NBC increases coverage of Olympics

[MJR]

NEW YORK -- NBC's blanket coverage of the 2004 Olympics in Athens just got a little thicker.

The network said Wednesday it was planning an additional 399 hours of Olympics programming this summer for a total of 1,210 hours, or more time on the air than the last five Summer Games combined.

http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/news/story?id=1818832

[mike renfro]

Re: NBC increases coverage of Olympics

Nice if that translates to more coverage of actual athletics. Not so nice if it's just more talking heads and "up close" crap.

[The Fern]

Re: NBC increases coverage of Olympics

I'll bet a lot of that will be live at the time it is happening in Greece and then you'll get the packaged stuff in the evening up there in the US, as it will be the middle of the night at the games.

[mike renfro]

Re: NBC increases coverage of Olympics

If it works out something like the triple cast of '92, great. I watched the 1st week of stuff on that (if you bought 2 weeks, one was essentially gratis) and it seemed pretty good (from the true fans of those sports perspective). If that I didn't watch was as good as the track and field, the fans of those sports had to be very happy. I had thought that would be the model for future Oly telecasts. Details live at weird hours on pay per view for the hard core. Fluff and highlights in prime time for the great unwashed. But I guess they lost their shirts (or failed to turn in mega profits) and the networks said, never again. I think with all the cable channels available, and the willingness of people to watch, and in some cases pay for (HBO is the prime eg) quality programming, perhaps the networks might want to revisit this issue.

[The Fern]

Re: NBC increases coverage of Olympics

I had that coverage too and thought it was great, as they just re-ran the show starting at 4 in the afternoon that had started at 4 in the morning so you could get everything. I remember they lost a lot as they had to pay a mint for the rights. But it was the best coverage ever as you saw every jump, throw,heat,final etc.

I hope you get some good stuff. I'm not hearing good thoughts about what we'll see here in NZ>

[ycn]

Re: NBC increases coverage of Olympics

TV Barn has a story that has considerably more details about the Olympics coverage, including breakdowns of the coverage daily by networks.

In the next few weeks TV Guide will have a detailed area indicating which events will be televised when and on what network.

http://www.tvbarn.com/ticker/archives/021458.html

[tafnut]

Re: NBC increases coverage of Olympics

Oh lawdy, Bravo is televising track. Does that mean we get "Queer Eye for the Straightaways, Guy"?

[ycn]

Re: NBC increases coverage of Olympics

What NBC is doing isn't a whole lot different from the triplecast idea of 92 except that it is advertising-driven rather than subscription.

Since several of NBC's networks have very thin market shares for large swaths of their programming time, I think it is a great idea to scatter all that coverage across the channels. Those lesser networks will see increased market share and thus greater revenues. NBC may just reap a large financial windfall from this strategy.

Nice news to start the day.

[randy1]

Re: NBC increases coverage of Olympics

Check out the letsrun thread, looks like tafnut is having issues?

[tafnut]

Re: NBC increases coverage of Olympics

that is NOT me! I'm not sure if I ever registered at letsrun (I hardly ever have posted there), but the poster is listed as "tafnut." and maybe that dot is the difference.

http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read. ... ead=444392

[randy1]

Re: NBC increases coverage of Olympics

looks like you have a lot of male friends

[tafnut]

Re: NBC increases coverage of Olympics

yes, I do, thank you very much! The 'Queer Eye' show on Bravo IS funny, but I can only take it in small doses. I'm not sure why my wife thinks it's so hilarious, but I'm not going there.

[Pego]

Re: NBC increases coverage of Olympics

Did you notice that yoogan is there as well?

[Dutra]

Re: NBC increases coverage of Olympics

>Oh lawdy, Bravo is televising track. Does that mean we get "Queer Eye for the
>Straightaways, Guy"?>>

track cycling not track.

All of the track and field is on NBC according to the article. I didn't read it as an increase in track coverage. The best we can hope for, as always if your a fan of distance races or field events, is full coverage in the overnight shows.

[Coach Barnet]

Re: NBC increases coverage of Olympics

tafnut is showing his true sickness . I hope they ban him on letsrun. Maybe dyestat is for you tafnut