Category Archives: Olympics

Did Lolo make bobsled team because of NBC?

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Do ya think?

Selena Roberts, writing for Sports on Earth, contends that Lolo Jones’ appeal, rather than ability, was the likely reason why she made the U.S. Women’s bobsled team going to Sochi.

It isn’t that NBC was involved in the decision. Rather, the selectors knews that Lolo would generate much more publicity for the women’s bobsled team than a more qualified candidate.

Noting that Lolo has 374,000 twitter followers, Roberts writes:

In close calls in Olympic sports, where some teams leave wiggle room in the rules on judgment day, U.S. Olympic officials tend to rely on Q scores. In figure skating, the close call went to Ashley Wagner over Mirai Nagasu despite the results at U.S. Nationals. This is what’s best for the team, skating officials said, a theme repeated by bobsled leaders, all echoing the same phony jargon that the Karolyi clan uses when choosing the last gymnast for U.S. teams.

The Karolyi Method of subjective selection — honed by Bela and Martha as the relentless pushers of pixies — has always been designed with NBC in mind. It was U.S. gymnastics leaders who lured the Karolyi duo back into the fold after their 1996 Atlanta Games miracle team began slipping from relevance without them just three years later. As I reported for The New York Times in 2000, U.S. gymnastic officials acknowledged, in private, feeling the pressure to deliver for the peacock network, which hoped that the preening Bela would carry its coverage in Sydney in 2000. The team disintegrated, but the wreckage was a ratings hit.

NBC plays an unspoken role in the team politics of the Games. In 2002, as the marketed bobsled duo of Jean Racine and Jen Davidson — supposedly best friends forever — was scoring endorsement deals with Got Milk? ads and landing cereal sponsors, they jarred the media by splitting up just weeks before the Salt Lake Games. Mean Jean, as she became known, dumped Jen from the sled. At the time, Brian Shimer, a bobsled team fixture before he became the current U.S. men’s coach, told a reporter of the breakup, “I saw it coming. I just sat back and knew this was going to get good.”

Yep, get ready for another round of Lolo stories from Sochi.

 

Novel idea: NBC to air live Olympics figure skating on NBC SN

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At least when it comes to figure skating, the most watched event in the Winter Olympics, there won’t be any complaints about tape delay in prime time.

Rachel Cohen on the Associated Press reported late Tuesday afternoon that NBC will air figure skating live in the mornings on NBC SN from Sochi.

Cohen writes:

In a shift from NBC’s coverage of past games outside North America, nearly every figure skating performance will air on cable during the day, with the key moments shown on tape delay on the main network that night as in previous Olympics.

So if fans want to, they’ll see the women’s gold-medal-winning performance on NBCSN when it happens, instead of waiting until that evening. But they can also watch it again hours later, accompanied by the polished features that are the staple of NBC’s prime-time broadcasts.

 

And here’s the kicker:

But the other priority is to get more people to pay attention, and for those who already care to stick around longer. Meanwhile, technology kept evolving, and at the 2012 Summer Games in London, NBC started streaming every sport live online.

The network discovered it didn’t hurt prime-time ratings — and may have even helped.

“We think based on London those two goals align perfectly,” Bell said Tuesday. “We took a risk in streaming everything live from London. The biggest takeaway was we amplified and enhanced the audience’s Olympic experience.”

Indeed, making the events available for those who want to consume it live help drive interest in the prime time telecasts. Viewers are more likely to tune again to see the coverage from NBC’s primetime crew.

As for other live coverage on NBC SN, here’s the rundown from the network:

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NBC Olympics will utilize NBCSN, the NBC Sports Group’s Emmy Award-winning 24/7 sports network that is distributed in approximately 80 million homes, to present more than 230 hours of coverage of the XXII Olympic Winter Games from Sochi, Russia, this February. It will be the most Winter Olympic coverage ever on a cable network.

NBCSN’s 2014 Sochi Games coverage highlights include:

The most comprehensive live coverage of the Sochi competition day;

The network serving as the cable home for Team USA;

Starting Saturday, February 8, when NBCSN’s Olympic coverage begins, the network will feature complete, live coverage of figure skating;

In addition to its extensive figure skating coverage, the network will feature live coverage of 10 more sports, including speed skating, bobsled, ski jumping, Nordic combined, and more.

Team USA vs. Russia in men’s hockey on Saturday, Feb. 15.

NBCSN’s Olympic coverage begins Saturday, February 8 at 3 a.m. ET/Midnight PT, when Team USA faces Finland in women’s hockey, and concludes Sunday, February 23, the final day of the Sochi Games. NBCSN will air at least one gold medal final live each day through its 16 days of coverage. Most days, live coverage on NBCSN will begin at 3 a.m. ET and continue for 12 hours.

NBCSN will complement the Olympic programming airing on NBC, the details of which will be released shortly. It was announced in November that CNBC will carry 36 hours of Olympic curling coverage, MSNBC will host 45 hours of live curling and hockey, including medal rounds, and USA Network will serve up 43 hours of live curling and hockey coverage, including medal rounds. It was also announced that NBCOlympics.com will live stream all Sochi Olympics competition. The vast majority of live streaming will only be available to authenticated cable, satellite or telco customers via “TV Everywhere,” the media industry’s effort to make quality content available to authenticated customers both in and out of the home, and on multiple platforms.

 

Rebecca Lowe will be this year’s Michelle Beadle during Olympics; will host on NBC SN

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Hopefully, it will work out better for Rebecca Lowe post-Olympics than it did for Michelle Beadle.

Back in 2012, NBC’s new hire, Beadle, served as the host of the network’s big media session hyping the Games in London. Then she was host for the Olympics coverage on NBC SN.

Since then, it’s been all downhill for Beadle at NBC. When asked if she would have role in Sochi, a network spokesman said, “We are still finalizing our talent group for Sochi, which we expect to have completed by early January.”

Don’t hold your breath that Beadle will be in Russia.

Lowe, though, will. She will serve as the network’s lone female host during the Winter Games, handling the duties on NBC SN.

Lowe, who has received stellar reviews for her anchor duties of the Premier League, merited the high-profile assignment. She told Richard Deitsch of SI.com:

“When they asked if I would be interested, I was floored,” Lowe said. “I wasn’t expecting it. It is very easy to pigeonhole people and I think being a female back in the UK, I was pigeonholed as one of the females who does football (soccer) only. It’s very difficult to show people that you can actually do other things and why wouldn’t you be able to do so? I’d like the opportunity to say maybe I’m not just all about soccer, even as much as love the sport. Fingers crossed, I’m hoping I can show that.”

Besides Lowe, NBC also tabbed Dan Patrick and Lester Holt for host duties. Here’s the official rundown.

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NBC Olympics announced today that Dan Patrick, Rebecca Lowe, and Lester Holt will serve as hosts for its coverage of the XXII Olympic Winter Games from Sochi, Russia.

“We are excited to add Dan, Rebecca and Lester to our roster of anchors,” said Jim Bell, Executive Producer, NBC Olympics. “With wide-ranging experience, they will provide NBC and NBCSN viewers with news, insight and storytelling.”

The trio joins previously announced Bob Costas, NBC’s primetime and late night host, and Al Michaels, who will serve as host for NBC on weekend afternoons and NBCSN on weekdays.

Following is a closer look at NBC Olympics’ three newly announced Sochi Winter Games hosts:

DAN PATRICK: Patrick, co-host of NBC’s Football Night in America, the most-watched pre-game show in sports, will host NBCSN’s extensive live weekday and weekend coverage from Sochi. Patrick previously hosted NBC’s daytime coverage at the 2012 London Olympics and served as a reporter in Vancouver in 2010. Patrick hosts The Dan Patrick Show, a daily, nationally-syndicated radio program which is simulcast as a television program on NBCSN and NBC Sports Live Extra, NBC Sports Group’s live streaming product for digital, mobile and tablets. For a complete Dan Patrick bio, click here.

REBECCA LOWE: Lowe will make her Olympic debut as host of NBCSN’s extensive live weekday and weekend coverage. Lowe joined NBC Sports Group in 2013 as host of its exclusive Premier League coverage in the U.S., including Premier League Live, NBC Sports Group’s live pre- and post-match shows from NBC Sports Group’s International Broadcast Center in Stamford, Conn. For a complete Rebecca Lowe bio, click here.

LESTER HOLT: An award-winning broadcast journalist who joined NBC News in 2000, Holt will host NBC’s weekday afternoon Olympic coverage. The anchor of Dateline, weekend anchor of NBC Nightly News and co-anchor of NBC’s weekend edition of TODAY, Holt previously served as a sports desk reporter for the 2012 London, 2010 Vancouver, 2008 Beijing and 2006 Torino Games. He made his Olympic television debut as host of MSNBC’s daytime coverage during the 2004 Athens Games.  For a complete Lester Holt bio, click here.

 

Sochi Olympics: Journalists should brace for unknown, and not in a good way; early confusion over social media policies

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My wife and I spent three days in Russia during the summer. It was more than enough time to see that the Russians can be highly rigid. While the people tried to be warm and accommodating, they generally seemed unsure of themselves and how to get what they want. It’s probably the result of being kicked around for the last few centuries.

So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that there already is confusion about coverage policies for journalists at the Olympics in Sochi in February.

Yesterday, a report circulated that journalists would have harsh social media restrictions during the Games. From Fox News:

The 2014 Olympics might feel more like 1914.

Journalists attending the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics in Russia will be forbidden from using everyday technology to take pictures and share information — the mobile phones and tablets that have woven themselves into the fabric of daily life, the Olympics committee said.

“Journalists using mobile phones to film athletes or spectators will be considered a serious violation and will result in cancellation of accreditation,” Vasily Konov, head of the state-run R-Sport news agency, which controls accreditation at February’s games, told a seminar for sports journalists.

That means no iPhone pictures, no Vine videos, no Instagram accounts sharing the minute-by-minute details of the events, no Twitter accounts with updates and so on.

Sounds like fun, huh? Well, not so fast.

This morning, USA Today’s Nina Mandell has a clarification from International Olympic Committee spokesman Mark Adams. Basically, it was, forget about what that other guy said.

From USA Today:

Journalists will be allowed to use Instagram, Twitter and other social media to post still photos and news from the Sochi Olympics, International Olympic Committee spokesman Mark Adams confirmed to For The Win in an email on Monday.

“Please take as many photos as you like!” he wrote.

“Sharing pix on social media positively encouraged,” he added in an additional email.

That’s obviously good news. However, that doesn’t mean some Russian press officer still won’t become overzealous and grab someone’s mobile device because the reporter is taking pictures. Or something else might occur that restricts access and journalists’ ability to do their jobs.

Journalists should brace themselves for an interesting ride in Sochi.

 

 

Munich Massacre 40 years later: Remembering ground-breaking coverage and profound impact on a boy’s Jewish identity

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Forty years ago this week, I was a 12-year-old who was obsessed with sports.

I went to Hebrew school at a Reform synagogue and was somewhat aware that there were people in the world who didn’t like Jews. But that barely registered on my radar compared to watching my White Sox, led by Dick Allen, battle Oakland and Reggie Jackson for first place during the summer of ’72.

Naturally, my sports obsession had me locked in on the Summer Games in Munich. These were the first Olympics where Roone Arledge and ABC really hit on the up-close-and-personal approach.

Those Olympics were huge. Mark Spitz won a bunch of gold medals. Olga Korbut thrilled the world with her feats. Great stuff.

Then on Sept. 5, 1972, I awoke to hear the news from Jim McKay that something terrible had happened in Munich.

You have to remember this was 1972. What’s a Palestinian? Terrorism? Why would anybody want to kill Israeli athletes? It was all new to many of us back then, especially a 12-year-old in the Midwest.

I remember watching ABC all day. It was landmark live coverage of a story unfolding in front of our eyes. No less than Walter Cronkite sent McKay a telegram, congratulating him for showing such grace under pressure.

In his book, The Real McKay, McKay wrote:

“Another thing entered my mind looking back on Sept. 5, 1972: I understood more clearly the tremendous power of television. On that day, the people of the United States were indeed united in their reaction to what happened. It stirred their emotions in a way that only live television reporting can.”

Indeed, the drama played out in a surreal fashion. There were deadlines passed and scenes of police dressed as athletes, carrying guns in preparations for the raid that never happened.

On that day, we were introduced to a Middle East correspondent named Peter Jennings, who was filing reports from inside the athletes’ villages. For all his bombast, Howard Cosell showed his journalist prowess with his updates. We saw images of the Palestinian terrorist with his face covered staring out over the balcony.

We were lifted by an initial report that Israeli athletes were safe at the airport. But it was wrong, as McKay provided the sobering update, saying “All hell has broken loose.”

Finally, there was the news we all feared. McKay uttered his immortal words: “They’re all gone.” It still gives me chills every time I see the video posted above.

When you’re young and you’re experiencing something for the first time, the memories are more vivid. The highs and lows more pronounced.

For me, that day 40 years ago helped me to understand my identity as a Jew, and the grip that Israel has on Jewish people throughout the world. It helped me to understand the deep bond I have with that tiny country and why it can never be broken.

That terrible day eventually showed me the resiliance of the Israeli people. Four years later in 1976, Israel was there in Montreal, taking part in the opening ceremony for those Games.

Then in 2004, Israel had its most memorable Olympic moment in competition. Gal Fridman, a wind surfer, won the country’s first gold medal.

At the 19-minute mark of this video, Fridman stands on the podium, as Hatikva, the Israeli national anthem, is played. Chills again, and a few tears. But good tears.

For more retrospective, Jeremy Schaap reports on Outside the Lines Wednesday at 2 p.m.

ESPN Classic will air the documentary Tragedy at Munich throughout the day on Wednesday and Thursday. Make a point of trying to watch these programs.

It’s official: Summer Olympics most-watched TV event of all time

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My question: Who are the people who didn’t watch the Olympics?

From NBC:

LONDON – August 13, 2012 – 219.4 million Americans watched the London Olympics on the networks of NBCUniversal, setting the record as the most-watched event in U.S. television history, surpassing the 2008 Beijing Olympics (215 million), according to data available today from The Nielsen Company.

NBCUniversal, presented its 13th Olympics, the most by any U.S. media company, with an unprecedented 5,535 hours of the 2012 London Olympics coverage across NBC, NBC Sports Network, MSNBC, CNBC, Bravo, Telemundo, NBCOlympics.com, two specialty channels, and the first-ever 3D platform, an unprecedented level that surpasses the coverage of the 2008 Beijing Olympics by nearly 2,000 hours.

 

  • 31.0 million average viewership for Closing Ceremony is most-watched for a non-U.S. Summer Olympics in 36 Years – topped Beijing by 12% and Athens by 58%;
  • NBC averaged 31.1 million viewers over 17 nights in primetime, the most-watched non-U.S. Summer Olympics since the 1976 Montreal Olympics – topped Beijing by 12% and Athens by 26%;
  • The 17.5/30 national household rating over 17 nights in primetime ties the 1988 Seoul Olympics as the highest-rated non-U.S. Summer Olympics since the 1976 Montreal Olympics;
  • NBC Olympics Digital set multiple records with video streams, engagement time and page views – nearly 2 billion page views and 159 million video streams;
  • NBC Sports Network had its most-watched event ever and its six most-watched days ever;
  • Halo effect led to record ratings and significant growth for NBC News’ TODAY and “Nightly News with Brian Williams”;
  • London Olympics lifts ratings and viewership for NBC’s affiliated stations and NBC Owned Television Stations;
  • Telemundo more than doubled its viewership from the 2008 Beijing Olympics;
  • Salt Lake City is top Olympic metered market for 7th straight Olympics;
  • Mountain Time Zone leads the way, followed by Pacific, Central and Eastern.

 

STEVE BURKE: CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, NBCUNIVERSAL:

“The London Olympics was a wonderful 17 days for NBCUniversal, exceeding all our expectations in viewership, digital consumption and revenue. Every part of our company contributed to our success, once again showing how effective we can be when we all get together to support a large project. This was the first Olympic Games for Comcast and the new NBCUniversal, and the first in history in which every minute of every event was available live. We are proud to have been part of the last two weeks, and we couldn’t have asked for a better start to our long run of Olympic Games through 2020.”

MARK LAZARUS: CHAIRMAN, NBC SPORTS GROUP:

“For 17 days, NBCUniversal has surrounded the American viewer with the London Olympics, which have now become the most-watched event in U.S. television history. There are thousands of dedicated and talented people in London and New York who take great pride in being part of these historic Games and this television milestone.”

 

Gallup poll: Americans want live and tape delay for Olympics

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Are you listening NBC?

From a USA Today/Gallup poll:

Americans who say they are watching the Olympics “a lot” are most likely to want the most popular events televised both live during the day as they happen and on tape delay in the evening. Seven in 10 (71%) of these Americans want the most popular events televised live and on tape delay, as do a majority (57%) of those who are watching a little of the games and 43% of those who aren’t watching at all.

So would the 43% who aren’t watching at all tune in if the events aired live?

Wonder what NBC’s polls say?

 

 

Ebersol speaks: In a surprise (not!), defends NBC tape delay strategy for Olympics

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For those covering this beat, there are a couple elusive interview subjects in London. One is Dick Ebersol and the other is Joe Posnanski.

While Posnanski has yet to discuss his upcoming book about Joe Paterno in the wake of the Freeh Commission findings, he did land the one and only chat Ebersol is doing during these Olympics.

I’m guessing it hasn’t been easy for Ebersol to turn down interview requests. Highly accessible, he always loved the spotlight during his tenure running NBC Sports.

But his day is past, as he is working these Olympics as a consultant. This show now belongs to Ebersol’s successor, Mark Lazarus. Out of proper respect, Ebersol has remained in the background.

However, he did grant an interview with Posnanski. It was posted on the Sports on Earth site that is getting a soft launch during the Olympics.

And surprise, surprise, Ebersol defended NBC’s policy of saving the best events for tape delay on prime time. Of course, Ebersol used that strategy when he oversaw NBC’s coverage of the Olympics.

From the story:

But Ebersol, in what he says will be his only interview at these Games, tells me that those critics have it all wrong. The Olympics, he believes, are not to be treated like other sports. “That’s just nonsense,” he says. “The Olympics are the biggest family television there is. The Olympics are some of the last events where a whole family can gather around a television set and spend the night together.

“People talk about how we should treat this like sports? You know, we’re getting an 18 rating some nights. Do you know what rating we would get if this was not under the banner of the Olympics? We’d be lucky to get a 1 rating for some of these sports. … This is our business model. The newspaper people have their own business model. We’re in the television business. We’re here to make great television.”

Ebersol has an interesting take on the BBC’s coverage compared to NBC’s:

“This year, really for the first time, I have had some time to watch the host country’s television,” Ebersol says. “I’ve been watching the BBC, which is one of the most respected entities in the world, right? Well, they will cut away from races to show a British athlete who is finishing fifth. They openly root for their athletes on the air. It’s a different approach, but we have never done that. Nobody ever uses the word ‘we’ in our coverage, and if they did they wouldn’t last long.

“I believe our coverage is different from anyone else’s in the world. We do as many features on foreign athletes as American athletes. We tell the best stories, wherever we can find them. There’s a great tradition in American television of professionalism in coverage, and I believe we live up to that tradition.”

As for how Ebersol is dealing with these Olympics, Posnanski writes:

Ebersol says that the London Games have been bittersweet. Part of him misses the tension and crackling energy of being in charge, of making instant and critical decisions. And part of him is happy that it is winding down. He doesn’t know what comes next. But, for the first time in his life, he says he’s not too worried about it. There are opportunities, a lot of them. There are also books he wants to read, friends he wants to see, trips he wants to take and family time that was all but impossible in all his years at the top.

Good stuff, Joe. It’s your turn next. The book comes out on Aug. 21.

 

 

Equestrian? Are you kidding when Bolt is running 100 meters? NBC needs to air more live during weekend

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Here is one way to get around NBC’s tape-delay approach to the Olympics.

Spend the weekend at a lake that has limited or no Internet access. Then watch NBC’s coverage at night as if it were live like I did.

What? Can’t get away for the weekend like I did. Well, then you’re screwed.

Once again, Twitter was on fire with angry tweets about NBC’s decision not to provide viewers live coverage of Usain Bolt’s bid for gold in the 100. One positive dividend is the entertaining tweets from #NBCdelayed and elsewhere:

@karljohn  Curiosity actually landed three hours ago, but NBC delayed it until after water polo.

@photoarmy1 Hey everyone NBC is showing live video footage of the landing right now….Neil Armstrong is about to step on the surface.

@bgtennisnation (Brad Gilbert)  Another major foot fault on NBC for not showing the 100 live no other major country would do that still shocked they would do that on Sunday

@EvilMikeTomlin “Usain Bolt leads the 100m after 50m, we’ll be back after this commercial break”- NBC

I think it is going to be tough for NBC to put out this fire. During the week, NBC can justify its line maintaining that people are at work and that it is more convenient for them to watch the big events at night.

But not on the weekend. In case you haven’t heard, viewers watch sports on the weekend. Lots of it.

NBC easily could have shown Bolt’s race live to a large audience. It began late in the afternoon on the East Coast in the U.S. The NFL does fairly strong ratings in that time slot with its doubleheader games.

However, instead of seeing the big race, viewers got taped coverage of equestrian. Yeah, I’m sure horse jumping was second choice on everyone’s list.

Meanwhile, Bolt’s race didn’t air until after 11 p.m. ET. By that time, you had to be on Mars not to know the outcome.

NBC definitely needs to reconsider its stance regarding weekend coverage of the Olympics. We’re conditioned to watch live on the weekend.

And don’t get started with the notion that you could have watched the race live via streaming. The picture quality isn’t nearly the same. Also, by late Sunday afternoon, most viewers need a forklift to pry them free of their big, comfy chairs. Why make it inconvenient for them to have to run to a computer?

As I said, I get the tape-delay approach during the week. But not on the weekend.

You need to be live on Saturday and Sunday afternoons, NBC.

And the latest from NBC:

Usain Bolt still leads after 75 meters. Back in a minute.

 

 

 

NBC research president: Digital strategy working; women, young viewers driving high Olympic ratings

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For all the fire that is being generated in Twitter over the tape-delay stuff, NBC executives couldn’t be more ecstatic in London.

Ratings for the Olympics have been huge. So big in fact, NBC Universal CEO Steve Burke told analysts the network, which projected nearly $200 million in losses, may break even on the Games.

I had a chance to talk yesterday to Alan Wurtzel, NBC research president.

The basic question: Why are the numbers so big when the network anticipated as much as a 20 percent decrease from Beijing, which had live coverage in primetime in 2008?

Here’s a link to the piece I did today in the Chicago Tribune.

Here’s Wurtzel:

Women and children first:

There are a couple of factors (for the high ratings). No. 1, it’s women (accounting for 17.5 viewers per night, half of the audience). And it’s young women. There’s been a big increase in kids 6-12 and teenagers 12-17.

They grew up as digital babies. By putting the games on all these digital platforms, and have it be combined with social media, which the kids do every day, it has made the Olympics an incredibly relevant event. To be honest, that wasn’t the case that long ago.

Essentially, we’re cultivating the next generation of Olympic viewers.

On live streaming of events at NBCOlympics.com:

We know the people who are watching the streaming are more likely to watch in primetime. Some of them want to see the movie again. Some of them want to hear the comments and analysis. In an interesting way, streaming has served as a barker. They watch and tell their friends, ‘I can’t believe what I just saw.’ Basically, it’s 1 + 1 = 3.

On the ratings validating NBC’s primetime strategy:

Approximately 50 million Americans attended sporting events in the last six months. In five days, 158 Americans watched the Olympics on NBC. That’s says something.

What the primetime show tells us is what the audience wants. We try to give insights into sports they don’t know about. During the men’s relay, the analyst talked about the strategy involved. That was all planned. The audience love the idea of somebody putting it into context.

It’s about sports, but it is so much more than sports. Over 17 days, so many people who never engaged in sports are mesmerized by it.