Readers respond to TV coverage of Olympics

Today's story on TV coverage of the Winter Olympics ("NBC misses the point") rang a chord with readers. And it wasn't melodic to NBC ears. Below, some of the responses.
— Kay McFadden, Seattle Times television critic

Over here on the Eastside we're fortunate to subscribe to the Comcast basic package that includes channel 99, Canadian Broadcasting Company — CBC.

Their coverage of the Olympics is a breath of fresh air and we spend more and more time watching CBC and less and less time watching NBC. If I was to try and quantify the difference between the two I say that NBC's coverage is more like the Today show — not quite news and more entertainment oriented. CBC's coverage is more traditional with better focus on the events themselves and much less self serving than the tripe we Americans have been served up.

So if any of your other reader's are getting tied of NBC's coverage please let them know there is a great alternative.

Sincerely,

— Jim Lucas, Issaquah

Kay,

You are right on in this article. My thoughts exactly and my friends also.

What happened to watching all of the top slalom or downhill racers for a couple of hours? Or watching the bobsled for an hour or two? The Olypmics are like watching Entertainment Tonight and I don't watch it.

Thanks,

— John Steiner, Bainbridge Island

Spot On. Their method of coverage is like watching a series of 4 hour football highlights of simultaneous games that randomly show snippets of action from any given quarter. Show me the whole game, please. Also, less irrelevant background info would be appreciated. I'm not too concerned where a given athlete spent their childhood, although your review indicates there may be less of that this time around. I'm not sure since I spend most of my time watching CBC which provides far better coverage with a fraction of the budget.

— Jeff James, Seattle

Nice story today. I agree with most of your points. However, I suspect that the 17% of Seattle watching the Olympics is an undercount. A lot of us choose to watch the CBC coverage. We get a wider range of coverage of sports, no cutting between sports, and they tell us approximately when they are going to show which sport. I can do without so much curling ;) but otherwise, I generally enjoy the knowledgeable commentators, who (for the most part) *have* done their homework. Also, their evening coverage starts earlier, so the kids *can* see most of the coverage.

I enjoy your column... keep up the good work!

— Vicki Martinez, Federal Way

Just finished your article regarding NBC. I totally agree. I love watching the Olympics — I have found NBC does a terrible job — you see more of the commentators instead of hearing them in the background. I have been watching CBC for the last several years and many of the people I know have also made the switch. It is on earlier and shows live coverage in the AM when I get up as well. The guys at CBC keep it straightforward and generally show events front to back. check it out if you haven't already,

— Todd Enos, Sammamish

I just finished reading today's column. I couldn't agree more. Fortunately we are able to watch CBUT coverage. Their coverage begins at 6pm allowing those of us who must get work early the next day to see more of the days events. They seem to cover more of the event. They don't talk too much.

Plus, and I don't mean to be a flag waver, but many of their sponsors have tasteful, and for them patriotic commercials. I would like to see GM USA, or McDonalds in the U.S. run similar commercials.

Keep up the good work.

— Bill Zemina, Bellevue

Kay,

Thank you for a good article on NBC's coverage of the Olympics. I think you covered my gripes about their coverage. However, I think you missed one point - maybe you were making sure you didn't bite the hand that feeds you - there are too many ads!

I have not bothered to measure it, but it seems about an equal amount of time split between advertising and actual coverage. That may be a bit of an exaggeration because the announcers drivel often feels like advertising too - but it all contributes to the bottom line of very little actual event content.

I was able to watch some Canadian coverage on cable last night and found it so much more engaging and entertaining - it was a relief not to have those ads interrupting every 90 seconds.

Thanks again,

— John Rundall, Seattle

Liked your piece and wanted to add my 2 cents about NBC's coverage: they get way too overdramatic. That's why we've been watching CBC all week. Their coverage is much better than NBC! More straight forward and to the point. Plus, no Law and Order commercials!

— Lt. Robert E. "Bo" Hight, U.S. Navy, Anacortes

Thank you for this article. I've been severely unimpressed by NBCs Olympic coverage for the last several Olympics, both summer and winter. Their scheduling is absolutely ridiculous and even during their event coverage they don't keep the viewers updated enough in some events as to where the athletes are place and what they need to do to win or medal. It's very frustrating when you just flip it on in the middle of a competition. Unless you've been watching from the very start, then you're lost until the very end when the medals are handed out but still don't know how the result was arrived at.

When Kwan went down I said that NBC is screwed because they banked there super predictable Olympic coverage on her. Two years ago I moved to Salt Lake and work in Park City. It's sad when an unknown wins like Ted Ligety, but after the medals ceremony we hear nothing more about him. The only reason why I know more about Ted is because everyone in town was talking about him since he's from here. It was all about Bode and he failed twice. If he'd won, however, NBC would be throwing him a parade in Turino right now. NBC spends too much time promoting these mega star athletes and doesn't focus on what the viewers care about. Their nightly schedule stinks and since it's not live they could easily edit the extra stuff and condense the competitions to keep the viewers more focused and interested.

Thanks for your time,

— Brett Wilson, Park City, Utah

Thank you for addressing the lackluster American coverage of the Olympics, a trend towards mediocrity that has been going on for years. Most people I talk too discovered several Olympics ago that if we want decent coverage of diverse sports, countries, and athletes, we should tune into Canadian coverage. American coverage focuses on too few sports, panders with maudlin "Golden Moments" designed to tug at our heart strings, and usually wraps with ludicrous interviews positing that athletes should be disappointed with anything less than a gold medal. Our neighbors to the north are worth emulating - most of us tune in to the Olympics to watch sports, not soap operas, and to celebrate the diversity of competition we don't usually get the chance to see in the States.

— Sarah Brandt, Seattle

Kay:

One other issue: The internet. By evening, everyone with a computer knows that Bode Miller was disqualified. Why devote 3-4 hours of one's evening to see the video, when the results of "Idol", "Survivor" or "Dancing with the Stars" are unknown.

— Bill Boaz, Tucson, Ariz.

Kay:

I appreciate and agree with your comments regarding NBC's lackluster Olympics coverage. Its U.S. centered coverage and focus on medal count differs distinctly from the premise and promise of the Olympics. NBC should take a cue from its Canadian neighbors on how to cover the games. Rather than projecting inane talking heads, or filling the airwaves with pre-packaged "background" stories, CBC actually covers events in depth and respects the individual performances regardless of the nationality of the athletes. Sure, CBC covers its hockey and curling teams, but in the individual events CBC celebrates the winners, the runners-up and the also-rans, who happen to be the world's best athletes.

— Cliff Slade, Tacoma

My parents 89 and 84, my aunt 86, and my wife 48 have this to say. There are way too many commercials and too much talking on the Olympics. Just turn on the camera and shut up.

— Mike Lambert, Exeter, NH

More comments from readers on Olympics coverage

Dear Kay,

You're right on about NBC's clutching to the script. Another example is the story of Toby Dawson, who was abandoned at age 2 in Seoul, South Korea, adopted by two Vail ski patrollers and now is an American Olympic medal winner. I mean, is there a better made-for-America story than that? Instead, they stuck with their script about the lackluster Jeremy Bloom, ostensibly because his moguls-to-grid-iron story somehow is supposed to resonate better with the the general American public because it involves football. Other than that, you're right...the Joey Cheek story deserves a whole lot more coverage than it's getting. Maybe NBC will catch up with the real storylines in the 2nd half of the Games.

NBC does deserve credit for giving better props to the Nordic racing, even though virtually no Americans figure into the medals. Their 1/2-hour short film on "The Great Race"--the legendary 1994 4x10k men's Nordic relay in Lillehammer that inaugurated the classic Italy/Norway relay rivalry—was very well done.

Thanks for writing this article. Let's hope someone at NBC Sports is reading! They still have half the Games left to change their ways....

P.S. I, too, loathe that "Conviction" promo a little more every time I see it.

— Pete Falcier, NYC, NY

Re the Shani Davis "interview," (I'm) having great difficulty choosing words to describe my disgust with NBC Sports, management and staff.

In my not-in-the-least-bit-humble opinion, he should have been interviewed like "any other athlete", or better yet - not at all. Let his record speak for him.

They should have known what answers he had ready for the questions he was asked.

Thanks, Kay

— Dick Seelye, Seattle

Out of my frustration, I have chosen not to watch the Olympics because NBC has chosen to jump around to different venues rather than stay with one sport from start to finish. I know they are doing it to hook us into the entire night of viewing but their decision is going to bite them in the butt.

— Connie W., Wamego, KS

Just finished your article regarding NBC. I totally agree. I love watching the Olympics - I have found NBC does a terrible job - you see more of the commentators instead of hearing them in the background. I have been watching CBC for the last several years and many of the people I know have also made the switch. It is on earlier and shows live coverage in the AM when I get up as well. The guys at CBC keep it straightforward and generally show events front to back. Check it out if you haven't already,

— Todd Enos, Sammamish, WA

Your article about the Olympics in the newspaper today clearly expressed the reasons why my family and I watch the Olympics on CBC!

— Carol Kensel, Edmonds, WA

Kay - I agree with your comments about the US Olympic coverage. For the last few decades, the coverage has declined, focusing far too much on the personality profiles at the expense of the coverage. The Canadian coverage has been better, but it too is getting too "personal". At least they cover more of a given event and, of course, they're not so locked in on the US athletes.

But there were a couple of points that you left out:

~It is inevitable that results are reported long before the events are shown. Yesterday morning when I got up to walk my dog at 6:30, I heard on NPR about the US snow-boarder's hot-dogging crash. I knew of her instant karma 13-14 hours before NBC would be showing it. Because of the ever-present new coverage, the drama and suspense is absent. It's part of the global time frame. What's the point of tuning in at night when you heard the results hours before?

~When I was a kid, watching Mexico City or Munich, the games were broadcast all day, or, at least, more than just for a few hours at night. Isn't that right? That's the way I remember it. So the coverage was greater, longer and could show events at length. What was different then? Is it the money they have to pay and how they can get it back from advertisers? Is the system set up now that a network can only afford to run the coverage during prime time? It's nuts! Why not have it on instead of their morning show when people could watch before they go to school or work? Why not have it on during the lunch time so that restaurants could show it or people who work at home? Can they not afford to pre-empt the soaps?

It seems to me that they are creating their own failure. They lock in their coverage to a small time slot long after the results have been known, and they wonder why no one watches...

Thanks.

— JB Dickey, Seattle, WA

As a retired Sr. citizen, I am not in the coveted 'young' demographic by any stretch of the imagination. However, I have not been watching the Olympics for the reasons stated by others -- NBC's chirpy talking heads explaining things we could clearly see for ourselves if they would just get out of the way, the erratic scheduling (like 3 a.m.!!), and the over-load of commercials, promos for their other programming, etc. Unfortunately, I don't have access to CBC or I might try that, for the same reason I use C-span to find out the news without all the "window dressing" the major US networks force on us. Thanks for your always welcome perspective on TV.

— Carolyn King, Silverdale, WA

Right on Kay! That jumping around drives me crazy.

Another thing...I wish the American commentators could just stop yelling for a moment during the events. I'm not blind. I can see what is going on. And draw my own conclusions of what is happening.

— Ralph Hamilton, Chama, New Mexico, USA