NBC did a good job in Beijing. This is a smart move, I think.
USA Gymnastics signed a deal yesterday with US broadcaster NBC and cable partner Universal Sports to air its biggest events until 2012, upping its challenge against the yet-to-be-launched the US Olympic Committee (USCOC) network.
The deal, combined with domestic and international contracts NBC has with swimming, skating, track and skiing, gives the network the broadcast rights to a significant share of key US Olympic sports. …
read more … Sport Business
related: So you want to watch the U.S. Gymnastics Championships…
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I am thrilled to hear this but NBC can stand to make a few improvements. I noticed that John R was filling the seat of Al Trautwig. I’m not nuts about his commentary, but it was certainly an upgrade. Alicia was doing in-house commnetary and did a pretty fabulous job. After her next retirement, I would love to see her take it up as a full-time gig–she has the personality and the skills to pull it off in a way that is lacking in most.
NBC would be smart to cover more gymnastics and less standing around. All throughout the competition last night, they staggered most of the performances, which I assumed would make it easier to broadcast as much actual gymnastics as possible–and instead, they taped a lot of Olympians standing around waiting for their turns or their scores, and they weren’t even miked. Come on, NBC.
NBC did a good job in Beijing? Really? I thought it was horrible and sadly missed being in Canada where I could switch to CBC or RDS at any time to get live coverage (not the fake live coverage by NBC).
In addition, the standing around coverage is highly irritating, especially when you can see that in the background gymnasts from other countries are on an event.
And finally, NBC really covered a limited number of sports – I missed seeing many of the other events that are given coverage in other countries. If I see Beach Volleyball one more time in my life I am going to gag.
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