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Winter Olympics broadcasts not viewer friendly
As the 2010 Winter Olympics draw to a close this week, so does the viewing frustration. Watching any Olympic games is hours of irritation punctuated by moments of great performances.
The problem is clearly the way rights to the Olympics are sold in this country. NBC pays millions to be the exclusive carrier. So understandably, they want to recoup all of that money in advertising based on high viewership. But for a fan, the result is annoying at best.
NBC schedules four- to six-hour blocks of coverage. Read their schedule for a given night, and you'll find that coverage will include downhill skiing, skating, luge and biathlon. When any of that will be broadcast is anybody's guess. Clearly, NBC hopes you'll start at the beginning and stick until the bitter end, hoping to see that one event that interests you. But for those who have a life, five or 10 hours of TV a day is simply not in the cards.
And even when a viewer hangs in, hoping to see skating, for instance, he gets one skater followed by a bunch of ads, followed by an "up close and personal" with an athlete who gives us a tour of his house. We see the American athletes in most events, even if they aren't very good, but we often don't see much from star foreign competitors in events not dominated by Americans.
We see one skater and then we go to Bob Costas for (too many) words of wisdom before checking in with the guy from the Weather Channel on the snow report. At least 20 years ago, one cable channel ran complete coverage of sports during the day as a complement to the smorgasbord approach in prime time. As a result, if you wanted to see all the skaters compete, it was possible.
But that no longer happens. As a result, each Olympics clearly demonstrates the value of TiVo or digital video recorders. Taping three and a half hours of stuff to see two minutes of Shaun White in the half-pipe at least guarantees you will see the athletes that interest you. And it allows you to fast forward past the ads and the chatter.
And that last benefit makes us wonder how long Olympic coverage will stay as it is. If viewers can avoid your ads and work around your programming, a change of system may be in order.
The problem is clearly the way rights to the Olympics are sold in this country. NBC pays millions to be the exclusive carrier. So understandably, they want to recoup all of that money in advertising based on high viewership. But for a fan, the result is annoying at best.
NBC schedules four- to six-hour blocks of coverage. Read their schedule for a given night, and you'll find that coverage will include downhill skiing, skating, luge and biathlon. When any of that will be broadcast is anybody's guess. Clearly, NBC hopes you'll start at the beginning and stick until the bitter end, hoping to see that one event that interests you. But for those who have a life, five or 10 hours of TV a day is simply not in the cards.
And even when a viewer hangs in, hoping to see skating, for instance, he gets one skater followed by a bunch of ads, followed by an "up close and personal" with an athlete who gives us a tour of his house. We see the American athletes in most events, even if they aren't very good, but we often don't see much from star foreign competitors in events not dominated by Americans.
We see one skater and then we go to Bob Costas for (too many) words of wisdom before checking in with the guy from the Weather Channel on the snow report. At least 20 years ago, one cable channel ran complete coverage of sports during the day as a complement to the smorgasbord approach in prime time. As a result, if you wanted to see all the skaters compete, it was possible.
But that no longer happens. As a result, each Olympics clearly demonstrates the value of TiVo or digital video recorders. Taping three and a half hours of stuff to see two minutes of Shaun White in the half-pipe at least guarantees you will see the athletes that interest you. And it allows you to fast forward past the ads and the chatter.
And that last benefit makes us wonder how long Olympic coverage will stay as it is. If viewers can avoid your ads and work around your programming, a change of system may be in order.
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