# OMG! NBC 2014 Winter Olympics coverage sucks! **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [February 5, 2014, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-nbc-2014-winter-olympics-coverage-sucks/680586 "2014-02-05T17:54:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2014, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-nbc-2014-winter-olympics-coverage-sucks/680586/41 "2014-02-07T17:16:30Z")
Curling starts on Tuesday. And before you ask, I looked that up on my own this morning. ---
**Author:** ![BrokenBriton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@BrokenBriton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrokenBriton)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2014, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-nbc-2014-winter-olympics-coverage-sucks/680586/42 "2014-02-07T17:25:26Z")
Love, love, loving Olympic coverage. It’s the epitome of what public service broadcasting was intended for. That and Pippa Middleton from 8 angles. > [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > At the London Olympics the BBC had about 24 consecutive digital streams available of everything that was going on. no fee, no ads, no commentary in some cases. The main channels were reserved for the headline sports (but again, no additional costs or ad breaks) > For Sochi they are doing the same over 6 dedicated HD streams but I don’t how those overseas can access them. > > We are spoiled for choice over here on these big events. I think he means ‘concurrent’. yay for socialized tv! ---
**Author:** ![Spiff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiff/32/9852_2.png) [@Spiff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiff)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2014, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-nbc-2014-winter-olympics-coverage-sucks/680586/43 "2014-02-07T17:54:26Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > There’s also a running we’re-better-than-Americans thing going on which is generally harmless and the kind of thing I’m sure any country has with its neighbors, but it can become ignorant, ugly and embarrassing at times. To which we Americans reply: **Rob Ford!** ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2014, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-nbc-2014-winter-olympics-coverage-sucks/680586/46 "2014-02-07T18:38:44Z")
> [@BrokenBriton](#): > > Love, love, loving Olympic coverage. > > It’s the epitome of what public service broadcasting was intended for. That and Pippa Middleton from 8 angles. Oh Pippa! > [@](#): > > I think he means ‘concurrent’. oh…yeah. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2014, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-nbc-2014-winter-olympics-coverage-sucks/680586/47 "2014-02-07T19:22:45Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > Just watch the BBC. Not only are there NO ad breaks at all, we’re also really shit at winter sports so the focus certainly won’t be on home grown talent. Bring back Eddie the Eagle!!! ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2014, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-nbc-2014-winter-olympics-coverage-sucks/680586/48 "2014-02-07T20:29:59Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > NBC’s Olympic coverage always sucks. It was their coverage of the 1984 LA Olympics that convinced me not to watch the Olympics on TV. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2014, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-nbc-2014-winter-olympics-coverage-sucks/680586/49 "2014-02-07T21:04:33Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Curling starts on Tuesday. And before you ask, I looked that up on my own this morning. It starts on Monday! Which will bleed over into Sunday night for anybody west of Central Standard Time. > [@Skammer](#): > > I’m not kidding, I want to watch some curling. I have no illusions that NBC will be showing it in prime time, and I don’t have cable. I may try the BBC online option but I don’t know when the games are. The draw times for round-robin play are 11 PM, 4 AM, and 9 AM Central Standard Time. Unfortunately the only games which will be shown live on _any_ American network are in the 4 AM slot–which is the least watchable for us in the midwest. (The games last about 2.5 hours, so you easterners can maybe get up early and catch the end.) Games in the other draws will be shown later on tape delay but I believe on cable only. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Wiggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/red_wiggler/32/13190_2.png) [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2014, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-nbc-2014-winter-olympics-coverage-sucks/680586/50 "2014-02-07T21:29:36Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Yeah, I’m not gonna deny stuff like this happened before. > > The propensity of Canadians to complain about American homerism is baffling to me. Canadians are among the most arrogantly flag-waving patriots on earth, endlessly trumpeting our alleged superiority, and seem fantastically oblivious of their own behavior in this regard. I mean, don’t get me wrong, it’s a wonderful country with much to recommend it, but we’ve developed an in-your-face! attitude towards nationalism I find increasingly kind of gross. > > There’s also a running we’re-better-than-Americans thing going on which is generally harmless and the kind of thing I’m sure any country has with its neighbors, but it can become ignorant, ugly and embarrassing at times. I’ve honestly never noticed this and certainly have never been annoyed by it. Of course, it could be similar in nature to us of an ant with an erection floating downstream on his back yelling “Open the drawbridge!” ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2014, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-nbc-2014-winter-olympics-coverage-sucks/680586/51 "2014-02-08T00:39:23Z")
I’ve watched the first five minutes and I’m already appalled at the pseudo dramatic purple prose of the introduction. ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2014, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-nbc-2014-winter-olympics-coverage-sucks/680586/52 "2014-02-08T02:13:12Z")
> [@Duckster](#): > > True to their Microsoft heritage, the NBC Olympics web site does not work in Firefox. And the design sucks big time. I don’t have too much of a problem getting it to work with Firefox. > [@dzeiger](#): > > The NBC coverage is so bad, that they are holding off showing the Opening Ceremonies to Friday night, and showing actual events before the Opening Ceremonies! > > Wait, what do you mean it’s the IOC that decided that… Nothing new about this - four years ago, I think it was the way the ice hockey tournament was set up. This time, it’s the new Team Figure Skating competition that forces them to start early. > [@lisiate](#): > > Had [to look it up -](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athletics_at_the_1984_Summer_Olympics_%E2%80%93_Women%27s_3000_metres)The Canadian came third and the winner was from Romania. > > And Decker tripped herself. Not the version I saw - there was definite contact between Budd and Decker. Decker could have forced the issue, but she said that had she done it, she would have been blamed for what happened, and any win would be added by, “Well, she only won because she pushed Zola Budd out of the way, but of course she’s an American so she got away with it.” > [@Guinastasia](#): > > I finally managed to TO their schedule on the website, and for some of the hockey games, they’re only being broadcast once, live – and they’re at like, 3 am. WTF? Dammit. You know, some of us would like to watch, you know the OLYMPICS, not just the USA IN THE OLYMPICS. Grrrr :mad: What do you expect? They can’t show every game in prime time. Be glad they’re on at all. (Some of us remember the 1992 TripleCast.) Besides - isn’t that what DVRs are for? > [@Dogzilla](#): > > So, is there a tape-delay for the opening ceremonies or is it “fuck you, you were at work, you get to miss it”? Considering how much money NBC paid for the rights, how much they had to charge the advertisers because of it, and the ratings they promised the ad buyers as a result, do you honestly think the opening (and closing) ceremonies won’t be aired in prime time? > [@Skammer](#): > > Where can I find a schedule? > > I’m not kidding, I want to watch some curling. [Here’s one](http://www.newsday.com/sports/olympics/sochi-winter-olympics-2014-tv-schedule-1.6970740) that lists the events, including who’s in what curling games are being shown. The curling qualifying rounds have 3 rounds each day, alternating women-men-women and men-women-men, at midnight, 5 AM, and 10 AM (Eastern). They usually show one game per round; usually, the midnight game airs at 3 AM on NBC Sports Network, the 5 AM game airs live on USA, and the 10 AM game airs at 5 PM on CNBC. Note that there are no plans to show any games on NBC itself, although knowing NBC, if USA makes it to either final, I wouldn’t be surprised to see it air on NBC’s afternoon show that day. ---
**Author:** ![PacifistPorcupine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@PacifistPorcupine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PacifistPorcupine)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2014, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-nbc-2014-winter-olympics-coverage-sucks/680586/53 "2014-02-08T13:26:41Z")
So my wife works today, so I got up at 6 with her. I;ve been watching the men’s 5000 speedskating online on NBCs website and it’s great. ---
**Author:** ![polar\_bear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ec9cab/32.png) [@polar\_bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/polar_bear)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2014, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-nbc-2014-winter-olympics-coverage-sucks/680586/54 "2014-02-08T14:46:43Z")
I’m absolutely laughing my ass off watching the BBC commentary of the 5000 meters speedskating. They’re making it out like the winner Kramer was all over the place and somehow ‘got back in the race’. In real life, there was no problem in the beginning as the time they were comparing to was a Russian that crumbled in the last half of the race (but started quickly). In the interview afterwards Kramer explained how it was pretty much the perfect race, with almost the same lap time throughout the race… no drama at all. I would think an average Dutch guy would do a better job than these two clowns. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2014, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-nbc-2014-winter-olympics-coverage-sucks/680586/55 "2014-02-08T18:54:31Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > It was their coverage of the 1984 LA Olympics that convinced me not to watch the Olympics on TV. ABC covered the 1984 Olympics, not NBC. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2014, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-nbc-2014-winter-olympics-coverage-sucks/680586/56 "2014-02-08T19:01:24Z")
People have no sense of history. I’ve been watching the Olympics since 1972. The choice and availability of coverage today is far greater than it used to be. Instead of a couple of hours on prime time on one channel, you can now watch all day on four or five channels, plus every event is streamed live over the internet. ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2014, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-nbc-2014-winter-olympics-coverage-sucks/680586/57 "2014-02-08T21:39:34Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > People have no sense of history. I’ve been watching the Olympics since 1972. The choice and availability of coverage today is far greater than it used to be. Instead of a couple of hours on prime time on one channel, you can now watch all day on four or five channels, plus every event is streamed live over the internet. How about in 1980, when ABC’s then-new show Nightline promised nightly highlights from the Summer Olympics in Moscow, only to announce after one night that they could not air any highlights as, apparently, NBC still had the rights to them? I think the closest to “coverage of the Olympics” was (a) when Johnny Carson mentioned in a monologue that the USSR basketball team lost (little-known fact: after the 1972 game, there was only one game ever played between the USA and USSR, in 1988 (the CIS in 1992 doesn’t count as Lithuania wasn’t part of the team) - and the USSR won that one, too), and (b) a few pages in Sports Illustrated, mainly about the women’s gymnastics controversy. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2014, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-nbc-2014-winter-olympics-coverage-sucks/680586/58 "2014-02-08T21:40:34Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > People have no sense of history. I’ve been watching the Olympics since 1972. The choice and availability of coverage today is far greater than it used to be. Instead of a couple of hours on prime time on one channel, you can now watch all day on four or five channels, plus every event is streamed live over the internet. Perhaps where you live, but this thread is about NBC and it coverage for American audiences. ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2014, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-nbc-2014-winter-olympics-coverage-sucks/680586/59 "2014-02-09T01:03:53Z")
> [@That\_Don\_Guy](#): > > From looking at NBC’s televised schedule, it looks like that’s exactly what they will be doing again - “part one” of the closing ceremony is listed as ending at 10:30, and “part two” starting at 11:30. Correction: it appears as if the entire ceremony will air from 8:30 to 10:30, followed by the premiere of _Growing Up Fisher_, with the entire closing ceremony airing again at 11:30 PM. (There is also a “Sochi Review Show” scheduled from 7:00 to 8:30, but I wonder just how much of it will be a review of what happened in Sochi.) ---
**Author:** ![dzeiger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/46a35a/32.png) [@dzeiger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dzeiger)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2014, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-nbc-2014-winter-olympics-coverage-sucks/680586/60 "2014-02-10T01:59:53Z")
OK, here’s something strange. They’re showing a lot of events twice–that’s not the strange parts. A lot of stuff is showing live on NBCSports, then on delay on NBC itself. What’s strange is that I just noticed tonight that for the ice skating competition, they’re using two different commentary teams–Scott Hamilton and friends doing the primetime commentary, and a B-team lineup doing it for NBCSports when it’s live. Not sure if they’re both actually recording it live, or if the second group is doing it to video after the results are known. ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2014, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-nbc-2014-winter-olympics-coverage-sucks/680586/61 "2014-02-10T02:21:33Z")
> [@dzeiger](#): > > OK, here’s something strange. They’re showing a lot of events twice–that’s not the strange parts. A lot of stuff is showing live on NBCSports, then on delay on NBC itself. > > What’s strange is that I just noticed tonight that for the ice skating competition, they’re using two different commentary teams–Scott Hamilton and friends doing the primetime commentary, and a B-team lineup doing it for NBCSports when it’s live. > > Not sure if they’re both actually recording it live, or if the second group is doing it to video after the results are known. My guess is, the second group does it after the fact, so they know what to point out. I have a feeling the NBCSN commentators are targeting the people who are somewhat knowledgeable in figure skating (who else would be watching the NBCSN coverage?), while the NBC commentators are targeting the people who don’t know a Lutz from a Salchow, but “it’s figure skating at the Olympics, **GO TEAM USA!!!** ”. (I also have the feeling the only reason Scott Hamilton mentions the “bonus” - BTW, Scott, it applies only to jumps, not to “all elements” - is because whoever is supplying NBC with the video feed has that clock at the bottom left of the screen that says “Bonus” and this keeps people from wondering what it means.) ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2014, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-nbc-2014-winter-olympics-coverage-sucks/680586/62 "2014-02-10T05:30:58Z")
Weird. I’ve been watching the B Team coverage I guess, for the most part, with Tara Lipinski, Johnny Weir & Terry Gannon. I guess I didn’t notice that there were two teams. I recommend the B Team, actually. Tara & Johnny are surprisingly articulate and good, both at explaining the technical stuff and not blithering non-stop. I much prefer them to older team. Also, Johnny speaks Russian and that’s a nice touch. I’ll have to go through the schedule and make sure I’m taping the B team as much as possible. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-nbc-2014-winter-olympics-coverage-sucks/680586.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-nbc-2014-winter-olympics-coverage-sucks/680586.md?page=4)