Curtains For The Olympic Games On NBC?

[DToTheJ]

There's a strong possibility that for the first time under Dick Ebersol's watch, NBC may not continue carrying the Olympics, thanks to Comcast and their cost-cutting:
http://www.mediaite.com/tv/report-t...-nbc-and-longtime-olympics-boss-dick-ebersol/

 

[BMR]

There's a strong possibility that for the first time under Dick Ebersol's watch, NBC may not continue carrying the Olympics, thanks to Comcast and their cost-cutting:
http://www.mediaite.com/tv/report-t...-nbc-and-longtime-olympics-boss-dick-ebersol/

Who would pick them up, I wonder? Are the Olympics protected for Over the Air TV in the USA?

 

[landtuna]

There's a strong possibility that for the first time under Dick Ebersol's watch, NBC may not continue carrying the Olympics, thanks to Comcast and their cost-cutting:

While it might be considered cost cutting by Comcast I'm also pretty certain it can also be laid at the miserable coverage NBC has been famous for in past Games. Their emphasis on up-close and personal interviews and the constant barrage of high profile American competitors (only) does a significant disservice to the overall coverage and has continued drawing criticism from media watchers for years.

I've gotten sick of the Olympic Games on American TV and wouldn't miss them a bit should they disappear.

 

[azumanga]

Three things that gone wrong at NBC:

1. West Coast tape delay, even if the event is closer to home, even if the event is in the same time zone (Vancouver).

2. Turning what supposed to be a worldwide sporting event into a "US against the world" reality series, playing up the drama and American jingoism very excessively.

3. While NBC only had the broadcast rights for the US only, their internet rights are worldwide, meaning that those outside the US wanting any Olympic coverage at all must get it through NBC, not their local broadcaster, meaning that they see the same bawlderised version of the Olympics online that we yanks see here in the US.

Hopefully, whoever gets the Olympics next treats it with respect and the intentions that it's a worldwide event, not an American event.

 

[BMR]

2. Turning what supposed to be a worldwide sporting event into a "US against the world" reality series, playing up the drama and American jingoism very excessively.

Yes, I've heard British media commentators note that aspect of NBCs coverage. Not that the BBC aren't sometimes guilty of this type of thing as well....they are.

The Olympics can't be an easy event to make a profit on, as they must be expensive to cover, and the audience , although decent isn't spectacular, except maybe for 'glamour' events like the Mens 100m and the Marathon.

It's interesting to note that here commercial channel ITV have never shown any interest in the Olympic games, and have been quite happy to leave it to the BBC.

 

[bpatrick]

I wonder how much attention Olga Korbut, Nadia Comaneci, and
Franz Klammer would have gotten if NBC had carried those Olympics
instead of ABC.

I know NBC's Olympics coverage has been really bad, but for the worst,
I'd go back to the Winter Games at Sapporo, Japan, in 1972. NBC had to
take the Japanese feed (NHK, I think), and they were showing, for example,
every ski jumper, some of whom weren't as agile as my cat. Then the medalists
had to be helicoptered to a studio some 50 miles away for interviews; the NBC
anchors might as well have stayed in New York since they hardly ever left the
studio. If ABC hadn't come through with its brilliant coverage of the Summer
Games in Munich that year, the Olympics might have been dead as a television
attraction.

Question to Canadian contributors: how is CTV doing with the Olympics? I
had heard they'd gotten the rights away from the CBC, the network with perhaps
the best reputation worldwide for its Olympic coverage.

 

[fussbudget]

I thought CTV's coverage of the most recent Olympics was fantastic and I'm not even in Canada. I watched CTV and its associated networks because NBC's coverage was almost never live and when it was, it was extremely limited. For instance, on NBC viewers might get to see the top 6 or 7 figure skaters compete in a particular event. On CTV, entire events were broadcast live from start to finish.

 

[azumanga]

I wonder how much attention Olga Korbut, Nadia Comaneci, and
Franz Klammer would have gotten if NBC had carried those Olympics
instead of ABC.

In Nadia's case, someone else would be co-hosting WGN's Jerry Lewis Telethon; and "The Young and the Restless" would either have another theme song today (at best), or long-cancelled (at worst).

 

[bpatrick]

The song commonly known as "Nadia's Theme" has been the theme
song of "Y&R" since its debut in 1973; she used it in 1976. (Side note:
"Bold And The Beautiful" and "Days Of Our Lives" are the only other soaps
that have never changed their theme songs.)

 

[TheBigA]

What's missed here is that costs for the Olympics and other sports are out of control. The Olympics brand simply isn't as valuable as it once was. I think the IOC will find it a tough sell to any US network. The question they'll be left with is do they stay with their longtime partner, or do they try something new. In any case, I think the days of round the clock coverage on free TV are over. They will find ways to put this thing behind a pay wall. And if recent history is any indication, it will decrease the value of the brand even more, because the Olympics will fall off the radar of most people. Say what you will about broadcast TV, but the lowest rated show there is about what the highest shows get on cable.

 

[azumanga]

The song commonly known as "Nadia's Theme" has been the theme
song of "Y&R" since its debut in 1973; she used it in 1976.

Of course, would the soap or the theme have been popular if not for Nadia's performance?

 

[bpatrick]

The soap was already popular, not #1 by any stretch, but
beating back what ABC and NBC threw at it; I'll give
Nadia credit for bringing the theme song into the national
consciousness.

 

[hubcity]

The single release of "Nadia's Theme (The Young And The Restless)" by A&M Records was triggered by ABC's use of it to score a montage of Comaneci's performances (though she never actually used it *in* her performances.) It charted at #8 on the Billboard Hot 100. Neither its use as the Young & The Restless theme, nor its original use as incidental music for a 1971 movie, resulted in a single release.

Lots more here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nadia's_Theme

 

[BRNout]

What's missed here is that costs for the Olympics and other sports are out of control. The Olympics brand simply isn't as valuable as it once was. I think the IOC will find it a tough sell to any US network. The question they'll be left with is do they stay with their longtime partner, or do they try something new. In any case, I think the days of round the clock coverage on free TV are over. They will find ways to put this thing behind a pay wall. And if recent history is any indication, it will decrease the value of the brand even more, because the Olympics will fall off the radar of most people. Say what you will about broadcast TV, but the lowest rated show there is about what the highest shows get on cable.

You are absolutely right on all counts. The IOC - like their counterparts in the professional leagues - have an overly bloated opinion of the value of their respective properties. They viciously protect anything that they deem to 'belong to them' and stop at nothing to assert that they own any and all intellectual property associated with their sport. My favorite is how nobody can say "Super Bowl" in the media any more because the NFL has stormtroopers at the ready to sue your posterior off.

But, back to the IOC....

The Olympics do generate interest, particularly the Summer Games. However, that interest level probably doesn't rise to the point where the networks can cover the extreme costs of having the rights to the games (not to mention what it takes to cover them). So, they are forced to cut corners and to milk every possible promotional opportunity out of them to the extent that it becomes downright crass.

And yes, NBC's Olympic coverage has been lousy. Amer-o-centric to a fault and too full of "human interest" crap. They chop up the events and run it like a 'best-of' highlights show rather than as a live sporting event. In their desire to attract women, they have driven men off. US coverage of the games has gone a loooooong way downhill since the days of ABC and Jim McKay - mostly because of NBC's (mis)handling of the events.

Let's hope that the next rights holder (and its anyone's guess who that will be) does a better job.

 

[DToTheJ]

...I think the days of round the clock coverage on free TV are over. They will find ways to put this thing behind a pay wall...

I smell a revival of the "Olympics Triplecast"!

 

[TheBigA]

Amer-o-centric to a fault and too full of "human interest" crap.

It may be crap to you but the vast majority of people prefer the human interest to the actual sport, and I have stats to prove it. Especially women. They love the up close and personal stuff. But it's increasingly important to younger viewers. Add the opportunity for viewers to vote or judge performances, and you have potential for a hit TV show. That's just how TV users have changed since the 70s. They don't want to just be passive viewers. They want to participate. The next rights holder will recognize that the needs of the audience has changed and will take the games even further than NBC. The future will NOT be like the past.

 

[azumanga]

...I think the days of round the clock coverage on free TV are over. They will find ways to put this thing behind a pay wall...

I smell a revival of the "Olympics Triplecast"!

NBC tried it several years back with the 1992 games in Barcelona -- sales of the package were so poor, they couldn't even give it away.

The only thing close to that today was the games seen on NBC and its sister channels, MSNBC, CNBC and USA, though these, in a way, have a "pay wall", in a form of a cable or satellite subscription.

 

[azumanga]

The next rights holder will recognize that the needs of the audience has changed and will take the games even further than NBC. The future will NOT be like the past.

But if they want to keep the same formula as NBC's, they must:

a. Carry more sports, live, if possible. And up to their conclusion, unedited.

b. Give the Olympics image what it truly is -- a worldwide contest of athletes, not a "US vs. the world" reality contest.

This way, everyone would be satisfied.

 

[BRNout]

Amer-o-centric to a fault and too full of "human interest" crap.

It may be crap to you but the vast majority of people prefer the human interest to the actual sport, and I have stats to prove it. Especially women. They love the up close and personal stuff. But it's increasingly important to younger viewers. Add the opportunity for viewers to vote or judge performances, and you have potential for a hit TV show. That's just how TV users have changed since the 70s. They don't want to just be passive viewers. They want to participate. The next rights holder will recognize that the needs of the audience has changed and will take the games even further than NBC. The future will NOT be like the past.

Sorry but it IS crap, which is why foreign networks (such as the CBC) are more highly regarded than NBC is. Articles have been written on how many US viewers in border areas will go out of their way to catch the Olympics on Canadian channel. They tend to spend less time on the fluff and more on substance - something that most of us prefer.

Perhaps you are just playing devil's advocate, which is fine - but you put yourself in a tough position in that you are defending that which is generally regarded as poorly done. Unless you're a big fan of the Wendy Williams Show - then you love it.

 

[landtuna]

It may be crap to you but the vast majority of people prefer the human interest to the actual sport, and I have stats to prove it. Especially women. They love the up close and personal stuff.

I'd love to see those stats because, personally, I think there are some sports within the Games that attract female viewers but most probably don't. The many forms of gymnastics and its icy sister, figure skating are the big draws - even outside the Olympics.

But it's increasingly important to younger viewers.

I have my doubts here too. What demos are you looking at? My three boys played all manner of sports growing up but none, not one, will sit still for any sport on TV. They still play. They just don't watch. Again, the sports bars are probably full of younger adults watching but that is an infinitesimal number of eyeballs given the potential market population.

Add the opportunity for viewers to vote or judge performances, and you have potential for a hit TV show. That's just how TV users have changed since the 70s. They don't want to just be passive viewers. They want to participate.

Well, that's one way to isolate those pesky East German and Russian judges. No, I don't think so here either. The pace is usually way too slow to interest the American Idol set and their hero's are clearly in Hollyweird and not in the Olympic world (with the possible exception of those created-for-TV extreme sports populated by tattooed and pierced extreme "personalities").

The next rights holder will recognize that the needs of the audience has changed and will take the games even further than NBC. The future will NOT be like the past.

Here we agree, because if changes are not made the Games will become less and less watched - sort of like beauty contests or the annual film award fiasco's.

My answer is to cover the Games like an NFL contest. A little bit of personal background (NOT someone's life story) where appropriate then on with the game. No more watching a talking head in front of a fireplace mumbling on endlessly about nothing in particular. And end the continued and embarrassing "America vs ROW". That, more than anything else, is why I do not support the AOC. That age is long past.