NBC Olympic Coverage: What You See Is All You're Gonna Get

[Quilt Fairy]

I thought it was about time we consolidated all the commentary about NBC's pitiful broadcast coverage in one place.

[Ohwell]

There's a media thread which includes NBC:

[ElDosEquis]

What is missing from the coverage of the Games?

-----

Brazil doesn't exist.

Where are the Games being held?

Rio......Right?

NBC again plays the same clips of the athletes and I thought, "Where the fuck are the human interest stories about Rio and the country?"

For those who remember Jim McKay doing something wacky like dancing with the locals or having a bite of the local food while he was on set? Where are the clips of the people on the streets or gathering to watch the games on TV?  Rio, to the casual observer is a football pitch, some indoor courts, a swimming pool and a volleyball stadium on the sand.

NBC ISN'T interested in sending ryan seecrest or bobby costas, hoda or crappy lee any where near the locals or the sites that aren't Olympic venues?

For all we know?

The Olympics are being held on the back lot of a studio made to look like Brazil?

[chitowngirl]

These are the pieces that Mary Carillo usually does now, but I haven't seen a smidgeon of her there.

[ElDosEquis]

On good morning America they had a segment on with some food that you can get in town.

It was a fluff piece with some lady showing the kind of food and "street hot dogs" you can get.

Of course the food was plated and prettied up but no one ate, the anchors just stood near the table and ooh'ed and aah'ed at "How good it looked".

I hate NBC.

I bet they shelved ANY ideas of showing the town from the get go......

[legaleagle53]

11 minutes ago, ElDosEquis said:

On good morning America they had a segment on with some food that you can get in town.

It was a fluff piece with some lady showing the kind of food and "street hot dogs" you can get.

Of course the food was plated and prettied up but no one ate, the anchors just stood near the table and ooh'ed and aah'ed at "How good it looked".

I hate NBC.

I bet they shelved ANY ideas of showing the town from the get go......

Interesting that Good Morning America would have aired that, and not TODAY, since GMA is on a rival network.

The problem with the culture pieces (even though I personally have always enjoyed them) is that many people who actually want to watch the competitions find them boring and get annoyed when the broadcast "wastes" 10 or 20 minutes on an "irrelevant" culture segment that could be used to show some sort of event going on instead.  That's why they're relegated to the "off-hours" and are almost NEVER aired in prime time.

[photo fox]

I saw a rather lengthy piece with Tom Brokaw paddling through the Amazon (among other things), and I've seen some short "bumpers" to commercial of around-the-town videos voiced over by Tara Lipinski. 

Admittedly, the Brokaw thing may have been during the NBC Nightly News and not official Olympic coverage.  I can't remember.

[Sew Sumi]

5 hours ago, chitowngirl said:

These are the pieces that Mary Carillo usually does now, but I haven't seen a smidgeon of her there.

She does ladies and mixed doubles. She called Venus Williams' mixed doubles a little bit earlier. James Blake is her swapout for men.

[ElDosEquis]

1 hour ago, legaleagle53 said:

------------Interesting that Good Morning America would have aired that, and not TODAY, since GMA is on a rival network.

The problem with the culture pieces (even though I personally have always enjoyed them) is that many people who actually want to watch the competitions find them boring and get annoyed when the broadcast "wastes" 10 or 20 minutes on an "irrelevant" culture segment that could be used to show some sort of event going on instead.  That's why they're relegated to the "off-hours" and are almost NEVER aired in prime time.

Is there really a difference?

I am usually asleep when those programs are on anyway.

And they all have two anchors, the sub anchors, a weather bimbo/bimbette and the wacky and crazy d-bag that goes to the opening of the fair.

----------

I do enjoy only HEARING tarot lapanski on the Subway Sandwich Olympic Minute.

It's her doing a voice over to a chamber of commerce video.

I am so glad that johny weird hasn't been seen or heard from.

NBC did the Kentucky Derby and his outfits were some of the funniest shit on the planet.....Everyday is Halloween on his watch.

 

 

---------

Tom Brokaw is old, they can afford to let him paddle the Amazon.

Edited August 11, 2016 by ElDosEquis

[maraleia]

Leslie Jones is in Rio and will start her reporting duties tomorrow. Can't wait to see what she does.

[KungFuBunny]

I’m DVRng the events I like. Just a recommendation if any of you are doing the same…set your DVR to tape 10 minutes past the scheduled program. My dad wanted to watch Men’s Basketball – Croatia vs Brazil – game got cut off with 56 seconds left to play….Ahhhh!!!!

I’m annoyed at the events shown during prime time..the schedule lists the events and they jump back and forth between sports and set the cameras to watch USA athletes sit on their asses cause it’s not their turn yet.  

This happened while watching the Women’s Team Gymnast event. Why couldn’t they show other countries and not just the top 3 countries? I wanted to see “The Dick” move dammit!

This happened while watching Men’s Swimming – do we really need to watch Michael sitting there with his hoodie and earphones?

When the USA won the Team Relay – 4 athletes won the gold but the sportscaster only wanted to talk to Michael. Heezus, Harry & Hoseph! I like Michael but this was a TEAM effort.

Ryan Seacrest – why is this douche there? Someone blindfold him and go City Of God on his ass.

[SnideAsides]

I can't believe I'm about to use the words "at least NBC is", but at least NBC is showing a decent variety of sports via its secondary channels. Down here in Australia, Channel Seven has got the Olympics coverage on three TV channels plus an app, and (1) the app doesn't seem to be working for anyone except Seven employees who want to tweet about how wonderful and easy it is to use, and (2) pretty much all we've had on TV so far are swimming, gymnastics, equestrian, the team sports, and full tedious coverage of the road race cycling and golf, plus maybe about a minute each of archery (only because they kind of had to), judo, and canoe slalom. :(

[Muffyn]

I cannot forgive NBC for putting me in a position in which I watch Ryan Seacrest.  Why?  WHHHHHHHYYYYYYYY?

I was talking Olympics with a friend today who is not on this board.  She described the coverage as America and people who fall.  Sounds like what many of us have said. 

[Quilt Fairy]

2 hours ago, SnideAsides said:

I can't believe I'm about to use the words "at least NBC is", but at least NBC is showing a decent variety of sports via its secondary channels. Down here in Australia, Channel Seven has got the Olympics coverage on three TV channels plus an app, and (1) the app doesn't seem to be working for anyone except Seven employees who want to tweet about how wonderful and easy it is to use, and (2) pretty much all we've had on TV so far are swimming, gymnastics, equestrian, the team sports, and full tedious coverage of the road race cycling and golf, plus maybe about a minute each of archery (only because they kind of had to), judo, and canoe slalom. :(

I have flipped through NBC's channels fairly religiously, and other than the sports you've mentioned I think I've only seen basketball, rugby (which I think each have their own dedicated channel) and some rowing so I don't think we're seeing much more in the States. I would love to see more archery, for example, but the problem I'm having is that the TV listings of what is supposed to be aired in a particular block never seen to line up with what is actually aired. I've DVRed what was supposed to be archery and got beach volleyball, which personally I don't even think should be an Olympic sport. I think it only got added so NBC could air women in bikinis and capture the male 18-35 demographic.  

And I can't believe they haven't had any of Mary Carillo's color pieces even though there are some of them on the website. (And after I created a thread just for her! *sigh*) She's the one who should be hosting the overnight block that Ryan Seacrest has.

ETA: Apologies if I've created what might be a considered a needlessly duplicate thread. When I see something titled Media Coverage I think of stories about the Olympics rather than actually broadcasting of the events. And frankly NBC's craptastic coverage deserves it's own thread IMO. But if the mods want to consolidate it I will understand. 

Edited August 12, 2016 by Quilt Fairy

[voiceover]

Because I'm all about the HousePorn, may I say that I am totally panting over the striped pillows on the sofa behind Seacrest & Lochte tonight.

I MUST HAVE THESE.  Anyone who has spied them for sale anywhere, please 'fess up here!

[Rickster]

16 hours ago, legaleagle53 said:

Interesting that Good Morning America would have aired that, and not TODAY, since GMA is on a rival network.

The problem with the culture pieces (even though I personally have always enjoyed them) is that many people who actually want to watch the competitions find them boring and get annoyed when the broadcast "wastes" 10 or 20 minutes on an "irrelevant" culture segment that could be used to show some sort of event going on instead.  That's why they're relegated to the "off-hours" and are almost NEVER aired in prime time.

TODAY is airing several "local color" segments just about every morning, but they tend to be brief, to fit into their morning format

I agree with the point that a big issue for me, besides the incessant commercials in prime time, is NBC seemingly being unable to accurately tell us what sport will be on when and on which channel in daytime. For example, I have run across a fair amount of archery, but it (and some of the other less popular sports) seem to be used as random filler when they have extra air time. 

[Mittengirl]

I remember a few Olympics ago that NBC did have graphics on screen that showed what was coming up not only on that channel, but what was on the other NBC substations.  I don't remember if it was specific (100m track) or if it was just generic (track) or if it gave a specific time or how many minutes until coverage started.  It was just a crawl across the bottom, or maybe tabs that showed after commercials.  I may not be certain on specifics, but I am positive they had it.  

[walnutqueen]

My solution has been to DVR almost everything on all the channels (except the 2 dedicated soccer & basketball channels, golf and tennis), then FF through all the stuff I'm not interested in watching.  I've managed to see almost every sport covered, at least to some extent.  You just cannot rely on their schedules or the on screen guide for anything, it seems.

[ElDosEquis]

1 hour ago, walnutqueen said:

My solution has been to DVR almost everything on all the channels (except the 2 dedicated soccer & basketball channels, golf and tennis), then FF through all the stuff I'm not interested in watching.  I've managed to see almost every sport covered, at least to some extent.  You just cannot rely on their schedules or the on screen guide for anything, it seems.

You must remember it is the MEDIA we are dealing with?

[Kromm]

Tonight's NBC sin:

Joseph Schooling beats Michael Phelps and gets Gold to Phelps silver.

Schooling is from Singapore. But he not only is totally fluent/native in English, he's an NCAA swimmer at the University of Texas.

So NBC goes to Phelps and talks to him for the 9,211th time. It doesn't even seem to occur to them to try and get the English speaking Texas boy Schooling. Because he is swimming for Singapore.  

[blackwing]

Good gracious. 11:40 pm eastern time, 20 minutes to go, and I suppose NBC ran out of things to air, because they subjected us to Johnny Weir and Tara Lipinski.  I know some people love their swishiness and joie d'vivre.   I am not one of them.  Why are they even here at the Summer Olympics.  Immediately turned off the TV.  Time to do dishes!

[Kromm]

17 minutes ago, blackwing said:

Good gracious. 11:40 pm eastern time, 20 minutes to go, and I suppose NBC ran out of things to air, because they subjected us to Johnny Weir and Tara Lipinski.  I know some people love their swishiness and joie d'vivre.   I am not one of them.  Why are they even here at the Summer Olympics.  Immediately turned off the TV.  Time to do dishes!

The only thing worse was the Costas interview with Katie Ledecky.  Which was embarrassing.  So bad (to be clear, not on her part, on Costas'). Just this horrible combination of trite questions with ass kissing (which she navigated through without sounding egotistical, but Costas hardly made that easy for her). 

[Quilt Fairy]

Turned on the TV this afternoon and was right in the middle of the archery semi-finals. Checked the listings and it was supposed to be soccer. I get that everything may not be on schedule for a variety of reasons, and they can't go too far in advance and still be accurate but this has reached a ridiculous point.

And now we're going to get all the T&F heats in addition to all the swimming heats. I caught the American woman who won the shot-put, and they showed exactly two throws: her last throw and the last throw of the leader and previous medal holder. And I'm sure we only got those few minutes because the winner was American and her father had won a silver medal in the same event and was a Superbowl winning football player.

 

ETA: I finally saw a short background piece about a Rio neighborhood. It was - no joke - a Chevy commercial.

Edited August 13, 2016 by Quilt Fairy

[Rickster]

7 hours ago, Quilt Fairy said:

 

And now we're going to get all the T&F heats in addition to all the swimming heats. I caught the American woman who won the shot-put, and they showed exactly two throws: her last throw and the last throw of the leader and previous medal holder. And I'm sure we only got those few minutes because the winner was American and her father had won a silver medal in the same event and was a Superbowl winning football player.

Right, plus in the Heptathalon the skipped the first couple of events, I assume because no American had a chance for a medal.

I really don't get showing all these preliminary heats with so many other events to cover. If some favorite pulls a hamstring and drops out, fine, show the race. Otherwise why not just do the semis and finals?

[biakbiak]

1 hour ago, Rickster said:

Right, plus in the Heptathalon the skipped the first couple of events, I assume because no American had a chance for a medal.

I really don't get showing all these preliminary heats with so many other events to cover. If some favorite pulls a hamstring and drops out, fine, show the race. Otherwise why not just do the semis and finals?

They showed the first part of the heptathlon during the day on NBC. I mean they showed Ashton reaction to the outcome of the events more than they showed the athletes and reminded us each and every time that though he was wearing a Canada hat he was AMERICAN but they did show the events. 

[Muffyn]

8 hours ago, Quilt Fairy said:

Turned on the TV this afternoon and was right in the middle of the archery semi-finals. Checked the listings and it was supposed to be soccer. I get that everything may not be on schedule for a variety of reasons, and they can't go too far in advance and still be accurate but this has reached a ridiculous point.

And now we're going to get all the T&F heats in addition to all the swimming heats. I caught the American woman who won the shot-put, and they showed exactly two throws: her last throw and the last throw of the leader and previous medal holder. And I'm sure we only got those few minutes because the winner was American and her father had won a silver medal in the same event and was a Superbowl winning football player.

 

ETA: I finally saw a short background piece about a Rio neighborhood. It was - no joke - a Chevy commercial.

After they showed all of two throws, they then commented on how dramatic the event was.  Glad to hear they enjoyed it.  We saw more celebration than competition.

[tominboston]

I agree with the comments above about the shot put winner... absolutely minimal coverage, and we wouldn't have seen even that if she wasn't an American. I haven't seen any coverage at all of discus, javelin, or pole vaulting (although obviously I haven't watched every minute of every channel). I understand that if it's not swimming or gymnastics or women's beach volleyball, NBC won't put it in prime time, but why do we get hours of water polo and such on the cable channels but nothing of the "field" side of track & field? Well, actually, I know why... NBC figures that no one cares. I need to remind myself that NBC sees the Olympics as a soap opera full of tear-jerking stories as much as a sporting event involving noncommercial sports and people that actually come from countries other than the US.

[FormerMod-a1]

I saw lots of track and field yesterday, including discus and high jumps, and multiple "track" events.   Also, my info button has been right.  If it lists "rowing, fencing, archery", for example, those things will be covered in that time slot, maybe not in that order, or maybe in rotation going back and forth between them, but they are covered.  And this is for the TV coverage, not the livestream.  I think I watched mostly NBCSN and MSNBC yesterday and was not disappointed.  Now the primetime coverage, I agree with.  We don't need to see 3 hours of swimming every night.  And I'm even someone that likes some of the swimming and doesn't mind the Phelps hype.  But they just show way too much to the exclusion of other things.

[ElDosEquis]

12 hours ago, blackwing said:

Good gracious. 11:40 pm eastern time, 20 minutes to go, and I suppose NBC ran out of things to air, because they subjected us to Johnny Weir and Tara Lipinski.  I know some people love their swishiness and joie d'vivre.   I am not one of them.  Why are they even here at the Summer Olympics.  Immediately turned off the TV.  Time to do dishes!

Seriously?

I don't know what the fascination is with Weir(d).

I was a little taken back that Subway didn't sign them BOTH on to do the 'subway travelogue minutes'.

I think that he should be given a chance to tell the US what he likes on his 'six incher'?

[bosawks]

Can Rebecca Lowe take over for Costas for the remainder of the games?

She is disgustingly charming and well informed; I should really hate her.....

[Kromm]

Vox: NBC's coverage of the Olympics is atrocious. There's a simple reason why. The network views the games as entertainment, not as sports.

Plenty to read there, but some tidbits.

Quote

Shortly before the games launched on August 5, John Miller, the NBC Olympics chief marketing officer, offered an explanation for why so many Olympic events — and particularly the opening ceremony — are aired on a tape delay, even for those who live on the East Coast, only an hour off the time in Rio (to say nothing of the West Coast, which gets everything on a tape delay).

Jonathan Tannenwald of the Philadelphia Inquirer reported the following comment:

Quote

The people who watch the Olympics are not particularly sports fans. More women watch the games than men, and for the women, they're less interested in the result and more interested in the journey. It's sort of like the ultimate reality show and mini-series wrapped into one.

 

Quote

Miller’s statement about the type of viewers who watch the Olympics and what those viewers are most interested in gets at the heart of why NBC’s coverage is so lousy and why Trautwig’s tweet was so defensive about Biles’s parents not being her parents.

The network had so much riding on the idea of Biles’s upbringing — and the idea that she had to overcome the unfitness of her biological parents on her way to gold medal glory — that Trautwig was unable to leave the narrative behind. By my hypothesis, it was an insensitive comment, yes, but one spawned from a relentless focus on telling the same story over and over again.

Quote

NBC continues to value American success stories over almost anything else (to the degree that not a second of the men’s gymnastics team finals aired in primetime, since the US didn’t medal). Frequently, the only non-Americans we see compete in events like gymnastics are those who have direct bearing on NBC’s US-centric narrative.

And the network continues, above all else, to suggest that the Olympic stories that matter most are the ones that offer up a wholesome, usually white face of Middle America — even when reality gets in the way.

Quote

Perhaps the best example of NBC’s narrow and stale approach to Olympic storytelling is what happened in 2012, when NBC clearly bet everything it had on gymnast Jordyn Wieber. Wieber was a Michigan native, and the kind of spunky white teenager American audiences had warmed to in the past. Heading into the games, she was considered the favorite for an all-around gold medal.

But when Wieber narrowly missed qualifying for the all-around finals and the gold medal was eventually awarded to one of her teammates, Gabby Douglas — the first black woman to win the all-around gold — NBC didn’t pivot. Its narrative continued to focus on Wieber far more than Douglas, as if the network had already produced a huge number of Wieber-related packages that it still felt obligated to air.

Quote

Look no further than the fact that NBC’s team of announcers for the opening ceremonyconsisted of Today show trio Matt Lauer, Meredith Vieira, and Hoda Kotb — without, say, one of the network’s foreign affairs correspondents or even sportscaster Bob Costas to offer some sort of balance.

Instead, the three chattered inanely about the various countries’ delegations, made jokes about Djibouti, and breathlessly hyped the arrival of Team USA. Sure, harmless nationalism is a big part of watching the games, but NBC sometimes seems to think it’s the only part.

[Dots And Stripes]

I've liked *most* of NBC's coverage so far. I agree with others who think they are struggling in prime time. Costas has had very little to do and it feels like they've done a relatively poor job of showing the broader picture of the games during prime time. I remember more pieces in Sochi about the local history and culture.

Also, the athlete profiles have been few and far between and lacking in content. I've noticed more in daytime, but they are still so vague. They feel like something out of the Hills: lots of cool establishing shots but when it's all over you realized nothing actually happened. NBC clearly has the footage and interviewed the athletes, why not put together something more informative? There was a short piece on Simone and Aly but it told us nothing. Simone has an interesting back story. She wasn't dominating her sport as a junior. It would have been nice for NBC to fit in a few minutes of that in prime time while waiting around for the next swim race to start. I know a lot of people want less fluff, but for me some well-placed, well-produced fluff gives better context.

ETA: Reading Kromm's post above, I don't have a problem with the Olympics being Entertainment and not just Sports. I think the article is off though on why Al was being a jackass. As I said, there wasn't a good primetime profile on Biles, as I would have expected. From watching the coverage, I didn't feel like Simone's family was NBC's angle. Her dominance over the sport got way more mentions than the story of her family. Moreover, it's not even clear to me that Al knew there was a formal adoption. His comments seemed to reflect a belief that Simone was being raised by her grandparents, not that Simone had been adopted and those are her parents in every sense. Al came across as uninformed and possibly out of step with the culture that recognizes that families formed through adoption are in fact families. That doesn't come across as NBC micromanaging the narrative, to me it reads more like NBC not making sure their commentators are knowledgable about the biggest star they are covering. 

Edited August 14, 2016 by Dots And Stripes

[galaxygirl76]

NBC is doing a decent job in the day time, they air a good variety of sports that usually are not shown as much. Prime time is a different story, but I'm enjoying the day time. 

[Kromm]

4 hours ago, Dots And Stripes said:

I've liked *most* of NBC's coverage so far. I agree with others who think they are struggling in prime time. Costas has had very little to do and it feels like they've done a relatively poor job of showing the broader picture of the games during prime time. I remember more pieces in Sochi about the local history and culture.

Perhaps they're facing the scary reality that if they talk about Rio too much they're going to have to be pretty selective to avoid talking about its problems.

Quote

Also, the athlete profiles have been few and far between and lacking in content. I've noticed more in daytime, but they are still so vague. They feel like something out of the Hills: lots of cool establishing shots but when it's all over you realized nothing actually happened. NBC clearly has the footage and interviewed the athletes, why not put together something more informative? There was a short piece on Simone and Aly but it told us nothing. Simone has an interesting back story. She wasn't dominating her sport as a junior. It would have been nice for NBC to fit in a few minutes of that in prime time while waiting around for the next swim race to start. I know a lot of people want less fluff, but for me some well-placed, well-produced fluff gives better context.

It depends on how you define fluff.

What I really wish they'd do is prepare more in depth pieces on the sports themselves.  If ESPN can do it, I wonder what is wrong with NBC that they can't even try.

They also REALLY need to understand that win or lose, a sport is about more than the top guy or girl (or the one who just happens to wave your flag). If they really must go with the "personalities and backstories" approach to sports, at least they should spread it around a bit more.

Edited August 14, 2016 by Kromm

[Kromm]

Why isn't NBC showing the Tennis finals live?  Is it because they feel that Americans don't want to see an Englishman, even though he's a huge international sports star, defending Olympic champion and top seeded player?

I'm hoping they might show it in Prime Time instead.  Lets see if they redeem themselves somewhat by doing that.

[galaxygirl76]

2 minutes ago, Kromm said:

Why isn't NBC showing the Tennis finals live?  Is it because they feel that Americans don't want to see an Englishman, even though he's a huge international sports star, defending Olympic champion and top seeded player?

I'm hoping they might show it in Prime Time instead.  Lets see if they redeem themselves somewhat by doing that.

The tennis tournament has been airing on Bravo.

[friendperidot]

why are there gigantic "jacks" on Ryan Seacrist's table during his coverage? I know little about him, don't watch anything he's on. But every when he's doing his bits, there are "jacks" on the table, tonight they were like glass candleholders, but other nights, they look like the jacks I played with as a child in ancient times. Maybe they are "X"es. But if that's what they are, why?

[SnideAsides]

Because Seacrest is a jackhole.

[Quilt Fairy]

I've noticed several times when a commentator gave what sounded like the intro to an "Up Close & Personal" piece, you get 5 -10 seconds of an athlete talking head and then it cuts to a commercial. It's very disconcerting.

Also, apparently bronze isn't good enough for NBC as they didn't even bother to show the only medal won by a male American gymnast so far. As much as I like her, I'm beginning to *hate* Simone Biles almost as much as I *hate* Michael Phelps.

[redpencil]

Quote

Also, apparently bronze isn't good enough for NBC as they didn't even bother to show the only medal won by a male American gymnast so far. As much as I like her, I'm beginning to *hate* Simone Biles almost as much as I *hate* Michael Phelps.

They showed it live on NBC earlier in the day (I think--I'm on the West coast, but I think all the daytime stuff has been live). I watched it.

[biakbiak]

8 minutes ago, redpencil said:

They showed it live on NBC earlier in the day (I think--I'm on the West coast, but I think all the daytime stuff has been live). I watched it.

It was shown during the day but it was slightly delayed on the East Coast and delayed by three plus hours on the West Coast.

[redpencil]

Okay, yeah. I wasn't sure (I DVR it all anyway). My point was mainly that they did show it. It's actually kind of interesting that they chose to show the floor exercise in primetime instead, even though no Americans medalled. I presume because of the Brazilians winning silver/bronze, which was great tv.

[Quilt Fairy]

13 hours ago, redpencil said:

Okay, yeah. I wasn't sure (I DVR it all anyway). My point was mainly that they did show it. It's actually kind of interesting that they chose to show the floor exercise in primetime instead, even though no Americans medalled. I presume because of the Brazilians winning silver/bronze, which was great tv.

Sorry I messed up about the pommel horse final, but it was logical to think they didn't show it live since I don't think they had shown any gymnastics live in the previous week.  As they didn't show it in primetime, Al's comment about Nadoor having to wait to see if his score held up (without mentioning that he did win the bronze) was still strange. 

[proserpina65]

On ‎08‎/‎11‎/‎2016 at 0:27 AM, ElDosEquis said:

What is missing from the coverage of the Games?

-----

Brazil doesn't exist.

Where are the Games being held?

Rio......Right?

NBC again plays the same clips of the athletes and I thought, "Where the fuck are the human interest stories about Rio and the country?"

For those who remember Jim McKay doing something wacky like dancing with the locals or having a bite of the local food while he was on set? Where are the clips of the people on the streets or gathering to watch the games on TV?  Rio, to the casual observer is a football pitch, some indoor courts, a swimming pool and a volleyball stadium on the sand.

NBC ISN'T interested in sending ryan seecrest or bobby costas, hoda or crappy lee any where near the locals or the sites that aren't Olympic venues?

For all we know?

The Olympics are being held on the back lot of a studio made to look like Brazil?

NBC is probably afraid they'll get mugged.

[Dots And Stripes]

On August 14, 2016 at 5:03 PM, Kromm said:

Perhaps they're facing the scary reality that if they talk about Rio too much they're going to have to be pretty selective to avoid talking about its problems.

It depends on how you define fluff.

What I really wish they'd do is prepare more in depth pieces on the sports themselves.  If ESPN can do it, I wonder what is wrong with NBC that they can't even try.

They also REALLY need to understand that win or lose, a sport is about more than the top guy or girl (or the one who just happens to wave your flag). If they really must go with the "personalities and backstories" approach to sports, at least they should spread it around a bit more.

Sochi wasn't exactly paradise and NBC still did pieces on Russia. There was a Siberia piece I remember.

I consider anything that is not the event itself fluff. Like I said, I like fluff as part of the whole package. I agree NBC could do more in terms of explaining the sports themselves. A quick refresher on something like beach volleyball or the different swim strokes would be nice considering a chunk of the audience probably hasn't seen these sports in 4 years.

I'm ok with them focusing on the Americans and the favorites for a medal. There are so many athletes that investigating them all to give us the best back stories would be a tough challenge. They give us a little of that during the parade of nations where they point out who has an unlikely background or is the first athlete of their kind at the Olympics. For the most part, there are going to be plenty of good stories from the favorites and the Americans if NBC bothers to even tell those.

[Dots And Stripes]

I like Shawn White, but he belongs in the overnight segment. Where is Mary Carillo?

[Kromm]

1 hour ago, Dots And Stripes said:

Sochi wasn't exactly paradise and NBC still did pieces on Russia. There was a Siberia piece I remember.

What they did in a previous broadcast and what they're doing now aren't necessarily the same thing though.

[Dots And Stripes]

18 hours ago, Kromm said:

What they did in a previous broadcast and what they're doing now aren't necessarily the same thing though.

Right, but that means the difference isn't that Rio isn't the first host with severe problems. There were similar concerns with Sochi and also the problem of the games being darn as a propaganda tool for Putin.

[dcalley]

Power outage! Bob Costas had to stay up late to cover for Ryan.

[greyhorse]

Yeah, I strangely miss the human interest and the local culture pieces.  Maybe there have been some and I just haven't seen them.  But they seem very few and far between.  Perhaps they are on the pre-primetime show that I think runs for 30 minutes?  Or maybe the late night hour?

I'm not sure what Ryan Seacrest adds to the broadcast.