NBC - Viewers Angered Over Scarce Live Olympic Programming

NBC's decision to show the most-anticipated Olympics events during primetime resulted in an avalanche of complaints, particularly from West Coast viewers, who saw virtually nothing live, including Michael ...

[mona]

if i have to see one more minute of beach volley ball i will die!
this is not the olympics, it is the great chinese volley ball show.
this is the worst olympic programming ive ever seen.

[roger]

NBC should go to England and learn from the BBC how to do LIVE coverage.

[Jon]

that and most broadcast have to be approved by the chinese gov.

[gymnastics]

what's most irritating is that the gymnastics start at 11pm or so, which is way to late for my kids to stay up and watch!

[ouch]

People are going crazy over this Olympiad. I really think way more people are watching...and obviously are wanting to watch even more....of the Olympics, than Sidney & Athens...Everywhere I go, I see houses with American flags hanging out. Everyone I talk to, the first thing out of their mouths are Olympic related. And it's not even Gymnastics or Michael Phelps all the time. They are talking about synchronized diving, the hungarian wieghtlifer that dislocated his elbow, Mongolia's first Gold, doubles badminton...really crazy. I love that the Olympics are on 12 different channels in my area. Certainly, NBC can't show everything live, but they don't even seem to be picking the right things whe given the choice. I'm kind of tired of Kerry Walsh's taped up shoulder, but Misty May-Treanor is very cool under pressure. I just would prefer seeing not so much of her. I have been watching the Korean & Mandarin speaking channels...the color commentating is quite entertaining, I have no idea what they are saying, but they do it with passion!

Yes sir, the Olympics are back, and harder than ever...too bad NBC viewers are missing a great show.

[don knight]

I am appalled to see the poor coverage of the Olympics by NBC. It seems there is only swimming, athletics, volleyball and sporadically something else. But the Olympics is much and much more than that. And how about the other gold medal winners from other countries Are they not equally important? NBC is depriving viewers of the wonderful world of the many competitive aspects of all the sports activities of the games. NBC has lowered itself to a station which is totally driven by commercial reasoning.

[Disgruntled]

I am absolutely livid that at the time I am posting this message (approx 11p.m. EST on Saturday August 16), NBC is yet to air delayed coverage of the Mens 100m final.

For such a major event, this is simply inexcusable!

Everyone else in the world has seen it except the majority of Americans.

[JA- US]

my daughter lives in Beijing and is watching Olympics on NBC via a slingbox, when she's not at events. She says the Chinese stations show very few popular American events (absolutedly no swimming.) So shut up- at least your seeing alot more than most of the world population. Plus do you realize how hard it is to coordinate programming when it's 12 hours later over there. As crazy as it is in Beijing I think they are doing an excellent job.

[BAM]

What is really annoying is all the Michael Phelps coverage. I understand what he did was great but when they show only him during the medal ceremony of a four man relay that is wrong. I feel bad for the friends and families of the other three men who earned that gold medal. They were denied a chance to see their swimmer’s reaction during the playing of the U.S. national anthem.

[john]

get real. the importance of the historical moment overshadowed everything else. the other 3 swimmers seemed just fine. their tough men and can handle Phelps popularity. these guys have strong egos- otherwise they wouldn't be on the winners podium.They know its a team effort- you obviously don't know much about the thick skin you need to develope when your an athlete at their level

[W-WE]

W-WE -- World-wide Entertainment.

When I was a kid watching the olympics you got what the network presented and you were appreciative, and the networks built on televising particular events based on popularity (via Neilson Ratings).

But now there are so many ways of accessing the media, and for the media to get viewer interests, it's become a challenge to fill the gap.

If you want to see a particular event, you CAN go to the country and get tickets for the event - but for some, time and money are at a restriction.

So, it looks like an opportunity for some type of market here in the US of Pay-per-view.

To broadcast ALL live televised olympic events - for those who want to see particular events broadcast live (or record it on their tvs if the event is held at an inconvenient hour and they want to see the event in its entirety)-

And the major national network (whoever gets the bid) works the olympic events with coverage as they are doing - for those who can't afford the cost of pay-per-view or don't have access to ppv.

These events do still need to be covered at the national networks (ABC, NBC, CBS)- because not everyone has cable or satellite and can't get sports networks like ESPN, etc.

Streaming events live on the web is a great option as well - but not everyone has technology to access webcasts.

We live in a country with 4 different time zones with events held all around the world - I think this is a great opportunity for pay-per-view if people are not satisfied with re-broadcasts.

[Buckskins]

Why don't they show some proper sports? Beach vollyball, rowing, are they kidding us or what? I don't get it. The coverage has been cr@p.

[nick]

pay per view is a good option. plus nbc can't cover all events cause other networks have bought the rights. My complaint is that we get such a
like watching ncaa sports with the
predictable menu of sports. show us some new, popular events that are popular in other countries. watching is getting repetitive and boring.one of the great things about the Olympics is it represents world sports. since so many of world atheletes go to US schools for popular US sports, whats the difference between this and ncaa broadcasts- not alot!!!!!!!!

[MajorMalfunction]

people wanna watch love coverage watch here..

http://www.eurovisionsports.tv/olympics/

[MajorMalfunction]

sorry *live coverage

[Huh]

Writer Henry Blodget wrote on the Silicon Alley website Sunday "Sponsors don't benefit when fans are tuning in to see HOW Michael Phelps won rather than IF HE WINS."

I disagree with that. No matter how many funny frogs you show me at half-time I won't buy a beer if I don't drink.

Nor will I buy one cola if I prefer another beverage, although I may have a stronger admiration for that company as a result of being a sponsor.

And I may be inclined to buy a product during a rerun of one of my favorite shows.

So, I don't see his logic there.

And McChicken for breakfast is kind of odd.

[GraueWolfe]

Does anybody know why NBC did not show the halftime shows durning the Basketball games?

[Closing Show]

I thought the closing show was awesome! To synchronize that many people performing at one time! What a spectacular ending!

[Ed Q]

Couldn't agree any more. the fact that the U.S. mens basketball final was at 1:30 in the morning is ridiculus. I work early on weekends and cant stay up that late to watch them. Just ridiculus