Originally Posted on December 20, 2005 on Foxsports.com.
Dear NBC:
As we approach the 2006 Winter Olympics, I wanted to remind you of your public service obligation to the nation in covering the Olympics.
Who am I kidding, we both know you are in it for the advertising money. Regardless, there is a lot of good that can be done through your broadcast. However, there are a few minor changes I'd like made. Overall, I think these changes will make your Nielson ratings go up, and people will once again rave about the coverage of the sport.
First, don't "tease" that you are going be right back to show the "women's figure skating finale" at the first commerical break of the evening. We both know that you have NO intention of showing it until the last possible prime-time minute. Oh, sure, you may show a couple figure skaters during the first hour, then show us the leading skater warming up in the second hour, but you aren't showing the event until late in the broadcast. Why go through all the subterfuge? Instead, tell me at the beginning of the broadcast that you will be finishing up the night with figure skating. Then tell me what other events you will be showing prior to that. I'd probably stick around to watch. Your shameless plugging of the last event of the evening causes me and many other viewers give up in disgust and log on to our favorite sports website and find out who won. This goes for whatever big draw event you are showing that particular night - hockey, skiing, speedskating, whatever. I'd always rather WATCH the event than READ about it, so don't drive me to the internet - I may get distracted...
Second, as a woman, I BEG you to stop the shameless tearjerking human interest stories. I do not need (or want) a fifteen minute documentary on how Apolo Anton Ohno got his name. I don't want to hear how this skier's seeing eye dog died last week and he's skiing for Fido. When I turn on the Olympics, I want to view sporting events, not some story designed to make me cry. Short stories, especially if done tastefully by the announcers, can be told during the events. We are constantly waiting for something to start or have a delay before some event starts - use those opportunities to talk about the individuals involved. PS. not all the stories have to be about American participants.
Third, show some of the unique sports that are found in the Winter Olympics. I'm not saying you have to devote hours of time to curling, but what would a half-hour or more hurt? And if you took my second suggestion, you should have additional time to fill. Probably somewhere around 2 hours per night.
There are many sports that Americans do not do well at - like biathlon. So, you rarely show those events on TV. Americans love James Bond movies - and at least half the plots in those movies have to do with skiing and shooting. Maybe we don't like it because we've never had the change to actually watch a biathlon. A little TV time may spur some 6 year old to try it - and could lead to a future medal for the US.
Last time, you regulated some sports to your cable affiliates (hockey in particular comes to mind). While I applaud that you offered these sports a venue to be broadcast, you still should cover them in the daily rundowns. Again, what could a few minutes here or there hurt.
On a positive note, I liked how you used your morning news program to recap some of the prior day's events. It was a nice tie in, and gave the athletes a chance to show off their hardware, show their personality, and explain what had happened in the event.
I'm sure you have devoted hours of planning and preparation to broadcasting the Olympics. I hope that you had the foresight to fix some of these problems and have new ideas on how to present the various sports. I'm looking forward to watching, but if it turns out to be a rehash of the last Olympics, I may get my Olympic news and views elsewhere. Afterall, I'm fairly certain you told me all about Apolo last time.
Sincerely,
An Olympic Fan
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