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Olympics Broadcasting Thread


Jess

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Making history tonight, Meredith Vieira will fill in for Bob Costas tonight, becoming the first woman to ever host primetime Olympic coverage in the U.S.

 

http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/meredith-vieira-set-to-make-nbc-olympics-history_b213659

Should've went with Meredith instead of Matt the past three nights too.

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  • 1 month later...

The Olympics and Paralympics in Sochi have long been over, but here's what a CBS/Turner Olympics would be like:

 

Jim Nantz (primetime), Greg Gumbel (daytime), and James Brown (late night) would host on CBS, with Scott Pelley anchoring the Evening News from the host city. Turner will have Ernie Johnson Jr., and on CBS Sports Network (which should be involved), Tim Brando.

 

As always, CBS will have a hold on the key events in primetime. And yes, both entities will be using CBS' Olympic theme song for their coverage.

 

The Olympics and Paralympics in Sochi have long been over, but here's what a CBS/Turner Olympics would be like:

 

Jim Nantz (primetime), Greg Gumbel (daytime), and James Brown (late night) would host on CBS, with Scott Pelley anchoring the Evening News from the host city. Turner will have Ernie Johnson Jr., and on CBS Sports Network (which should be involved), Tim Brando.

 

As always, CBS will have a hold on the key events in primetime. And yes, both entities will be using CBS' Olympic theme song for their coverage.

 

And of course, the opening ceremony would probably be broadcast live. Back in the 1990s, when CBS had the rights to the Winter Olympics, the opening ceremonies were always broadcast live. Nowadays, I don't know if CBS would do the same thing, but they could.

 

The Olympics and Paralympics in Sochi have long been over, but here's what a CBS/Turner Olympics would be like:

 

Jim Nantz (primetime), Greg Gumbel (daytime), and James Brown (late night) would host on CBS, with Scott Pelley anchoring the Evening News from the host city. Turner will have Ernie Johnson Jr., and on CBS Sports Network (which should be involved), Tim Brando.

 

As always, CBS will have a hold on the key events in primetime. And yes, both entities will be using CBS' Olympic theme song for their coverage.

 

Is this happening, or are you just speculating here?
  • 2 years later...

It's happening again!

 

There's a one-hour time delay. I actually suspected that would happen, considering the OC is on a Friday and 19:00 in Rio is 18:00 in NYC, when many stations would still be airing evening newscasts. I'm not a fan of how the delay also applies to mobile viewers, but NBC wants as many people to watch the linear, cut-down broadcast as possible. I don't like any of it, but I get it.

 

Then there's this:

 

Well, that's not fair to those countries, and those people have relatives or people here. It's also not just about the Parade of Nations. There's pageantry and art and other things in it. By doing a short tape-delay of one hour, it allows us to put it in a time period when more people are home to watch, because it is a Friday night and they get out of their commute or home from wherever they are. And it allows us to curate it with the narrative and storytelling of our announcers to explain what's going on. And it allows us to put in commercials without cutting out large chunks of the show…

 

It's hard to put commercials in a live show and not miss something. Then the question would be: Well, why do you have to ruin it with commercials? We are a for-profit organization, and we spend a lot of money to put on the Olympics, and I think [we have] the right - and duty to our shareholders - to make some revenue from that. What we've seen is when we delayed the London Games [ceremonies] by five hours and the Sochi ceremonies by nine hours, people were still excited to see them. I'm hopeful that will be the case here.

 

While I respect Lazarus's honesty on why NBC must show so many commercials (gotta recoup that multi-billion dollar investment somehow), I strongly, strongly disagree with the bolded. NBC isn't exactly known for its "storytelling" commentary and "curation" during the Opening Ceremonies, considering the lambasting it got for cutting the 7/7 tribute in 2012, the IOC's anti-discrimination statement in 2014, its wonderful commentary during the Parade of Nations, and so on.

 

Here's a recap of the brilliant commentary from 2012, courtesy of The Guardian (yea yea, laugh):

 

A couple of examples from Matt, who edged out Bob for the gold medal in triviality: "From the I-did-not-know-that-file, Denmark is the most competitive non-Asian country in Badminton."

 

And, "Madagascar – for our younger viewers a country associated with a few animated movies."

 

...

 

The most egregious moment of commentary had come earlier when Matt and Meredith mentioned that there was to be a tribute to "someone" called Tim Berners-Lee.

 

"If you haven't heard of him, we haven't either," chuckled Meredith about the inventor of the world wide web sitting on stage.

 

"Google him," laughed Matt with no apparent sense of irony.

 

...

 

By now the two men just couldn't stop. They talked all the way through The Arctic Monkeys singing Come Together. They talked through the stadium announcers.

 

...

 

Meanwhile the arrival of Saudi Arabia's first female athletes never made it onto American television nor did a memorial package displayed in the stadium on big screens.

 

Best of luck to NBC on their Opening Ceremony coverage. I have no doubt that they'll set ratings records again, which is all that really matters. I'll have my VPN ready to go.

What NBC should do is offer the broadcast, commercial free, in a re-run format at, say, 1 am (for DVR's or night owls), that would be a possible compromise. At that time of night, commercial demand is very low and they can still have the annotated, edited coverage in prime time.

Are any other NBC stations going to send their anchors to Rio? So far I only know of KNBCs Today in LA anchors Daniella Guzman & Whit Johnson going.

WCAU (NBC10 Philadelphia) is sending Jacqueline London (primary PM female anchor) to Rio. She went there a few months ago to pre tape some stories they have aired.

Are any other NBC stations going to send their anchors to Rio? So far I only know of KNBCs Today in LA anchors Daniella Guzman & Whit Johnson going.

 

KPNX is sending someone to Rio but I can't recall off the top of my head who it was. They've been sending reporters to all the Olympic trials going on as well, putting a heavy emphasis on the athletes from Arizona.

 

It's happening again!

 

There's a one-hour time delay. I actually suspected that would happen, considering the OC is on a Friday and 19:00 in Rio is 18:00 in NYC, when many stations would still be airing evening newscasts. I'm not a fan of how the delay also applies to mobile viewers, but NBC wants as many people to watch the linear, cut-down broadcast as possible. I don't like any of it, but I get it.

 

Then there's this:

 

 

 

While I respect Lazarus's honesty on why NBC must show so many commercials (gotta recoup that multi-billion dollar investment somehow), I strongly, strongly disagree with the bolded. NBC isn't exactly known for its "storytelling" commentary and "curation" during the Opening Ceremonies, considering the lambasting it got for cutting the 7/7 tribute in 2012, the IOC's anti-discrimination statement in 2014, its wonderful commentary during the Parade of Nations, and so on.

 

Here's a recap of the brilliant commentary from 2012, courtesy of The Guardian (yea yea, laugh):

 

 

 

Best of luck to NBC on their Opening Ceremony coverage. I have no doubt that they'll set ratings records again, which is all that really matters. I'll have my VPN ready to go.

 

I agree with you 100%, their commentary during the opening and closing ceremonies is garbage. Unfortunately I have to work so I have to settle for watching the NBC coverage on my DVR after work that night.

 

It does seem kind of stupid that they aren't willing to sacrifice an hour of local affiliate news/programming just so they can show this live for once. Especially considering how much time the affiliates are going to sacrifice for the next few weeks after that.

I agree with you 100%, their commentary during the opening and closing ceremonies is garbage. Unfortunately I have to work so I have to settle for watching the NBC coverage on my DVR after work that night.

 

It does seem kind of stupid that they aren't willing to sacrifice an hour of local affiliate news/programming just so they can show this live for once. Especially considering how much time the affiliates are going to sacrifice for the next few weeks after that.

 

I should note that depending on how NBC's technicians set up the audio feed, it might be possible for some of the more technically-inclined viewers using surround sound systems to "mute" the atrocious commentary if it comes through a center channel. Won't help with the heavy curation, but eh.

KPNX is sending someone to Rio but I can't recall off the top of my head who it was. They've been sending reporters to all the Olympic trials going on as well, putting a heavy emphasis on the athletes from Arizona.

 

I agree with you 100%, their commentary during the opening and closing ceremonies is garbage. Unfortunately I have to work so I have to settle for watching the NBC coverage on my DVR after work that night.

It does seem kind of stupid that they aren't willing to sacrifice an hour of local affiliate news/programming just so they can show this live for once. Especially considering how much time the affiliates are going to sacrifice for the next few weeks after that.

 

Perhaps that is playing into it as well, however. Since NBC is broadcasting most of the actual competition live (I think Gymnastics is the sole exception), a slightly delayed opening ceremony with pre-planned commercials and potential record ratings would be a way to maximize revenue for any potential loss that results from live coverage and less commercial breaks in the following two weeks.

KPNX is sending someone to Rio but I can't recall off the top of my head who it was. They've been sending reporters to all the Olympic trials going on as well, putting a heavy emphasis on the athletes from Arizona.

Sister station WXIA -- who was the host station for the Olympics here in Atlanta 20 years ago -- may send either David Wilkinson or Kim Smith to Rio, but we don't know yet.

KPNX is sending someone to Rio but I can't recall off the top of my head who it was. They've been sending reporters to all the Olympic trials going on as well, putting a heavy emphasis on the athletes from Arizona.

 

KPNX is sending main anchor Vanessa Ruiz to Rio.

The Olympics and Paralympics in Sochi have long been over, but here's what a CBS/Turner Olympics would be like:

 

Jim Nantz (primetime), Greg Gumbel (daytime), and James Brown (late night) would host on CBS, with Scott Pelley anchoring the Evening News from the host city. Turner will have Ernie Johnson Jr., and on CBS Sports Network (which should be involved), Tim Brando.

 

As always, CBS will have a hold on the key events in primetime. And yes, both entities will be using CBS' Olympic theme song for their coverage.

 

What would a FOX Olympics be like?

What would a FOX Olympics be like?

I don't know; Curt Menefee, Joe Buck, and Erin Andrews hosting daytime, primetime, and late night respectively?

 

But seriously, Fox already spent enough for UFC, U.S. (Golf) Open, and the FIFA World Cup to go along with NASCAR, MLB, and NFL; they're not going to blow several billions for the Olympics...even if they have FX, FXX, and FS1.

I don't know; Curt Menefee, Joe Buck, and Erin Andrews hosting daytime, primetime, and late night respectively?

 

But seriously, Fox already spent enough for UFC, U.S. (Golf) Open, Big Ten rights, and the FIFA World Cup to go along with NASCAR, MLB, and NFL; they're not going to blow several billions for the Olympics...even if they have FX, FXX, and FS1.

Fixed!

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