NBC Rio olympics coverage

[padme21]

I've about had it with nbc's coverage of the olympics. Their coverage of men's gymnastics is terrible! I love men's gymnastics and nbc doesn't even show it until neary midnight! My parents went to bed! Not everyone can live stream! NBC stands for nothing but commercials!

End rant.

 

[Sam-Skwantch]

And they only show the US team. I'm convinced no one else is competing.

 

[padme21]

And they only show the US team. I'm convinced no one else is competing.

Exactly! I love team Japan and they bearly show them!

 

[ice coverage]

Has Tara Lipinski interviewed Ginny Thrasher?

That should be a no-brainer for NBC. A little interview, plus better yet, Ginny giving a friendly hands-on lesson in her sport to Tara. Along the lines of (from Tara's point of view): We already have figure skating in common -- now I wanna give your sport a try. Will you help me get a taste?

It's good television waiting to happen. (Unless it already did?? Did it happen and I just missed it??)

 

[TheGrandSophy]

Thought of this thread when I read what one of our top former football (soccer) stars who is now a broadcaster, Gary Lineker, tweeted yesterday:

Holiday over but at least I'll now get decent Olympic coverage. In America it's pulverised by adverts and nothing seems to be shown live.

 

[ice coverage]

Thought of this thread when I read what one of our top former football (soccer) stars who is now a broadcaster, Gary Lineker, tweeted yesterday:

Holiday over but at least I'll now get decent Olympic coverage. In America it's pulverised by adverts and nothing seems to be shown live.

But the truth is that NBC is televising live coverage :yes:. He either was not even trying to watch much or was not paying very close attention .

I am talking about NBC's traditional broadcast TV network (i.e., not the cable channels, which have live coverage as well).
NBC's traditional broadcast TV network so far has showed live swimming, live cycling; live beach volleyball, live rowing, etc. I have been watching only sporadically, and I have come across lots of live swimming in particular.

No live gymnastics (AFAIK) on NBC TV. [Live gymnastics only via NBC Digital.]

But it is an unfair exaggeration to say, "nothing seems to be shown live."

 

[sabinfire]

Luckily I can receive CBC coverage along with NBC. I was flipping between the two during gymnastics.

NBC always seemed to be showing Team USA and CBC always seemed to be showing Team Canada. :dumb:

 

[Violet Bliss]

Who watches Rio Olympics on TV?!!!! I'm thrilled to be able to watch any event live or later as I choose with online streaming instead of having the network pick what I get to watch. At least this is how CBC works for me.

I'm therefore grateful and happy to be able to follow Table Tennis from the beginning round but find the coverage poor. With four enclosures and tables in the arena, one match is chosen to be broadcast, often with obviously much more exciting match going on at another table, judging from the crowd reactions. When the match they choose to show is over, the camera shows overhead view of the arena instead of another match still going on.

I can pick any event to watch in its entirety or in selected bits while skipping the advertisements except those at the beginning of the video. Best way to watch the Olympics so far thanks to the new technology and the internet. Who cares about network coverage?!

P.S. I would hook the videos to a big screen TV if I had one. But I've done away with TV for years now. A big monitor is fine too.

eta. Now only the centre court for TT quarter finals. Hurray! I'll catch up with diving later. Been catching beach volley ball and gymnastics selectively.

 

[el henry]

Wow, with the complaints about NBC coverage,

Compared to sitting in front of a tiny black and white TV waiting for any kind of coverage during prime time (and I *loved* Jim McKay and Up Close and Personal the ABC way don't get me wrong), these are the halcyon days. If you're not finding live coverage on cable TV, you're not looking. Kudos to NBC and all its affiliates:yay:

Of course, I am a poor benighted homer who would rather see the Americans than a sophisticated worldly type interested in anyone and everyone. And it also helps that I wouldn't cross the street to see any kind of gymnastics comp, let alone turn on the television.

 

[ice coverage]

Who watches Rio Olympics on TV?!!!! ... Who cares about network coverage?!

I do :yes:.

... having the network pick what I get to watch. ...

One of the things I like best about the Olympics is getting exposed to sports that are unfamiliar to me and to athletes who are unfamiliar to me.

Right now, the old-fashioned NBC broadcast TV network (not cable) is showing canoe slalom . A sport I had never heard of. With athletes whom I have never heard of.

If you had told me an hour ago ago that canoe slalom would be something fascinating to watch, I would have been completely skeptical.
Never in a million years would I have gone out of my way to look for online video or streaming of canoe slalom.

But thanks to NBC's role as a curator of content, here I am happily seeing and admiring something brand-new to me.

IMO, if there ever were the "wrong" time to be averse to viewing something new and different, it would be the Olympics. YMMV.

... Compared to sitting in front of a tiny black and white TV waiting for any kind of coverage during prime time (and I *loved* Jim McKay and Up Close and Personal the ABC way don't get me wrong), these are the halcyon days. ...

:agree:

 

[Violet Bliss]

I love many different sports too and that's why I love the Olympics. But a network tends to spend much time promoting the national athletes and their sports. I remember years (decades) ago when I started watching the Olympics while in the US and got frustrated with focus on the fight for the Gymnastic Bronze, which the US didn't win eventually, while ignoring the Gold and Silver competition entirely.

After so many Olympics, I mostly know my favorites and it's great to be able to follow my sport for the first time while I never got to watch any of it before on TV. I check in the main broadcast periodically and skip the gabbing. There are so many choices so some of the sports I will wait for the finals and maybe semifinals. I'll likely just watch the main broadcast for Track and Fields for the variety. The major races always get played and focused on anyway.

 

[TheGrandSophy]

But the truth is that NBC is televising live coverage :yes:. He either was not even trying to watch much or was not paying very close attention .

I am talking about NBC's traditional broadcast TV network (i.e., not the cable channels, which have live coverage as well).
NBC's traditional broadcast TV network so far has showed live swimming, live cycling; live beach volleyball, live rowing, etc. I have been watching only sporadically, and I have come across lots of live swimming in particular.

No live gymnastics (AFAIK) on NBC TV. [Live gymnastics only via NBC Digital.]

But it is an unfair exaggeration to say, "nothing seems to be shown live."

Yeah, might be an exaggeration from Mr Lineker. However, hyperbole aside, I've been in the US during an Olympics and... Yeah, let's just say I prefer the BBC, so I see why he was missing home.

 

[TontoK]

I've about had it with nbc's coverage of the olympics. Their coverage of men's gymnastics is terrible! I love men's gymnastics and nbc doesn't even show it until neary midnight! My parents went to bed! Not everyone can live stream! NBC stands for nothing but commercials!

End rant.

I'm sorry, but I must call you out on this. It's not JUST commercials.

In between commercials, NBC provides a full slate of fluff. Not just fluff, but cutting edge, state of the art, fluff.

Why only today I read how they're flying in Saturday Night Live castmember and noted Tweeter Leslie Jones, to round out their sports coverage team.

Thank GOD for live feeds.

 

[ice coverage]

.. In between commercials, NBC provides a full slate of fluff. Not just fluff, but cutting edge, state of the art, fluff. ...

You were complaining in an earlier post about the prospect of Tara and Johnny eating up NBC television time that could be devoted to competition coverage instead.

So I ask/challenge you to back up your criticism with actual observations:

- Have you actually been watching NBC's televised coverage -- on the traditional NBC broadcast network? (I do not mean on the cable channels in the NBC family.)
- If so, how much have you seen of Tara and Johnny? If/when you have seen them, what was NBC giving them air time to do?​

My answers to the same questions:

- I have watched some of NBC's televised coverage every day. Not every single hour, by any stretch. But a sampling every day.
- I have NOT ONCE seen a single second of Johnny on NBC's air.
- And I barely have seen Tara. She had a taped not-very-long interview with Simone Biles -- in which Tara's own background as a very young Olympic champion did have some relevance.
Other than the Simone interview, I have seen nothing else from Tara except two extremely brief advertorial bits sponsored by Subway.​

(I know that Tara and Johnny have been doing Facebook chats -- but those don't eat up the television time that you were complaining about.)

ETA:

Don't get me wrong. I am not wishing to see more of Tara and Johnny on NBC's televised coverage.
I am just questioning your assumption that Tara and Johnny's presence in Rio is depriving TV viewers of competition coverage to any significant extent.​

 

[heyang]

I wish that the commentators would explain the deductions in gymnastics more. I learned more from reading this http://www.newyorker.com/news/sport...watch-olympic-gymnastics?mbid=social_facebook vs what the commentators mention on air. They always talk about sticking the landing, but don't make us understand that the crossed/open legs are actual deductions. Instead, we get, 'That's just about perfect, I don't understand where the deductions are'. Tim Dagget and Nastia Lukin should be aware of how these deductions are calculated beyond the obvious falls or hops.

I haven't been paying 100% attention about how much of primetime NBC coverage is live vs pre-recorded. In theory, I wouldn't have a problem with them showing less of the earlier rounds of some of the swim competitions - just show the final runs. If one of the prelims is particularly exciting/close, then use it as a 'preview' for the final swim. They could definitely show more of other sports on main NBC primetime - it's mostly been gymnastics, swimming, diving or volleyball and most of the best stuff is coming on after 9:30 pm. Not a problem for me, but I know lots of early birds who haven't managed to stay up for the main events.

 

[Johar]

NBC is supposed to be showing synchronized swimming live, right now. Starting at 3:30. Instead it's a profile piece on Nadia, Bela and Martha.

 

[ice coverage]

NBC is supposed to be showing synchronized swimming live, right now. Starting at 3:30. Instead it's a profile piece on Nadia, Bela and Martha.

FWIW:

A little while ago, NBC was showing team synchro, such as the teams from Russia and China.

TBH, I did not notice whether what I saw live or on tape.

(I do see that the long Karolyi piece is airing now.)

 

[dreamsk8]

NBC does have the worst coverage!! I think it is because they want you to get their cable channels and watch nbc sports which aired a much more complete line up of sports. But the NBC prime time sucks I have even sent a complaint email to them. Its all sappy crappy inspirational fluff and hardly any sport coverage. And I watch the Olympics to see the other countries if I just wanted to watch team USA I would have watched the Nationals or US Olympic try outs. I have never had to use the mute button so many time during Olympic coverage before :hslap: