The Olympics on NBC

[benwolf]

I've lost interest now that its mostly pre-taped, at least completely pre-taped at night, probably moreso for us in the West. Who else remembers the TV's taken to work when it was all live on ABC, and getting up to see the opening ceremonies in the morning? Sure would beat the Today Show.

To say nothing of NBC's fluffed-up approach of turning world sports into People Magazine. As for the talent, no one close to Jim McKay in the bunch. NBC has this until the year 20-what???

Its times like this I can't understand why CBC is not on cable. I have 3 BBC channels to watch, but nothing from Canada so we can watch live. CBC's "The National" is a great newscast, too.

 

[azumanga]

Its times like this I can't understand why CBC is not on cable. I have 3 BBC channels to watch, but nothing from Canada so we can watch live. CBC's "The National" is a great newscast, too.

I find the American's knowledge about Canada appalling. I live in Florida, where we not only get BBC America and BBC World News on two PBS stations, we also get locally-printed, same-day editions of the British tabloids, such as the Daily Mail, the Daily Express and The Sun. (The New York papers are available the same way, but that's another story.) Yet, despite all the snowbirds coming in from Canada, we get zilch from the Great White North. Those wanting Canadian TV had to resort to gray-market subs of Star Choice. (ExpressVu is less of an option, as they use weaker satellites, some not reaching Florida.)

Psychologically, it is if we share a border with Britain and Canada is on the other side of the ocean, instead of the other way around.

 

[Whale]

I find the American's knowledge about Canada appalling. I live in Florida, where we not only get BBC America and BBC World News on two PBS stations, we also get locally-printed, same-day editions of the British tabloids, such as the Daily Mail, the Daily Express and The Sun. (The New York papers are available the same way, but that's another story.) Yet, despite all the snowbirds coming in from Canada, we get zilch from the Great White North. Those wanting Canadian TV had to resort to gray-market subs of Star Choice. (ExpressVu is less of an option, as they use weaker satellites, some not reaching Florida.)

Psychologically, it is if we share a border with Britain and Canada is on the other side of the ocean, instead of the other way around.

Quite a tangent, eh?

 

[ixnay]

I caught a minute or two of the "cube show" during the opening ceremonies, when cubes were going up and down depicting different Buddhist symbols or something like that. Bob Costas described each symbol the way he's described everything else throughout his career: like he's reading the phone book. Pat O'Brien, as grating as I've found his voice to be, had more life to his descriptions of the opening of the 1994 Games in Lillehammer (on CBS) than Bob did Friday night.

ixnay

 

[TheRover]

As someone else pointed out, if ABC/ESPN's coverage of the Olympics would be anything like their coverage of other sports today (e.g. their atrocious NBA coverage)....I'd rather stick with NBC.

Not to stray too far off topic, but just as an example of how ABC covers sports nowadays: anyone see the national TV schedule for NBA basketball on ABC next year? They're literally going to show just 8 teams....6 teams five times or more, and two other teams once or twice each. 22 other NBA teams will have no ABC coverage, including teams that made it far into the playoffs. Pathetic.

Oh, I'm enjoying the NBC coverage of the actuall events.

I was just put off by all of the effusive gushing with the opening ceremonies.

The events themselves are great to watch. The visuals sell it.

Watchening an amazing US comeback tonight (it was Monday morning in China) in the mens's swimming 400m relay! ;D

 

[neo11]

Great points about NBC...on the one hand you have Bob Coatas' monotonous commentary, on the other hand, you had the almost non-stop gushing about the opening ceremony, to extents that I don't remember in prior years, even though Athens and Sydney also come to mind as having had excellent opening ceremonies that drew more or less universal acclaim at the time they were produced.

But aside from the opening ceremony, NBC has given absolutely no local flavor to these games. Not much discussion about anything going on in China, not many features that I've seen about the country, not many images outside the Olympic grounds. I wonder how much this has to do with the Chinese government's "oversight" over the broadcasts. We already know images from Tienanmen Square are restricted but it seems that we're really getting very little in the way of an image of China outside of the stadiums.

 

[johnnya2k6]

Come to think of it, Most of the key events are played between 6-11P Beijing Time-Which happens to be like 4A-9A in Chicago. American viewers will have to wait until their Prime Time.

Actually, there's a 12-hour time difference between Beijing and New York (16 hours in Alaska), so those key events are very live in primetime.

 

[bpatrick]

I know what you folks in Florida mean about the lack
of Canadian media; I remember businesses in Tampa
that accepted Canadian money. So you'd think that
at least the Toronto Star would be available down there.
But I don't know how they'd get the CBC; there was that
one cable channel that carried "The National," but Al Gore
bought it and completely changed the format.

BTW, the Olympic Fanfare was written especially for ABC,
and it wasn't used on NBC's 1988 telecast from Seoul, IIRC.
Viewers demanded the song, so NBC got permission from
ABC to use it after that.

 

[Mainedude2007]

NBC has this until the year 20-what???

2012 summer games.......so only 2 more cycles, so within the next year or so the rights debate should come up again

 

[azumanga]

you'd think that
at least the Toronto Star would be available down there.

Up until a couple of years ago, you could buy the Star, during snowbird season, along with The Globe and Mail, both on a day-delay basis. The local newsstands (themselves disappearing) would carry a wider array of Canadian papers -- around 1990-1991, I used to buy the Montreal Gazette from a local newsstand on a regular basis (though it would be 2000 before I actually visited the city). Now, the only Canadian paper that I still see with regularity is the G&M -- at my local library.

But I don't know how they'd get the CBC...

Cable systems in the US too far from the Canadian border can't carry the CBC, due to programming rights considerations. (Yet cable systems in Michigan and northern Wisconsin import CBMT from Montreal, off the bird.) On the other hand, many systems in the Caribbean (especially the Bahamas) carry the aforementioned CBMT on cable (the Bahamas system also offers NTV from Newfoundland).

 

[bpatrick]

That's interesting, that Canadian papers were carried
in Florida; I never saw one when I lived there in the '70s.

I can understand the CBC being available on cable to those
who live in states bordering Canada, and I think I've heard
that NTV is carried in Nassau. But if we can have a BBC America,
why not a CBC America? (BTW, the cable channel that carried
"The National" was Newsworld International and it was a shame to
lose it: Peter Mansbridge puts our three anchors to shame--sorry,
Charlie).

 

[lugnuts6]

CBC America???
Good Idea, but will never happen sadly, what with programming rights to some older CBC Produced shows
and you wouldnt get any sports programming (no Hockey Night In Canada)

In other words, toooooo expensive

Lets not forget BBC America is a joint operation of BBC Worldwide (the international commercial arm of BBC) and Discovery Communications

 

[azumanga]

CBC America???
Good Idea, but will never happen sadly, what with programming rights to some older CBC Produced shows
and you wouldnt get any sports programming (no Hockey Night In Canada)

In other words, toooooo expensive

Lest we forget that we had a CBC America before they sold it off several years ago -- it was called "Trio" (since replaced by an all-mystery channel from NBC-U, "Sleuth").

 

[ixnay]

I can understand the CBC being available on cable to those
who live in states bordering Canada, and I think I've heard
that NTV is carried in Nassau.

Nassau, Bahamas?

ixnay

 

[azumanga]

...I think I've heard that NTV is carried in Nassau.

Nassau, Bahamas?

Are there any other Nassaus, besides the counties in Florida and New York?

 

[dhett]

Oh, yeah!

 

[mjlarochelle]

In another Canadian TV on U.S. cable oddity, people in places like Alpena MI get Montreal-based English-language CBC outlet CBMT on cable. Why? I don't know.

I believe this is because these cable systems picked up television signals from CANCOM, which carried CBMT. CANCOM also carried WDIV from Detroit and delivered it to these places in Michigan, which was controversial on at least one occasion in the mid-1990s.

I can understand the CBC being available on cable to those who live in states bordering Canada, and I think I've heard that NTV is carried in Nassau.

WZRA-CA 48 in Oldsmar, Florida carries NTV programming including some CTV network programming. The station has very minimal coverage however.

 

[TheRover]

I enjoy watching the swimming events, whethere it's pre-liminaries, or the finals.

I'm sorry...., but I do not think that Beach Volleyball has any place as an Olympic Sport..... I guess the Olympic Movement needs this.....

BTY, I do love to watch Indoor Volleyball, Mens and Women's.....

But, there is something quite odd about the flourescent green color that Beijing has chosen for the court.....

I don't know about your TV, but that color scheme give my TV fits....whether watching in digital, or analog.

I turn down the color to almost black & white, and/or adjust the tint, to compensate.

MY TV is fine.... it is only this indoor volleyball court that gives it fits.....

 

[neo11]

With the seemingly endless hype over Michael Phelps on NBC, I'm left wondering if NBC should actually be renamed to "NPC" (National Phelps Channel). Seriously, it's been overkill.

 

[BrigThomson]

With the seemingly endless hype over Michael Phelps on NBC, I'm left wondering if NBC should actually be renamed to "NPC" (National Phelps Channel). Seriously, it's been overkill.

I hate to sound unpatriotic, but I have noticed that NBC cameras and commentators spend as little time as possible on any non-American player, if they can avoid it. I don't have much to judge it on, because I have not watched much of the olympics in years past. For example one night when they were showing the girls beach volleyball game, the opposing team was almost ignored. In my opinion, anyone, no matter what their country, who gets that far deserves their 15 minutes of fame, and NBC should report the olympics..not just wave the U.S. flag.