Discussion:
NBC showing Olympics live would lead to more shows like "Love in the Wild"
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TMC
2012-08-01 08:48:07 UTC
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/tv-column/post/olympics-clocks-huge-ratings-while-the-trashing-of-nbc-becomes-a-popular-sport/2012/07/31/gJQAE3EnNX_blog.html

As Lisa de Moraes notes, a massive primetime audience delivers big
ratings and big bucks to NBC — something it wouldn't have if big
Olympic events were shown live around the clock. "Broadcast the London
Games live, and NBC's ratings plunge, its ad revenue takes a nose-dive
— and we're in for many more seasons of 'Love in the Wild,'" she
writes. PLUS: Twitter complainers represent a very tiny minority.

http://sportsonearthblog.com/2012/07/31/nbc-is-ignoring-twitter-diehards-and-rightfully-so/
Obveeus
2012-08-01 23:46:23 UTC
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Post by TMC
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/tv-column/post/olympics-clocks-huge-ratings-while-the-trashing-of-nbc-becomes-a-popular-sport/2012/07/31/gJQAE3EnNX_blog.html
As Lisa de Moraes notes, a massive primetime audience delivers big
ratings and big bucks to NBC — something it wouldn't have if big
Olympic events were shown live around the clock. "Broadcast the London
Games live, and NBC's ratings plunge, its ad revenue takes a nose-dive
— and we're in for many more seasons of 'Love in the Wild,'" she
writes. PLUS: Twitter complainers represent a very tiny minority.
http://sportsonearthblog.com/2012/07/31/nbc-is-ignoring-twitter-diehards-and-rightfully-so/
Speaking of lousy Olympic coverage, the guide promised once again the NBC
would cover *archery* today. I watched a couple hours of stuff on NBC
Sports Network and MSNBC this afternoon and they showed about 2 minutes
total on the sport. They devoted more time to women's snatch. They devoted
more time to showing a replay of the Chinese badminton team intentionally
losing their match. They wasted 90+ minutes on a 1-1 tie between two
mediocre third world countries playing each other at soccer. The only thing
they aired worth watching was a USA/China women's indoor volleyball match.
Obveeus
2012-08-02 00:03:16 UTC
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Post by Obveeus
Speaking of lousy Olympic coverage, the guide promised once again the NBC
would cover *archery* today. I watched a couple hours of stuff on NBC
Sports Network and MSNBC this afternoon and they showed about 2 minutes
total on the sport. They devoted more time to women's snatch. They
devoted more time to showing a replay of the Chinese badminton team
intentionally losing their match. They wasted 90+ minutes on a 1-1 tie
between two mediocre third world countries playing each other at soccer.
The only thing they aired worth watching was a USA/China women's indoor
volleyball match.
...and now I see that the Olympic commity has thrown out 8 badminton players
for intentionally trying to lose. I understands the 'spirit of competition'
angle, but that solution is pure crap. If there is no rule against not
trying to win, then no one should be thrown out. If there is a rule against
such things, then many of the swimmers should be thrown out for using
preliminary/qualifying races to just squeak into the finals rather than
actually trying to win. Half hearted efforts in order to improve the
ultimate chances of winning the gold have always been part of the 'Olympic
tradition'.
George Plimpton
2012-08-02 00:22:51 UTC
Permalink
The Olympics coverage sucks, as it has done for over 30 years. They
don't show the fucking sports - it's all the girly up-close-and-personal
shit that sports fans - men - don't care about. Women just gobble that
shit up; men won't watch it unless they want to get laid and their wife
or girlfriend (maybe both) are watching it. It's just garbage.

As for the "sports" they do show, many aren't even real sports.
Synchronized fucking diving?! That's not a sport. For that matter,
neither is gymnastics. If I can't tell by looking at a clock or a tape
measure who won, it's not a sport - it's dance. Anything where I have
to look over at a bunch of old fucks holding up numbers to indicate how
much they liked it isn't a sport.

Swimming (races), basketball, soccer, table tennis, weight lifting, and
of course the very essence of the Olympics, track and field - those are
sports. Diving (individual and synchronized), gymnastics, synch
swimming - those are not sports. Don't show them.
Don Del Grande
2012-08-02 02:37:13 UTC
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Post by George Plimpton
As for the "sports" they do show, many aren't even real sports.
Synchronized fucking diving?! That's not a sport. For that matter,
neither is gymnastics. If I can't tell by looking at a clock or a tape
measure who won, it's not a sport - it's dance.
By that measure, boxing is not a sport. (By a strict reading, neither
is basketball, but I assume you meant to add sports where it is
obvious how points are being scored.) Yes, Olympic boxing is based
(more or less) on who threw the most punches, but "was that a punch?"
is something that judges decide.

-- Don
George Plimpton
2012-08-02 02:59:42 UTC
Permalink
Post by Don Del Grande
Post by George Plimpton
As for the "sports" they do show, many aren't even real sports.
Synchronized fucking diving?! That's not a sport. For that matter,
neither is gymnastics. If I can't tell by looking at a clock or a tape
measure who won, it's not a sport - it's dance.
By that measure, boxing is not a sport. (By a strict reading, neither
is basketball, but I assume you meant to add sports where it is
obvious how points are being scored.) Yes, Olympic boxing is based
(more or less) on who threw the most punches, but "was that a punch?"
is something that judges decide.
I used to enjoy boxing, before it came to resemble a cartoon, but I
agree that the scoring is subjective. However, as with fencing, in
which technology has replaced judges in determining when a touch has
occurred, it would theoretically be possible for the subjective
determination of when a punch landed to be taken out of it.
Conceptually, boxing is a sport. Gymnastics and synchronized swimming
and the like are not. There's an element of prettiness to it that makes
it inherently subjective.
Remysun
2012-08-02 03:28:48 UTC
Permalink
Post by TMC
As Lisa de Moraes notes, a massive primetime audience delivers big
ratings and big bucks to NBC — something it wouldn't have if big
Olympic events were shown live around the clock. "Broadcast the London
Games live, and NBC's ratings plunge, its ad revenue takes a nose-dive
— and we're in for many more seasons of 'Love in the Wild,'" she
writes. PLUS: Twitter complainers represent a very tiny minority.
Bullcrap. There's years of data from the Canadians about keeping it
live, and they do just fine. With the major time difference, prime
time necessitates rerun coverage anyway. Make it slick and it will
stick.

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