NBC's cheap, atrocious coverage

Tonichelle · Feb 24, 2010

Sk8n Mama said:
NBC isn't having regular daytime coverage of the Olympics so they have to squeeze it all in to primetime and they want to show their medals.

not true. they are also doing coverage in the afternoon. it's not 24/7 but they aren't just putting coverage on primetime.

and I enjoy the bobsleigh events, as well as the skiing events.

I'm not a huge fan of the curling and crosscountry skiing but I still appreciate it. Not everyone enjoys watching the skating.

Sk8n Mama · Feb 24, 2010

not true. they are also doing coverage in the afternoon. it's not 24/7 but they aren't just putting coverage on primetime.

I thought it didn't start until about 3pm Eastern, though. It's on 24-7 here in Canada (even when there's nothing to show and it's just entertainment reporters talking about nothing......maybe the Americans do have it right. What does Leah Miller have to do with The Olympics? LOL)

Tinymavy15 · Feb 24, 2010

Why can't NBC show the earlier groups on CSNBC or Universal sports and the switch over to the main channel for the final 2 groups? There a lot of people who want to see eveyone.

i love to skate · Feb 24, 2010

Tinymavy15 said:
Why can't NBC show the earlier groups on CSNBC or Universal sports and the switch over to the main channel for the final 2 groups? There a lot of people who want to see eveyone.

That is what I am really enjoying about the Canadian coverage - there are three channels all showing different sports all the time. Sportsnet is the one that is showing the entire skating events.

Tesla · Feb 24, 2010

CNBC has hockey and curling. I wish coverage could be seen on Oxygen or Bravo (aren't they owned by NBC), but I'm ok with the online videos. I haven't had too many problems with the fully replays. Just a few glitches that are easily fixed.

Kitt · Feb 24, 2010

I watched live on Eurosports; one night I was watching Bulgarian TV! Live Facebook feeds gave us this information on where to view, which was great. I didn't want to be limited to what NBC was showing....

That being said, with the computer next to the TV, my husband and I were able to watch many sports at once! (Realistically, I couldn't have asked him to give up hockey!)

Spun Silver · Feb 24, 2010

They chacked Alena Leonova and Elena Gedevanishvili! :scowl:

After they began to show the Ladies SP, I was waiting for it to resume and missed a lot of skaters that I could have been watching upstairs online.

OTOH, I have to say the NBC skating website is great. Good job!

Phoenix347 · Feb 24, 2010

I think even worse was the jarring transitions between the sports. It was to the point of making the viewer dizzy. One moment you see an expectant lady figure skater waiting for the score smiling then you're suddenly assaulted with the rear ends of a huffing beast of a man pushing the bobsled down the ice. Then suddenly crack, crack, crack of a rifle being shot at a target in the biathlon. After a quiet trek through the forest on cross-country skis with a target rifle strapped on the back, skis are flying everywhere in the mayhem also known as the ski-cross. I would have to give NBC a "3" for the transition component mark.

heyang · Feb 24, 2010

Tonichelle said:
they did something like that with the cable networks four years ago and they lost way too much money that way to make it worth it.

this time around people are actually watching the games so that's why there are more complaints, IMO.

It was also NBC that year - I think it was for the summer games before Bejing. NBC is showing other sports on other channels owned by GE - i.e. MSNBC, CNBC, USA, etc. I watched Curling for a little bit on Saturday afternoon and another channel carried the hockey games.

Yes, it was expensive for NBC to broadcast so many events (need cameramen, producers, etc for each location) and not enough people paid for them to break even.

As annoying as it can be for skating fans, I do think that it's more helpful to figure skating to NOT show every skater. The general public will get 'bored' by watching 25 skaters, especially the one's who aren't in the top 12 unless there's cheering value.

IMO, it was an incredible boost for skating to have so many clean performances in Dance and the Ladies' Short on US coverage. On a lot of other boards, people were saying how some of the men shouldn't be at the Olympics because they fell so much. Many people I know have changed channels from skating competitions when all they see if falls.

Since NBC paid for broadcasting rights, they would lose money if they allowed another network to air the events simultaneously.

If you don't want to sit there all night waiting, you can go to NBC's website and get the skater order. Once the event starts, they post approximate times for each skater's program; so, you can anticipate when NBC might air the skater. Note: Jeremy Abbott's free skate was not aired lived - they recorded and aired closer to the top contenders to avoid interrupting another medal event. In other words, the site can only tell you the 'earliest' time a particular skater will skate, but not when it will air. Personally, I didn't mind skipping over the Austrailian skater and Tugba, but made sure I was tuned in for Mirai and the last 2 groups.

As for the Ladies' Free skate, the 2 US ladies are in the top 6, which means that everyone that NBC will guarantee airing will be later in the broadcast since they are all in the final group.

WHile bobsledding might not be the most popular sport in general, it is a popular Olympic event.

heyang · Feb 24, 2010

BTW, NBC apologized for mis-identifying the man who was crying after Joannie's skate. He was a family friend - I guess her father watched from somewhere else.

ms9421 · Feb 24, 2010

jrethorst said:
I know they like advertisers' money, but this is too much. In the ice dancing, and again tonight in the ladies' SP, NBC shows _one_ skater, and then goes to the bobsled or another sport. An hour or so later, _one_ more skater, and then another sport. At the end of the evening, we get to see a skating program.

The other fans should be served too, but why can't NBC block the coverage by sport? Bobsled from 8 to 9, luge from 9 to 10, skating from 10 to 11?

Why don't they? I think it's because figure skating, especially ladies', draws the biggest audience of any winter Olympic sport. If NBC mixes the big draw up with everything else, they get the most viewers for their advertisers -- at the expense of letting their viewers spend the rest of the evening more enjoyably, viewers have to stay close enough to the TV not to miss the FS.

It's cheap. I'd complain to NBC but they wouldn't care. But if I complain to the advertisers this evening, using the 800 numbers each advertising company has on its web site -- that might work, and we might get better skating coverage next time.

Here why Because USA has a better shot at winning a medal Bobsleigh and Skiing we have skating. Heck USA Hockey Teams both have shot gold to than our two Femal skaters.

Spun Silver · Feb 24, 2010

Phoenix347 said:
I think even worse was the jarring transitions between the sports. It was to the point of making the viewer dizzy. One moment you see an expectant lady figure skater waiting for the score smiling then you're suddenly assaulted with the rear ends of a huffing beast of a man pushing the bobsled down the ice. Then suddenly crack, crack, crack of a rifle being shot at a target in the biathlon. After a quiet trek through the forest on cross-country skis with a target rifle strapped on the back, skis are flying everywhere in the mayhem also known as the ski-cross. I would have to give NBC a "3" for the transition component mark.

Sk8n Mama · Feb 24, 2010

I would have to give NBC a "3" for the transition component mark

Raatkirani · Feb 24, 2010

Spun Silver said:
They chacked Alena Leonova and Elena Gedevanishvili! :scowl:

I'm really mad about that! When the competition was over, I couldn't put my finger on it, but then it dawned on me that they chacked these two ladies. I really don't understand that. They showed us Laura Lepisto, Julie Sebestyn, Cheltzie Lee (who?!) and Tugba Karademir, but chacked out the two who placed far higher. Ridiculous.

I also didn't like it when they cut Brian Joubert, Tomas Verner, Kevin VDP and others that they showed in the SP, but left us hanging for the LP. They did the same thing with the Zaretskis and the Georgian team in Ice dancing, and with the Ukrainian team in pairs. What's the point of even showing the SP if you aren't going to show it in the LP?

taikwan · Feb 24, 2010

HATE the "coverage". I've missed Mirai, Mao, Yu-San, Charlie and Meryl, and even Plushy - I'm a working woman, have to be up at 6:00 EST and can not stay awake through other events waiting for NBC to return to "lilve" events which are anything but.

Hate. it. I'm still missing ABC Wide World of Sports, Peggy, Dick and Terry

Tesla · Feb 24, 2010

taikwan said:
HATE the "coverage". I've missed Mirai, Mao, Yu-San, Charlie and Meryl, and even Plushy - I'm a working woman, have to be up at 6:00 EST and can not stay awake through other events waiting for NBC to return to "lilve" events which are anything but.

Hate. it. I'm still missing ABC Wide World of Sports, Peggy, Dick and Terry

Actually, the figure skating events have been shown live. It's isn't NBC's fault that it's 8:00 p.m in Vancouver when it's 11:00 p.m on the East Coast.

chronos13 · Feb 24, 2010

Yea, the coverage was so bad I ended up watching American Idol half the time.

I was really upset that NBC showed a few of the lesser known skaters yet skipped out on higher ranked skaters, and made it a point to emphasize the fact that Mirai Nagasu (who was brilliant) was skating in favor of others. For once, I wish I can watch all skaters rather than going back and forth from bobsled and skiing (which I could care less for).

mishieru07 · Feb 25, 2010

The coverage IS bad but it's better than nothing. I'll take NBC and be grateful for it. And you guys get full replays online!

I have NOTHING in my country. Just a 1 hr recap of the previous day's events (due to time lag). Unless you subscribe for cable (and only ESPN is available), you don't get to watch anything, live or whatever. Figure skating is a "once in 4 years" sport here. We didn't even get newspaper coverage on Virtue and Moir's OGM.

Epic ween if I ever saw one.

Ryan O · Feb 25, 2010

Raatkirani said:
I also didn't like it when they cut Brian Joubert, Tomas Verner, Kevin VDP and others that they showed in the SP, but left us hanging for the LP. They did the same thing with the Zaretskis and the Georgian team in Ice dancing, and with the Ukrainian team in pairs. What's the point of even showing the SP if you aren't going to show it in the LP?

They showed their SP's because they started out as contenders. Once they bombed in their short programs and were out of contention, they decided not to show their LP's. There's nothing that unusual about that. They've done that many times before. They usually only show the LP's of the top flight and those of the home country.

mycelticblessing · Feb 25, 2010

mishieru07 said:
The coverage IS bad but it's better than nothing. I'll take NBC and be grateful for it. And you guys get full replays online!

I have NOTHING in my country. Just a 1 hr recap of the previous day's events (due to time lag). Unless you subscribe for cable (and only ESPN is available), you don't get to watch anything, live or whatever. Figure skating is a "once in 4 years" sport here. We didn't even get newspaper coverage on Virtue and Moir's OGM.

Epic ween if I ever saw one.

Sounds like we live in the same country. I know what you mean though. i was looking through the sports pages for coverage on the free dance, and there was nothing! They didn't even mention V/M anywhere!

NBC's cheap, atrocious coverage

Tonichelle

Idita-Rock-n-Roll

Sk8n Mama

Tinymavy15

Sinnerman for the win

i love to skate

Tesla

Kitt

Spun Silver

Phoenix347

heyang

heyang

ms9421

Spun Silver

Sk8n Mama

Raatkirani

taikwan

Tesla

chronos13

mishieru07

Ryan O

mycelticblessing

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