???
That was before the Internet and 24 hour cable news. Even on competing stations they would say stuff like “if you don’t want to hear the results, turn down your sound”.
These days, not only do we have a constant source of information to spoil results, we also have the technology to show things live on cable channels while packaging up the highlights and showing them on the major network in primetime. The Olympics and cable are a perfect match. Have a skating channel, a skiing channel, a curling channel, etc.
Well, with the Winter Olympics you really need to watch out for f-bombs and titty flashes.
Seriously? Given the tape delays, and the fact that I’m not particularly interested in winter sports, I’m not sure how much of the Olympics I’ll be watching. But I reminded myself yesterday that the one thing I have to be sure to watch (or at the very least put on my DVR) is the Parade of Nations. It’s my favorite part of the Olympics – seeing the whole world marching together (well, in the Winter Olympics, it’s only the places that have some type of winter sports, but it’s still my favorite).
I agree that if I ran NBC, and if I had unlimited funds and didn’t need to worry about making a profit, or at least not having too big a loss, I would show all events live in all time zones. But they’re in fourth place, they payed a lot of money for this, and they have to make it work for them.
I have to say, I would gladly pay license fees in exchange for BBC programming. I’m already paying cable fees to get BBC America, which only carries a fraction of BBC’s programming.
See, the problem is that when the Winter Olympics were decoupled from the Summer Olympics (in the sense of no longer being held during the same year), the IOC allowed the veil to slip aside, revealing that the Olympics are NOT about athletic excellence; they are about making a potful of money. That’s a disillusioning genie that can’t be put back into the bottle, and that’s why, in the long run, spending boo koo bux on broadcast rights will turn out to be a mug’s game.
I expect the Winter Games to succumb to this reality before the Summer Games do (on account of being the relatively new kids on the block).
That was before 24-hour sports networks, cellular phones and the internet. Hell, I can barely avoiding seeing the spoilers for the World Series of Poker.
NBC has exclusive rights to the Olympics in America. It’s doing all that it can to block any live streaming on the net in America.
True (especially since I also live in the Pacific Time Zone). I hope, at least, NBC has shifted live coverage of some of the events to their cable networks so it’s possible to see them as they happen.
Why does the West Coast have to get short shift in terms of live Olympic coverage even when they’re being held in the same time zone? Does NBC think it’s still think it’s the 19th century and there’s nothing out here but a few trappers, cowboys, and Indians?
Everything will be taped and shown when they want. The opening ceremonies are just the first thing. I have Canadian TV available in my area. They show different events, and waste time on up close and personals with Canadians. But, after that they show more events per hour than American TV.
Hell, I fast forward everything ELSE! But then I’m an avid vexillologist and anthematologist, I live for the Opening Ceremonies, the Parade of Nations, and any medal ceremony (in reverse order). I don’t watch the sports, just the medals, especially if one of my favourite anthems are going to be played.
Count me as one who loves the parade of nations too!
It’s like that for regular TV shows too. ‘I don’t care if it doesn’t start for another three hours there. Here on the Right it’s already over, so I’m not spoiling anything.’
The men’s downhill, one of the premiere events of the entire games, is tomorrow afternoon, in prime sports watching time. NBC is going to tape it and air it in prime time in the evening. There is no way that I’ll be able to avoid finding out who has won it before it airs without completely changing my normal routine. I have a CNN app on my phone that pushes out headlines on a regular basis.
This is fucking stupid.
Then stay out of the threads designated as discussion threads for the episode you don’t want spoiled!
Is that really so hard?
Spoken like a true Rightie!
Umm, don’t read them? Disable the app for 2 weeks? If not knowing who won before you see the coverage, then change your routine.
See, I always tell myself I’m going to watch the Parade of Nations, but somewhere around Camaroon, I’m done with it. I almost never watch the medal ceremonies either. I want to see the sport itself, not the auxiliary bits. But I’m clearly the odd-man out here.
Anyway, here’s a full list of each of the channels carrying events on all the different NBC channels. They also list if something’s on mobile broadcast too. You hover your mouse over the gray squares to see the event. Obviously, nothing much is going on right now but you can select different days. The alternative channels are more likely to have live stuff happening. You can also view the list by sport and set up reminders if you want.
And avoid any websites that cover news in any way, don’t listen to the radio or watch any TV channel other than NBC. What if I want to watch a basketball game on ESPN? It’ll be on the crawl at the bottom of the screen. I don’t want to have to completely change my routine to avoid finding out the result of an event that could easily be shown live.
I also love all the ceremonial stuff, including the PoN, which is the TV viewer’s only shot at seeing most of these athletes.
If you don’t mind my piggybacking my luge-accident outrage onto this thread, I’m furious with the way NBC has reported the fatal luge accident that happened today. The network on its evening news program harped on the high-speed nature of the Whistler run, the world’s fastest luge track, and the luger’s relative inexperience, as being perhaps key factors. They did mention that he collided with an unpadded steel pole and showed a video of the fatal accident. But their emphasis is misplaced, IMH(and non-luge-expert)O. The problem isn’t so much that it’s a fast track in which the athletes regularly reach and even exceed 90 MPH. The real problem is that it’s poorly integrated with its immediate surroundings, so that athlete (and perhaps fan) safety is compromised.
Consider that line of steel poles at the final turn for a moment. Why the hell are they located where they are? At 90MPH, the question of padding becomes almost irrelevant. These supports should have been located far off the track, and on the opposite side from where a luger is likely to go airborne. This would require the track roof to be cantilevered accordingly, even if that makes for a rather more expensive construction bill. In all the areas where a luger is most likely to go airborne on or following a curve, there should be crash-net barriers or similar, rather than heavy fixed infrastructure (grandstands, steel poles, etc.). And these potential threats to the athletes’ safety should have been anticipated in the early planning stages of the Olympic facilities! Clearly, someone failed to “connect the dots” and see the overall picture here… and as a result, the Vancouver Games has a body count before the Opening Ceremonies!