| . |
Drop Us A Line
 |
- I don't mind a little fluff, but NBC has altogether too much normally. My main complaints are all these sports they're adding to the Olympics - synch diving and swimming, tennis, 50 meter swimming races - and now that we showed the world we had better basketball pros than they did (big whoop), lets go back to the amateurs again and work out some way for the other countries to have to only send their amateurs - and - also, maybe all these people that compete for US colleges and teams shouldn't be able to compete for other countries? I guess one more - I'm just altogether sick of these pro athletes that make 500k a year whining on tv about how they didn't win their gold and got stuck with a silver. Some of this is unrealistic but, ya know it's how I feel right this moment.
--Carl Cunningham
|
 |
- Well far be it from us to stop you, though we think you might have more than a few issues that you should be complaining to the IOC about as opposed to NBC. All we care about here is the TV coverage. Thanks for the input, though.
|
|
|
- You asked for proof, you got it:
http://www.cnn.com/2000/US/09/25/cbc.olympics.01/index.html
--Jim Rennie
|
|
- This is close to what we asked for, but not exactly right. We knew that people near the Canadian border were watching the CBC to get live Olympic coverage instead of waiting 15 or so hours for NBC to show it. What we don't know is how much this is actually hurting the NBC affiliates in the states. For instance, are Detroit's NBC Olympic ratings significantly lower than a city of comparable size not next to Canada? If so, then this would be proof to NBC that their strategy of fluff-pieces-to-boost-ratings is incorrect.
|
|
|
- I also object to coverage of so many quarter- and semi-finals, esp since there's so little coverage of actual events!
--basenix
|
|
- We don't really know what to say about that. On the one hand, we too would much rather see more medal-round events than qualifying-round events. However, in doing so, you eliminate the "underdog" story and reduce everything to favorites only. We think that the elimination of the "fluff" stories would provide enough time to see not only the preliminary-rounds of popular events, but also events that don't normally get shown on TV.
|
|
|
- Up here in Michigan, just a stone's throw from Ontario, we get the Canadian Broadcasting Company from across the border. Lucky for us, they actually show the events--gasp--live. And with minimal fluff to boot. Now if only I were as into the Olympics as my roommate is, I'm sure I'd be more appreciative...
--Aaron Teitlebaum
|
|
- We've heard that the CBC shows more events, and we've been meaning to use our access to a satellite dish to check it out, but we haven't done so yet. You have to wonder if NBC's ratings suffer in Michigan due to the competition. Does anyone have information this specific?
|
|
|
- Well, for the most part you guys are dead on. I've hated all the Jimmy moments, except for the one about the guy who couldn't swim. I mean, the guys who are winning get interviewed afterwards, I'd rather see the guys who lose and you don't see ever again.
Are you guys watching the coverage on CNBC and MSNBC? It doens't seem to have as much fluff, but CNBC does have Geraldo interrupting for like hours at a time.
I wouldn't go about giving any of the NBC guys credit for noticing anything...they've got the tapes beforehand...did you notice how unsurprised they sounded every time someone broke a world record, and how if they didn't break the WR, they didn't mention how their splits were on WR pace? I've been watching NBC coverage for the last 12 years...I know they use the tape delay to their advantage, not like the days of ABC.
--Clayton Chan
|
|
- I just wanted to let you know that I abosolutely loved the site, and I agree with you completely on everything. I've hated the "fluff" more than anything else I can imgine. You know, the Olympics only come around every four years, and that means I'll probably only see it about 16 times in my life. I'd really like to see coverage of all the sports, you know?
However, I'm sorry to have to be the one to tell you this, but NBC is presenting the olympics on three channels. NBC, CNBC, and MSNBC are all showing coverage during the time that you're watching NBC, and also I see that you're watching the evening coverage, but what about the morning coverage? Are you watching that? Anyway, thank you for your coverage. It's both informative and humorous. Keep up the good work!
--Ryan Cottle
|
|
- Apparently, our attempt at sarcasm Thursday wasn't as obvious as we thought. We know all about CNBC and MSNBC. But in our defense, we did say "simultaneous" coverage. NBC's two cable channels never overlap, and only CNBC overlaps with the main network's coverage, and even then only for two of their five hours.
As for covering all of these other channels, please! We're barely getting any sleep as it is! What we have seen has been mostly events, but as stated on our front page, we're mainly interested in covering NBC's prime time coverage, which is where they plan on making most of their money.
|
|
Olympic Watch Home |
Rules of the Olympic Watch |
Daily Results
Tell a Friend About the Olympic Watch
|
. |
