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NBC's coverage is especially bad if you compare it to coverage from other countries. NBC mostly focuses on sports where the US will do well, so if you care abou

NBC's coverage is especially bad if you compare it to coverage from other countries. NBC mostly focuses on sports where the US will do well, so if you care about a sport in which the US doesn't have a strong foothold then you're out of luck. Last Olympics I thought maybe they could treat this as back catalogue content that you could watch online, but I could only find heavily edited highlights. And they not only fill the feed with tons of commercials, but they also add little features about certain athletes' journey to the Olympics or some other thing that take time away from watching something else. It's bewildering that they make it so hard to watch the event, the coverage is bad, and then they bemoan the fact that viewership is at an all time low.

lotsofpulp 5y ago
> It's bewildering that they make it so hard to watch the event, the coverage is bad, and then they bemoan the fact that viewership is at an all time low. I assume it would expose true numbers to advertisers, and lower the price of NBC’s ad spots.
wombat-man 5y ago
Yeah even watching gymnastics last night, they pretty much only show US competitors. At least with swimming they were forced to show other countries.
- ryandrake 5y ago
  Even in events where they are forced, by the nature of the event, to show competitors from non-US countries, the announcers spend the entire event fawning all over the US competitors without pause or silence. While a non-US athlete is up there setting a new world record, NBC aims the camera at the US guy and says things like "It's a race for bronze, folks!"
  - wombat-man 5y ago
    yeah, I watched a swimming heat where the announcer was speaking as if it were even possible for the US swimmer to win and they got like 5th.
julienchastang 5y ago
NBC Olympic coverage is not great, but it was even far worse in the past. You may remember from a few Olympics ago that coverage was loaded with “human interest” back stories and the broadcast would actually show very little sports. The other day to my complete surprise, I watched archery Netherlands vs South Korea. No American jingoism in sight. It was quite refreshing. The broadcast is still US-centric, but I am seeing a bit more diversity than in the past. Of course, if I had the choice, I would watch the Olympic broadcast from another country.

lotsofpulp 5y ago

> It's bewildering that they make it so hard to watch the event, the coverage is bad, and then they bemoan the fact that viewership is at an all time low. I assume it would expose true numbers to advertisers, and lower the price of NBC’s ad spots.

wombat-man 5y ago

Yeah even watching gymnastics last night, they pretty much only show US competitors. At least with swimming they were forced to show other countries.

ryandrake 5y ago
Even in events where they are forced, by the nature of the event, to show competitors from non-US countries, the announcers spend the entire event fawning all over the US competitors without pause or silence. While a non-US athlete is up there setting a new world record, NBC aims the camera at the US guy and says things like "It's a race for bronze, folks!"
- wombat-man 5y ago
  yeah, I watched a swimming heat where the announcer was speaking as if it were even possible for the US swimmer to win and they got like 5th.

julienchastang 5y ago

NBC Olympic coverage is not great, but it was even far worse in the past. You may remember from a few Olympics ago that coverage was loaded with “human interest” back stories and the broadcast would actually show very little sports. The other day to my complete surprise, I watched archery Netherlands vs South Korea. No American jingoism in sight. It was quite refreshing. The broadcast is still US-centric, but I am seeing a bit more diversity than in the past. Of course, if I had the choice, I would watch the Olympic broadcast from another country.