Tag Archives: NBC

Will NBC force Costas to back off pledge to honor slain Israeli athletes during opening ceremonies?

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I imagine there are some intense discussions taking place between Bob Costas and the high brass at NBC.

Last month, Costas told the Hollywood Reporter that he is planning his own tribute to the slain Israeli athletes in Munich during NBC’s telecast of the opening ceremonies Friday. The International Olympic Committee has turned down a request to honor the athletes on what is the 40th anniversary of that tragic event.

Costas said: “I intend to note that the IOC denied the request. Many people find that denial more than puzzling but insensitive. Here’s a minute of silence right now.”

But will it happen? Ah, this is where it gets interesting.

When asked about Costas’ plan this week, NBC bounced back with a statement: "Our production plans for the Opening Ceremony are still being finalized and Bob is part of that planning."

Indeed, this is a sticky situation for NBC. If Costas goes ahead with his plan, it will put the network in the position of being critical of the IOC on an extremely sensitive issue.

The IOC clearly doesn't want to interject the Israeli-Palestinian conflict into the opening ceremonies. There is a concern how the Arab nations would react to a moment of silence for the Israeli athletes.

Last week, IOC president Jacques Rogge said that the opening ceremony, "is an atmosphere that is not fit to remember such a tragic incident."

So NBC-IOC relations aren't going to be helped if Costas injects his own moment of silence into the telecast. Not that the IOC will return the billions from NBC with a TV deal that runs through the 2020 Games, but the two parties have to interact on many issues during the next eight years. An angry IOC could make things more complicated, if you know what I mean.

I'm Jewish and the Munich Massacre had a profound effect on me growing up as a 12-year-old boy. I'll have more on that at a later date.

The issue for today isn’t whether the IOC should honor the Israeli athletes during the opening ceremonies. That’s not going to happen.

Rather, should Costas stage his own moment of silence on the telecast?

As a journalist, Costas is well within his bounds to note the controversy over the IOC decision regarding the Israeli athletes. It’s news.

But can he back off a pledge to take it to the next level? That would put Costas in a tough spot since Jewish leaders have lauded him for taking a stand.

From an Associated Press story:

Abraham Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League, said support from Costas would be welcome. Foxman’s organization, which promotes Jewish causes, has backed an effort to bring notice to the Munich victims at opening ceremonies for years.

“I think he’s right, and I think it will make a difference because of who he is,” Foxman said. “It’s sad that one has to characterize it as courageous. It’s such a common sense thing to do.”

NBC and Costas have two more days to make a decision. Interesting discussions, to be sure.

 

 

Q/A with Bob Costas: The kid now is 60; his Olympics legacy

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Feel old everyone.

Bob Costas now is 60. Yes, the NBC broadcaster turned the big 6-0 in March.

How did this happen? Wasn’t it just yesterday that Costas was this hotshot kid working NBC’s Game of the Week with Tony Kubek?

I was taken off-guard that Costas had reached such a milestone birthday. And so were others, he said.

“Yes, they’re surprised,” Costas said. “It doesn’t seem that long ago to me that the word irreverent seemed affixed to my name. ‘Irreverant newcomer.’ I went from irreverent to venerable in what seems to me like the blink of an eye.”

Age, though, seems irrelevant since the ageless Costas continues to deliver on so many different platforms. He made national news with his masterful handling of the Jerry Sandusky interview; and he’s all over the place for NBC and MLB Network, ranging from football, baseball to golf and horse racing.

Perhaps Costas is evidence that 60 is the new 40.

Next week, Costas will return to his familar role as NBC’s primetime host for the Summer Olympics. It will be his 10th Games overall for NBC, and ninth as host.

It’s an incredible run. Think about it: Given the huge ratings for the Olympics, Costas is the most watched broadcaster of this generation.

On the eve of the Olympics, I had chance to visit with Costas during a media day session in NBC.

How does it feel to turn 60?

I don’t feel any different than I did either 10 or 20 years ago. I said this before to somebody, ‘When the miles go by on the right side of the odometer, you don’t take notice. When the number of the left side clicks from 5 to 6, you do take notice.’

Yeah, I’m aware of it. I don’t feel any different than I did when I was 40. But I realize mathematically, I’m equidistant between that and 80. So the facts are the facts. I’ll keep doing this for a while, but I’m not going to be one of these people who hang on just for the sake of being on the air.

There comes a time when everybody should transition. I hope when that time comes in my place, I’ll know it before they tell me.

Nobody will accuse you of slowing down. You have a full schedule with baseball on MLB Network, Football Night in America, shows on NBC Network, other assignments, not to mention the Olympics.

One of the things that has happened to me, because I’ve been around as long as I have, and have done reasonably well, I can do things more or less on my own terms. I’m not forced to present myself in a way where someone who’s younger and trying to break in would be forced to present themselves. To get attention. To jump out of the pack.

The tone and sensibility of what I do is not that much different than it was 10 years ago when I started working at HBO. I bring that same tone and sensibility to the NBC Sports Network. That’s who I am. There are lots of people who I watch and enjoy, where I say, ‘I really like that guy. Or I like that woman. But it would be foolish for me to do it that way, And it would be foolish for them to emulate me.’

Luckily I have enough standing where I can do what do in a way where it seems true to me.

You hear so much talk about the need to reach the younger demographic. Yet so many of the top sports broadcasters are in their 60s and 70s. How do you explain that dynamic?

You have people who are well-established. They have a certain standing. You hope as you continue, you do a good job. Al Michaels is in his 60s (67). It would be foolish to say, let’s get someone who is 35 for the sake of someone who is 35. He won’t be remotely as good as Al Michaels.

How do you view your career as being defined by the Olympics the same way Jim McKay career was defined.

Even to be in same sentence as Jim McKay is a compliment. The world has changed considerably. When Jim hosted Olympics, or for that matter, Wide World of Sports, people were utterly amazed that you were getting a television transmission from Munich or Sarajevo, or wherever. The total of hours were different, the sensibility and expectations of the audience was different. There was a great sense of wonder. He was in fact, he was spanning the globe to bring you a wide world of sports of which people were not familiar.

This is a different world in which we now live. Also, a lot of what Jim did, although he did horse racing and golf, a lot of stuff he did with Wide World seemed to be related to the Olympics. So the Olympics were even more at the center of the definition of him than they are from me.

They are big thing for me. People, though, also associate me with baseball, football, and to a certain extent, basketball (from calling games in the late 90s).

What is your approach as host?

You’re looking for personal stories. You’re also looking for quirkiness too. I think any good broadcast, not just an Olympic broadcast, a good broadcast of a baseball game should have texture to it. It should have information, should have some history, should have something that’s offbeat, quirky, humorous, and where called for it should have journalism and judiciously it should also have commentary. That’s my idea. That’s my ideal. Sometimes we exactly hit that, sometimes we don’t.

How has covering the Olympics changed since your first in 1988?

I will say this, that the essence of good storytelling, and the essence of good broadcasting remains the same.  You know, there, there are a lot of things that technology has brought us, and these additional, you know, tubes of communication have brought us that are wondrous, and a lot of it is just crap.  You know, the more you broaden anything out, it’s like American Idol auditions, you let everybody audition, and you’re going to find some diamonds in the rough.  You’re also going to find people who would be lousy singing in the shower.

The essence of what’s good hasn’t changed.  The essence of how you call a ball game well, you know, there may be different camera angles, there may be different graphics, there may be ways that you can interact with social media if you’re watching it, but the way Al Michaels calls a football game is not that much different, nor should it be, because it’s perfect, than it would have been in 1970.  You know, so some of the features may be shorter because of attention span, some of where we funnel the viewership may be different, but the way in which I anchor the games, based on what they ask me to do, is not much different.

My point I think it was pretty clear, is this: that our objective, at least from a broadcaster standpoint, hasn’t changed that much.  It’s to do a good broadcast, it’s to present things well.  Now, what these additional platforms have done, is that they’ve given us opportunities that otherwise wouldn’t have existed. This isn’t an Olympic example, but I think it’s a good example, I wouldn’t expect NBC as a network to do a show like the one they do each month with me on the NBC Sports Network.  HBO did that, they were well suited to do it.  Now we come close to replicating that idea here on, on the eighth floor, that well suits the NBC Sports Network. But my objective in doing that is just the same as it would have been 20 years ago, to do a good show with good content.

 

 

NBC News must be hoping Sandusky interview story goes away

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Let’s say it was ESPN, not NBC, that didn’t air an entire exclusive interview with Jerry Sandusky. Let’s say it was ESPN, not NBC, that edited out a riveting quote in which the alleged sexual predator says, “I didn’t go around seeking out every young person for sexual needs that I’ve helped.”

Do you think there would be more uproar?

I think we all know the answer. Everyone loves to dump on ESPN.

NBC, though, seems to be mostly getting a free pass for not airing such an important interview in its entirety on at least one of its platforms. CNN’s Anderson Cooper did speak out. He knocked NBC on his show last night, wondering how the network edited out Sandusky’s quote. In Chicago, the Sun-Times’ Joe Cowley slammed the network.

There were others, but not an avalanche to be sure. Meanwhile, on Twitter, there’s not as much fire as you’d expect for such a hot issue.

It is past 3 in the East, and I have yet to hear back from a NBC News representative. I left messages and sent emails.

Perhaps it’s part of the media strategy. No need to respond when there isn’t much noise. Keep quiet, and let’s hope it goes away.

Well, this shouldn’t go away. NBC should explain what happened here and why viewers didn’t get to see the complete interview.

 

 

 

 

Ratings report: Despite Tiger struggles, U.S. Open still up; another big number for Game 3

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Ah, what might have been for NBC and the U.S. Open. Imagine the rating if Tiger Woods actually had resembled Tiger Woods Sunday. Instead, his brutal start had him on the missing person’s report during the meat of the coverage.

As a result, we got a heavy dose of the plodding Jim Furyk and a U.S. Open where par was indeed a good score. It didn’t necessarily add up to compelling golf, but thanks to the primetime window, people still tuned in.

The numbers from NBC:

Sunday’s 6.5-hour (4-10:30 p.m. ET) final-round coverage of the U.S. Open on NBC delivered an 6.6 rating and 13 share, up 29% vs. last year (5.1/12).

The combined Saturday-Sunday overnight was a 6.1/13, up 39 % vs. last year (4.4/11) and the best since 2008 (6.8/15).

Despite competition from the NBA Finals, the rating increased every half hour from 8:30 p.m. ET on, peaking at an 8.1 from 10-10:30 p.m. ET. From 7 p.m. ET on, the rating never dipped below a 6.9.

Yes, there was a finals game last night. Another big number for game 3 on ABC.

From ESPN:

Through three games, the 2012 NBA Finals on ABC – Miami Heat vs. Oklahoma City Thunder – is the highest-rated series since 2004 and the second highest-rated ever on ABC based on overnight ratings, according to Nielsen. The Finals is averaging an 11.3 overnight rating, up 5 percent from a 10.8 last year (Dallas Mavericks vs. Miami Heat).

NBA Finals Game 3 – Miami defeated Oklahoma City 91-85 – generated a 10.4 overnight rating, peaking with a 14.7 rating from 10:30 to 10:45 p.m. ET. The game generated a 41.9 rating in Oklahoma City and a 29.6 rating in Miami.

 

 

Made for TV pairing does no favors for Bubba Watson at U.S. Open

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The U.S. Open is hard enough without having to be part of a circus.

So regardless of what he says, Bubba Watson can’t be pleased with a made-for-TV pairing that has him playing with Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson during the first two rounds of the U.S. Open.

Did I say circus? It’s going to be an absolute zoo. You can be sure Woods and Mickelson also aren’t thrilled with this threesome, but at least they’ve had plenty of experience with massive galleries and people scurrying all over the place.

It’s a different story for Watson, who has struggled ever since winning the Masters. He’s only played twice and missed the cut at the Memorial a couple of weeks ago. Yes, the sudden spotlight can be overwhelming.

Clearly, the United States Golf Association wants to create more of a buzz for the Open with this pairing. But why? Isn’t the tournament big enough?

During a conference call today, I asked NBC producer Tommy Roy if the USGA consults with the network on the pairings. He said:

We talk about it, more about the timing that they go off so that it fits within certain windows.  But the fact of the matter is that the pairings are up to them.  But they have a good sense of what makes for good television, as well.  They play consult a little but it’s their pairings.

Obviously, NBC and ESPN will focus the majority of their coverage on that one pairing. Steve Stricker is 6-under through 13? Great, save it later for the Golf Channel. 

It’s going to be all-Tiger-Phil-Bubba, all-the-time when they’re out on the course. I asked Johnny Miller about the pairing. He said:

I’ve played in similar type of threesomes with Trevino and Nicklaus, and not so much in the U.S. Open, because they would never do that in the mid 70s, have the three biggest draws together.

But golf is a new world.  It’s a big sport now.  It will be very interesting to see how that pairing pans out or whether they all play poorly or they all play well or just one plays well.  With that many people and that much pressure, to be honest with you, at the Open, knowing this pairing is historical, the three biggest draws in the tournament being together, it will be fun to watch.  I can’t wait to watch it.  I hope they do great.

It’s just sort of unique.  So, is this a precursor of something of the future we are going to see a lot more of, where you put the best players together, or if it’s just a one‑time thing.

Is it fair? Frank Nobilo said:

(Watson’s) stated goal, he stated recently, is to be the best player in the world.  So I think he would embrace that opportunity to take them on.  You have got to beat them, whether it Thursday, Friday, Saturday or Sunday; but for him, it’s something I think he would relish.

And just to add, you have three different types of fans that are going to come out, which I don’t think golf has really had.  Phil and Tiger ‑‑ but Bubba brings a different element to golf which we haven’t seen in many a year and that’s something that has to be said, as well.

Miller said as only he could:

Let’s put it this way:  I would much rather play with two guys that are shooting 67, than two guys that are shooting 79 going to every toilet, you know.

I’m not sure about the toilet part, but I’m betting Watson’s scores will be closer to 79 than 67.

 

 

 

NBC Sports looks to get into radio

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Get ready for more sports talk radio.

NBC Sports is expanding its horizons. This morning, it announced the creation of the NBC Sports Radio Network.

The initial plans will start on a smaller scale with NBC and local Comcast SportsNet personalities providing reports and analysis to participating stations. Eventually, the expectation is that NBC will have a 24/7 platform that airs on various stations throughout the country and perhaps SiriusXM, much like ESPN and Fox.

From the release:

The NBC Sports Group and Dial Global (NASDAQ: DIAL) announced a partnership today to create the NBC Sports Radio Network. Beginning in September, the network will be distributed to radio stations nationwide by Dial Global.

The network’s content will include hourly sports news updates, daily features as well as full-length shows.

In addition to distribution on terrestrial radio stations, NBC Sports’ audio content will be available on a wide variety of digital platforms. Live shows will be streamed on NBCSports.com, DialGlobalSports.com, affiliate stations’ websites and other streaming services. On-demand short-form audio content will also be distributed online and through podcasts and other digital applications. Dial Global will be the exclusive ad and affiliate sales representative to the network.

“We are thrilled to bring the rich heritage of NBC Sports to listeners across national radio for the first time,” said Mark Lazarus, Chairman, NBC Sports Group. “By adding radio to our broadcast, cable, regional, and digital assets, the NBC Sports Radio Network will give sports fans a new way to interact with the NBC Sports Group day in and day out.”

“Dial Global is excited to partner with NBC Sports Group to expand upon Dial Global’s live play-by-play platform. We are confident that with NBC’s sports assets, we will create a leading full service sports network and bring great sports audio to listeners across America,” said Spencer Brown, Co-CEO of Dial Global.

Tapping into the NBC Sports Group’s unique mix of national and local assets, the NBC Sports Radio Network will provide stations both national and regional sports content. Listeners may hear hourly sports updates, long-form shows and features hosted by national NBC Sports voices, NBC Sports Regional Networks on-air personalities, or NBC affiliate sportscasters, depending upon location. Specific programming and commentator details will be announced at a later date.

Massive headache for NBC; I’ll Have Another out of Belmont

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So much for the Doug O’Neill angle for NBC.

I’ll Have Another just was scratched for the Belmont tomorrow. The horse has a swollen left front tendon.

Meanwhile, somebody also should hand out ice packs to NBC executives, who suddenly have developed massive headaches upon hearing the news. I’ll Have Another’s bid for the Triple Crown would have pulled in huge ratings for the network.

Now, not so much.

NBC just released a statement:

While we are obviously disappointed that our show won’t feature I’ll Have Another going for the elusive Triple Crown, the Belmont Stakes is still an iconic event on the sports schedule, and the NBC Sports Group broadcasts will treat it as such. We’re working now to adjust the game plan accordingly.

Translated: *$&$*^%!!!!!!!

Indeed, imagine the behind-the-scenes scrambling by producer Rob Hyland and his crew. Anticipating the historic ride, NBC expanded its coverage, with the telecast beginning at 4:30 p.m.

Now all those I’ll Have Another features go to the trash can. Suddenly, Hyland and NBC have a lot of time to fill, and the stories become far less compelling.

 

 

Costas Tonight addresses allegations with O’Neill interview

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NBC faces an unusual dynamic in covering the Belmont Stakes this week: A run for the Triple Crown with a trainer who some think is tainted.

The hoopla over I’ll Have Another’s bid for history comes with the large shadow of trainer Doug O’Neill facing a 45-day suspension in California for giving horses illegal performance enhancers.

Everyone will be watching to see how NBC handles these conflicting stories. We got a preview Monday when Bob Costas had an exclusive interview with O’Neill on Costas Tonight.

The first part of the interview focused on I’ll Have Another and O’Neill’s view of the race Saturday. Then after a break, Costas dealt with O’Neill about the controversy.

As expected, Costas asked some tough questions, which O’Neill handled. As the week goes along, the saga should evolve further with O’Neill facing tough scrutiny from the national media at Belmont. There could be a different story Saturday.

Here are some of the excerpts of the Costas interview:

Costas: We mentioned he was to have been with us in studio but today is the day that they’re inspecting the so-called “detention barn” and by the middle of the week, all the horses – not just I’ll Have Another – but all the horses competing in the Belmont will all be stabled together and the feed and all the medications will be closely monitored, the trainers, the vets who tend to the horses will all be closely watched. Now some say this is just about you, I think a fair appraisal though is that the racing industry, knowing what a Triple Crown can mean, wants to assure the public that all of this is on the up and up. True?


O’Neill: I agree, Bob. As much as it’s uncomfortable for a lot of horses to switch settings and have split staff and all that stuff, I think it’s a good move. It’s truly all about the horse and I think by doing what we’re doing, it’ll just show how brilliant these horses are cared for and there won’t be any rumors or speculations after the race.

Costas: Before we talk about specific allegations and violations from the past, let’s get this on the record. Speaking now only of I’ll Have Another, is he 100 percent clean, never been tampered with, never had elevated TCO2 levels artificially raised, never been given any improper medications or performance enhancers at any time?

O’Neill: Yes, Bob, I’ll Have Another is a pure horse. He’s clean. Every race he’s run in, he’s gone through physical examinations and blood work and he’s never been tampered with, never had any medications given to him by me or no one that I’ve ever requested to give him anything. So he’s clean and he’s been through every drug test and physical exam known to man and he’s just a natural champ.

Costas: Ok, you say that you run a clean operation, you’re an affable guy with an interesting life story and people want to like you and want to latch onto the story but these are at least part of the facts: You’ve had three warnings and four violations that you’ve been cited for – at least that many over the years and they have been, generally speaking, for elevated TCO2 levels. What’s the reason for that? If you haven’t done something that you shouldn’t have done, how did that occur?

O’Neill: Well through our vigorous contesting of these allegations, we’ve learned that there are numerous issues that can raise a horse’s TCO2 levels be it the weather that day, be it the gender of the horse, be it the sweat, if the horse sweats too much. It’s not a drug and that’s something that gets tossed around a lot in the media that high TCO2 is that a horse has a drug in it but it’s all a natural reading that every horse has. California put in a rule four or five years ago that if a horse had a high TCO2 he’s was deemed to have been milkshaked and then some of the other parts of the country followed suit and just through running a lot of horses, we’ve kind of fallen into a couple pickles but we run a clean barn and through all this extra examination we’ve been able to show how much we love the horses, what a great staff we have, what a great owner we have of I’ll Have Another; and though it’s been uncomfortable and difficult at times, it’s been kind of nice to show people backstage and be transparent and show people how well all of our horses are cared for.

Costas: The process of milkshaking as I understand it is a combination of bicarbonate of soda, sugar, and electrolytes that reduces the buildup of lactic acid in a horse which can lead to fatigue. Now some people who are very close to the horse racing industry and understand it much better than I do, have told me that there is a suspicion that you and the people you work with have developed a process by which you can raise the TCO2 levels of a horse without resorting to milkshaking. And that a lot of your horses have been taken right up to the legal limit and only a few have tripped the test but many of them are right on the border line. In fact, on one occasion in Del Mar when you were cited for having a horse over the level, the next two highest readings that day of all the horses that ran in all the races that day in Del Mar were also Doug O’Neill horses. So the top three all belonged to you and according to one member of the California Racing Board, the odds against that were astronomical unless something nefarious was going on.

O’Neill: Yeah, Bob, you’re right. It definitely needs to be addressed and one of the things we found out and we weren’t told is that Lasix can affect a horse’s TCO2 levels and prior to finding that out, we had all the horses at the highest level of permitted Lasix and we found out that this is a serious issue. We’re playing with fire by doing that. We have scaled back on the use of Lasix pre-race. 

Costas: Last thing, we can’t possibly get into all the ills of horse racing but there are medications that are legal here in the United States that are banned in much of the rest of the world. The fatality rates are much lower in Europe – a lot of this has to do with how they regulate medications and some of it has to do with racing on more forgiving surfaces. There are a lot of things that could be done to reform the racing industry. In fact, the Belmont is run in a state where the governor, Andrew Cuomo, has basically disbanded the governing body and appointed his own panel to oversee it because there’s been too much going on that’s troubling including a disproportionate number of deaths of race horses at Aqueduct and other tracks. If in fact, you win the Belmont on Saturday and you’re the reigning Triple Crown trainer, you’ll be in a unique position to advocate for reform of the sport, would you do it?

O’Neill: I would love to. I would love to be part of that. It’s such a great sport and I think we’re such in dire need of having a commissioner to kind of nationalize and to get all the medications uniform so everyone knows what the therapeutic medications you can use and when to stop. I’d love to have pre-race testing. I mean every time these horses walk in a paddock, every vet or every owner, every jockey knows that all these horses have passed a strict pre-race test so any way I can help a sport that I absolutely love, I’m in. You know one thing too, Bob, I forgot to mention that people talk about all my drug violations and I never had an illegal medication violation. My violations have been therapeutic medications that have been in excess; and that doesn’t make them right but I’ve never had an illegal drug found in any of my horses and that’s something that I’d like to make clear.

Costas: Fair enough and in summation here, you would like to see a national commission and, in effect, a commissioner like other sports have, with uniform rules and regulations instead of a hodge podge from state to state.

O’Neill: Correct. And pre-race testing.

 

NBC announces trillions of hours of Olympics coverage

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OK, maybe not trillions, but the actual number will feel that way.

NBC announced the following today:

NBCUniversal will provide 5,535 hours of coverage for the 2012 London Olympics 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. It was also announced today that NBC will broadcast 272.5 hours of coverage, the most ever for an Olympic broadcast network, largely attributable to an increase in daytime coverage.

That’s 5,535 hours, or roughly the equivalent of 231 days of Olympics coverage. I’d love to see somebody do a reality show on people trying to watch every hour on the various outlets. Now that would be good TV.

Here are other fun facts from the release.

The 5,535 hours of Olympic coverage are the most ever and surpass Beijing’s coverage (3,600 hours) by nearly 2,000 hours.

NBC will broadcast 272.5 hours of London Olympic coverage over 17 days, the most extensive coverage ever provided by an Olympic broadcast network, and nearly 50 hours more than the 225 hours for Beijing in 2008.

The 5,535 hours more than double the total amount of coverage of every Summer Games combined prior to Beijing (2,562 hours from 1960 Rome on CBS to 2004 Athens on NBC).

NBCUniversal will average 291 hours of coverage per day over London’s 19 days (including two days of soccer competition prior to the Opening Ceremony).

The chairman weighs in:

“We are only able to provide this level of coverage to U.S. viewers because of the unmatched array of NBCUniversal assets,” said Mark Lazarus, Chairman, NBC Sports Group. “Whether on television or online, on broadcast or cable, in English or in Spanish, NBCUniversal has the London Olympics covered, providing the American viewer with more choices than ever to watch the Games.”

My translation: Our butts are on the line here, so you better watch.

 

 

Beadle on over-coverage of her: It’s ridiculous

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Hopefully, we’re about to enter a Michelle Beadle-free zone for a while. But first, one last word from the women herself.

Even Beadle was embarrassed about the excessive amount of attention that has been focused on her in recent weeks. In an interview with USA Today, she said:

I find it ridiculous. It’s a little stupid. I’ve changed jobs a couple dozen times since I started in an amusement park at 16. … I got a little sick of myself. It’s been an odd situation. Hopefully, it will come and go and everybody will get back to their business. Very weird. Who knew?

Of her decision to move to NBC, where she will be involved in sports and entertainment programming, she said:

I’m 36 and I knew whatever I signed next would be a threeish-year deal. If I was 25, you’d have time to play with. You know, with high-def TV, women get the short end of the stick.

Anything else? OK, that should be enough Michelle Beadle for a while.