambling team
managers, NBC made the right call by skipping over oaths.


>
> The ceremonies lasted a little more than two-and-a-half
> hours. Tonight's (February 10th) prime-time telecast ran
> four hours (8 P.M.-12 Midnight ET/PT). So it wasn't a case
> of "there wasn't enough time in the prime-time broadcast to
> show the entire Opening Ceremony; we had to leave a few
> minutes out".
>
> NBC could have cut a couple of minutes out of the first hour
> (before they even showed the Opening Ceremonies), during
> which they showed practice sessions for men's downhill
> skiing and men's snowboarding, to fit-in the taking of the
> oaths.
>
Those werent practices, but prelim trials. They're part of
the competiion.
 
> But one important part of the Opening Ceremonies was not
> broadcast on NBC: The Athletes' and Officials' Oaths. After
> what happened four years ago in Salt Lake City (a judging
> scandal in figure-skating which resulted in the scoring
> system for the sport being completely overhauled), one would
> think NBC would show the oaths.

Well we know ONE person would be interested in seeing this.

Everyone else who turns in for the Opening Ceremonies does NOT tune in for that. Talk about a "yawn factor." They want people STICKING AROUND for 4 hours -- not tuning out after 4 minutes.
 
> Perhaps the only advantage of NBC's broadcast of the Winter
> Olympics Opening Ceremonies being on tape was that the
> network could show it in full, without missing any of it due
> to commercials. They could stop tape, run the commercials,
> and start-up the tape again.

I don't mean to hijack this thread, but since it concerns the Opening Ceremonies, I suppose it's even relevant, possibly even on point.

Perhaps because they showed it all, did anyone else get the feeling that Bob Costas was REALLY looking for things to say just to say something? I don't have any axe to grind with him -- I neither like nor dislike him -- but, I dunno, just some of his comments seemed particularly inane.

Any thoughts?<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by MichaelE on 02/11/06 09:27 PM.</FONT></P>
 
>
> Didn't NBC also ignore the athletes' and officials' oaths
> during their coverage of the Opening Ceremonies of the 2004
> Summer Games in Athens, despite it also being on tape??
>

You're just looking for something to bitch about.(tomorrow
you'll be crying how the local NBC affils on the East Coast
are not pre-empting Olympics for the Blizzard coverage).

NBC's coverage of the Opening Ceremonies was first-rate.
Williams seemed a little green and stuffy the first time alongside Costas,
but it's clear that Ebersol is getting him comfortable and ready
for Bejing '08 where politics will play a huge factor in the
Games.
 
I began this thread because I thought the athletes' and officials' oaths should have been part of NBC's coverage of the Opening Ceremonies from Turin/Torino for one simple reason: They had enough time to show the oaths had the network elected to do so.

Other than that, I actually thought NBC's Opening Ceremonies coverage was pretty good.
 
> I began this thread because I thought the athletes' and
> officials' oaths should have been part of NBC's coverage of
> the Opening Ceremonies from Turin/Torino for one simple
> reason: They had enough time to show the oaths had the
> network elected to do so.
>
> Other than that, I actually thought NBC's Opening Ceremonies
> coverage was pretty good.
>

I agree, I think that NBC did an excellent job at covering the Opening Ceremonies. Everything was put together well. I do fault the Torinese Olympic Committee for the somewhat odd performance that only focused on the northern "Alpine" culture of Italy. Nobody dancing the tarantella? They seemed to have forgotten about the other 75% of a country made up of Mediterranean islands, rocky shores, soft beaches, southern mountains, fishing villages, and volcanoes. I agree that the oaths are an 'integral' part of the opening ceremonies and should have been shown in some form or another. But all in all, NBC did a fantastic job of covering the event.
 
> Perhaps because they showed it all, did anyone else get the
> feeling that Bob Costas was REALLY looking for things to say
> just to say something? I don't have any axe to grind with
> him -- I neither like nor dislike him -- but, I dunno, just
> some of his comments seemed particularly inane.
>
> Any thoughts?

I've been a Costas fan since the NBC NFL studio days in the 70s and I thought he WAS pretty wordy last night. He's always had a good grip on cultural references, but called the 70s disco music playing as the athletes entered the arena music from the 80s. He must be out of practice with all the work NBC sports has to give outside the Olympics. My only other question, does he still dye his hair and wax his eyebrows?
 
> > Perhaps because they showed it all, did anyone else get
> the
> > feeling that Bob Costas was REALLY looking for things to
> say
> > just to say something?

Costas is on record as not wanting to be part of the opener.He says his job begins on day two when the games really begin....and I agree. Theres no need for him to be part of....of...whatever that was the other night....
 
> Costas is on record as not wanting to be part of the
> opener.He says his job begins on day two when the games
> really begin....and I agree. Theres no need for him to be
> part of....of...whatever that was the other night....
>

Ahhh, OK, that's fair. As I say, I'm neither a fan nor a non-fan, I just thought he was a bit over the edge last night.

Thanks for the info! :)
 
>>
> I would think that north of the border, CBC showed the oaths
> both on their live afternoon broadcast (something NBC should
> have also done) and the prime-time repeat (Hopefully,
> someone in Canada or in a border area who gets CBC
> television can let me know if indeed CBC showed the
> athletes' and officials' oaths).
>

CBC did air the oaths- Peter Mansbridge commented that it was ironic that a figure skating judge made the judges' oath after the antics in SLC...
 
You seem to think people actually care about the Olympics and are watching them!
That, your weird predictions, and blather about places you are not make me wonder about you. But, keep on posting since you are quite funny.
 
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