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NBC Olympics coverage rant!


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I have had it up to here with NBC's Olympic coverage. I love the Olympics. I can't wait until they are on. I plan my evenings around the sports I want to watch. But this is making me want to just forget it.

 

Dd asked me why they keep talking about 6 men's gymnastics events, but they really only show 3 -4. She didn't know what still rings were because they haven't shown a single rings routine.

 

I am disgusted with the gymnastics commentary. If Tim Dagget talks about "the emotion" one more time, I think I am going to barf. I thought he was supposed to be there for "expert" commentary. Why isn't he talking about the actual moves the gymnasts are doing? Why isn't he describing what makes this routine more difficult than other ones? And can they please can the "red zone, yellow zone, green zone" thing? It tells us nothing. What matters is how this score compares to another gymnast's score. Without the 10 system and higher start values, it is much more confusing. They don't even show standings. I think they could show more gymnastics routines if they would can 90% of the parent shots and the personal profiles - I already know that Gabby Douglas left her family to train in Iowa. I don't need to hear it repeated over and over again. I already know that Mulroney has a broken toe.

 

And on to my swimming rant ... Does Rowdie Gains ever have an original thought? He seems to repeat everything his co-commentator has to say - making their overly-long intros even longer. I am, however, glad to see so many semifinal events. I get to see so many more swimmers. Why can't we see more gymnasts than the ones they choose to highlight?

 

Do we really need to see every one of Kerry Walsh and Misty May's matches? Really? I am glad that it is cold in London so we don't need to see so much "cheek" hanging out:).

 

Stepping off my soapbox for a while.

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In the words of Michael Jackson, "Youuu are not alone..."

 

:glare: Last night's "discussion" about Orozco's pommel horse performance and how it compared to a child's mistake... really? Add to that, coverage that's all over the place and the spoiling of medal winners.

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I have not been able to watch ONE sport w/out already knowing who won :glare:

 

Gymnastics was terrible-we were totally lost on the scoring. They needed much better (or actually, any would have been good) explanations on the actual moves and comparing to them to what they should be or the difficulty levels, etc.

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*hops on the empty soap box*

 

I was thinking much of the same (volleyball uniforms don't really bother me ;) ). I was completely befuddled why in all three nights of men's all-around we haven't seen even one rings routine!

 

And on top of your rant, I'm really annoyed that the coverage runs from 8-12 when everything happened in London at least 5 hours earlier. They could edit out the extras and run it from 7-10. Then I would have to deal with disappointing my kids by sending them to bed early, OR having crabby kids the next day because I let them stay up.

 

*steps down off the soap box so someone else can have a turn*

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Same here....I think they are trying to sell on Drama portion of Olympics. I just wanted to watch and see the scores without all the drama they are putting on there. sigh!! Their commentaries suck big time. So tired of it esp them putting phelps down and several US athletes.

 

Holly

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:iagree: with all the above. In addition, I would have liked to see more than just US athletes. My favorite moment of swimming was one of the first few nights when the commentators were so busy telling us what was going to happen they didn't notice the Lithuanian teen moving to the win and were surprised by the outcome.

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Based on recommendations from others on the website I installed tunnelbear, paid $4.99 for a month of coverage and have enjoyed watching on BBC. There is no comparison between the BBC coverage and NBC. We have watched all kinds of events live and we can also watch all the replays we want to shortly after the event concludes.

 

There really are more events than what NBC shows and there are more people competing than just Americans:tongue_smilie:

 

Yvonne in NE

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*hops on the empty soap box*

 

I was thinking much of the same (volleyball uniforms don't really bother me ;) ). I was completely befuddled why in all three nights of men's all-around we haven't seen even one rings routine!

 

And on top of your rant, I'm really annoyed that the coverage runs from 8-12 when everything happened in London at least 5 hours earlier. They could edit out the extras and run it from 7-10. Then I would have to deal with disappointing my kids by sending them to bed early, OR having crabby kids the next day because I let them stay up.

 

*steps down off the soap box so someone else can have a turn*

 

My 12 year old stayed up late to see the rings. But, alas, no rings. Instead, she was treated to all the extras, which she didn't care about. So, cranky for missing the event she wanted to see, cranky for being overly tired.

 

We installed TunnelBear after that. Her plans today are to watch equestrian events, regardless of what NBC decrees we should watch.

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We ditched the NBC coverage after the first couple of days. The two big summer Olympic sports for my family are sailing and cycling. My daughter was so upset that NBC doesn't even talk about sailing! She was hanging out online to catch the results and watch clips.

 

NBC's coverage is also extremely ethnocentric. They don't even bother to talk about most of the non-American athletes, and they never show the medal ceremonies.

 

I got frustrated during the women's cycling road race when Steve Schlanger kept referring to Marianne Vos as "the Dutch woman." She's one of the most decorated women in cycling, and he couldn't remember her name?! She wasn't the only one either. I've never watched a cycling event and heard commentators say things like, "The Dutch woman just passed the British woman." Ugh. Those guys knew NOTHING about women's cycling. It was just terrible.

 

We switched to watching the streamed BBC coverage, and it's so much better. There are a variety of ways to get around the region lock here.

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Can I add to the commentary critique? I'm so tired of hearing commentators talk about what's going on in the athlete's heads. "She's obviously doubting herself here" - uh, no. She obviously screwed up, but we have no idea what she's thinking! How do they know if it's doubt or stress or the pressure or a bad night's sleep!? It's driving me crazy. I want to understand the technical aspects and the scores, not hear somebody's guess at what a 15 year old girl is thinking.

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I agree with every single comment here.

 

I am sick and tired of the NBC commentators treating viewers like they are complete morons. I wish someone would tell them that we do not feel the need to hear their voices every single second.

 

I think this may be the very worst Olympics coverage ever.

 

Sorry, Bob Costas, you know I love ya, but even you can't save this mess. :tongue_smilie:

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I have had it up to here with NBC's Olympic coverage. I love the Olympics. I can't wait until they are on. I plan my evenings around the sports I want to watch. But this is making me want to just forget it.

 

Dd asked me why they keep talking about 6 men's gymnastics events, but they really only show 3 -4. She didn't know what still rings were because they haven't shown a single rings routine.

 

I am disgusted with the gymnastics commentary. If Tim Dagget talks about "the emotion" one more time, I think I am going to barf. I thought he was supposed to be there for "expert" commentary. Why isn't he talking about the actual moves the gymnasts are doing? Why isn't he describing what makes this routine more difficult than other ones? And can they please can the "red zone, yellow zone, green zone" thing? It tells us nothing. What matters is how this score compares to another gymnast's score. Without the 10 system and higher start values, it is much more confusing. They don't even show standings. I think they could show more gymnastics routines if they would can 90% of the parent shots and the personal profiles - I already know that Gabby Douglas left her family to train in Iowa. I don't need to hear it repeated over and over again. I already know that Mulroney has a broken toe.

 

And on to my swimming rant ... Does Rowdie Gains ever have an original thought? He seems to repeat everything his co-commentator has to say - making their overly-long intros even longer. I am, however, glad to see so many semifinal events. I get to see so many more swimmers. Why can't we see more gymnasts than the ones they choose to highlight?

 

Do we really need to see every one of Kerry Walsh and Misty May's matches? Really? I am glad that it is cold in London so we don't need to see so much "cheek" hanging out:).

 

Stepping off my soapbox for a while.

 

 

Preach it woman!!!!!!!

 

I told dh that since the winter games are more important to me than the summer games, that we are taking a vacation out of the country during that time so I can do nothing but sit in a hotel and watch the games from a Canadien, GB, or other perspective. I'm DONE with NBC. I can't afford to attend the games, but I'm for dog gone certain going to try to at least make it to Sault Ste. Marie, Sarnia, or Windsor and watch figure skating and skiing with normal commentators instead of the insane lunatics that can't get enough of the sounds of their own voices so much so that though they can't think of anything to say that hasn't already been said ad nauseum, no one shuts thems up, and Bob Costas has to hog so much screen time that we can't actually SEE THE GAMES.

 

Even streaming the events live during the day, which has been better than Prime time in that regard, still does not show enough of the gymnastics events. They did a bit better with the women, but just supremely AWFUL with the men. Sigh.....

 

Faith

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I agree with every single comment here.

 

I am sick and tired of the NBC commentators treating viewers like they are complete morons. I wish someone would tell them that we do not feel the need to hear their voices every single second.

 

I think this may be the very worst Olympics coverage ever.

 

Sorry, Bob Costas, you know I love ya, but even you can't save this mess. :tongue_smilie:

 

This. And the uniforms are hideous to boot. Bring back the Red, White and Blue!

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Do we really need to see every one of Kerry Walsh and Misty May's matches? Really? I am glad that it is cold in London so we don't need to see so much "cheek" hanging out:).

 

Did you know that Kerry Walsh has pinkeye? I only mention this because the commentators have only mentioned it about 200 times, so you probably didn't know about it. :glare:

 

Oh, and her husband has it, too, but his is much worse. Ask me how I know. (Grrrrrrrr!)

 

The most annoying thing is, I feel sorry for Kerry. No one wants pinkeye, and they especially don't want it at the Olympics where they want to play their best games ever, and where they know they're going to be on TV a lot so they'd like to look their best, too.

 

But after hearing about it so many times, I'm starting to think unpleasant thoughts about poor Kerry -- and she's not the one making a big deal out of this; it's the announcers and all of the newspeople.

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I have had it up to here with NBC's Olympic coverage. I love the Olympics. I can't wait until they are on. I plan my evenings around the sports I want to watch. But this is making me want to just forget it.

 

Dd asked me why they keep talking about 6 men's gymnastics events, but they really only show 3 -4. She didn't know what still rings were because they haven't shown a single rings routine.

 

I am disgusted with the gymnastics commentary. If Tim Dagget talks about "the emotion" one more time, I think I am going to barf. I thought he was supposed to be there for "expert" commentary. Why isn't he talking about the actual moves the gymnasts are doing? Why isn't he describing what makes this routine more difficult than other ones? And can they please can the "red zone, yellow zone, green zone" thing? It tells us nothing. What matters is how this score compares to another gymnast's score. Without the 10 system and higher start values, it is much more confusing. They don't even show standings. I think they could show more gymnastics routines if they would can 90% of the parent shots and the personal profiles - I already know that Gabby Douglas left her family to train in Iowa. I don't need to hear it repeated over and over again. I already know that Mulroney has a broken toe.

 

And on to my swimming rant ... Does Rowdie Gains ever have an original thought? He seems to repeat everything his co-commentator has to say - making their overly-long intros even longer. I am, however, glad to see so many semifinal events. I get to see so many more swimmers. Why can't we see more gymnasts than the ones they choose to highlight?

 

Do we really need to see every one of Kerry Walsh and Misty May's matches? Really? I am glad that it is cold in London so we don't need to see so much "cheek" hanging out:).

 

Stepping off my soapbox for a while.

 

:iagree: Couldn't have said it better myself.

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I've been really disappointed as well. Rings is my favorite men's gymnastics event...and we only glimpsed it in the background on NBC. Really? And all the jumping around from sport to sport. If you're going to show gymnastics, show gymnastics...etc. It's truly disappointing. NBC may have lots of hours of programming, but they're not necessarily GOOD hours.

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Well, my rant is this: Aren't there ANY OTHER SPORTS in the Olympics besides swimming, volleyball and gymnastics? If so, I'd like to see them!

 

:iagree: I would enjoy seeing some other events, like sailing. I would also like to see athletes from other countries. Something like 200 countries are represented, but they only show a handful

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I'm very glad we can watch it online, because the TV coverage has been horrendous, for all the reasons mentioned. We've been watching fencing, tae kwon do, and the equestrian events, and we've been able to see ALL the performances, not just Americans.

 

I think the gymnastics coverage has been particularly bad — not only the lack of rings, but the total lack of coverage of any routine other than Americans plus 1 or 2 others who are medal contenders. And the Jordyn Wieber drama has been soooo overplayed, it makes me nuts — how many times are they going to replay the tape of her crying??? They spent far more time discussing the "tragedy" of Wieber missing the all-around than Aly Raisman's amazing performance.

 

When Costas interviewed the whole team after they won the gold medal, he was still harping on Jordyn's tragedy — with Aly sitting right there! She must have been thinking, "gee, guys, I'm really sorry I ruined everything by giving the performance of my life and beating the favorite." I'm really afraid that if she doesn't get a medal in the all-around, they'll be going on and on about what a shame it is that she made it to the final and Jordyn didn't, because of course Jordyn would have gotten a medal blah blah blah.

 

Jackie

Edited by Corraleno
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Guess how many hours of coverage there will be of the Paralympics when they start two weeks after the Olympics? If we are lucky, ONE, a highlight show two months later!

 

Mom to a possible future Paralympian :)

(certainly didn't think I would be writing that 6 years ago)

 

:iagree:

 

I would *love* to watch Paralympic coverage, but I bet you're right. It'll probably get a blip on NBC's Nightly News. "By the way, the Paralympics were held today..."

 

The other thing that's driving me nuts is how many stupid time wasting studio interviews NBC is doing with aging athletes or coaches. Do we seriously need to watch John MacEnroe interviewed over three commercial breaks? It's as if there's nothing worthwhile going on, so NBC is using the talking heads as time fillers.

 

I seriously hope they don't do this during the winter Olympics.

 

(Oh! And best of luck to your future Paralympian!!)

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Based on recommendations from others on the website I installed tunnelbear, paid $4.99 for a month of coverage and have enjoyed watching on BBC. There is no comparison between the BBC coverage and NBC. We have watched all kinds of events live and we can also watch all the replays we want to shortly after the event concludes.

 

There really are more events than what NBC shows and there are more people competing than just Americans:tongue_smilie:

 

:iagree:

I am blissfully unaware of the terrible coverage! My family and I have so much fun watching the Olympics every night, from 6 to 8:30. Last night we watched men's gymnastics (including rings!), archery, fencing, swimming, equestrian, and cycling. I keep telling my dh that I love tunnelbear!

 

If you are able to do it, I say ditch NBC and give the BBC a try.

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Based on recommendations from others on the website I installed tunnelbear, paid $4.99 for a month of coverage and have enjoyed watching on BBC. There is no comparison between the BBC coverage and NBC. We have watched all kinds of events live and we can also watch all the replays we want to shortly after the event concludes.

 

There really are more events than what NBC shows and there are more people competing than just Americans:tongue_smilie:

 

Yvonne in NE

 

Yep.

 

I've heard really good things about the BBC coverage from people I know who are doing the same thing.

 

How in the world is showing endless coverage of 'backstory' going to inspire kids to want to go there? All it'd inspire me to do is GET OUT because of them never shutting up about my home life.

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You can only watch the replays online at NBC if you have the correct cable pkg -- which we don't. I told a friend that watching the Olympics on NBC was liking being invited to a party after everyone has already gone home and the lights are out!!

 

Yvonne in NE

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We watched CTV's primetime coverage last night via a different VPN service and saw rowing, swimming, synchro diving, and boxing. This morning we watched streaming dressage warmups :lol: before breakfast. Dd12 has ballet intensive this week otherwise we'd be watching live stream all day!

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No rings, and while other countries are competing in gymnastics, we get to look at "The towel" for the 300th time! I miss seeing the scores during gymnastics.

If you blink, you have no clue what race they are about to swim, because they mention it once, and then they are talking about other races, and they don't put it on the screen. Yesterday Costas called Lochte, "Lachte". Really? Going to look into the other options mentioned by pps. I have enjoyed seeing so much swimming, but I also feel bad that they aren't showing other sports. Oh, and the insulting remarks by the commentators want to make me slap them upside their heads. Try saying something positive about a bad situation!

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Honestly, one of the reasons I'm not upset we have No olympics reception is I recall this in the past -- lots of commentary and add-on stuff, very little actual Olympics performance! And it skips around so you can wait 30 minutes for 30 seconds of the sport you are actually interested in! ITs more of a news/"science" show that includes Olympics clips than an Olympics show.

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My dh quit watching. After his commentary on the commentary of the opening ceremonies (how do you know what they think!?....) I'm glad.

 

The good news is that FOX isn't hosting the whole event. They'd just change it all to one Friday night showing and then cancel the whole thing without warning. :D

 

I think NBC is going to have some 'splaining to do, it's just a giant mess.

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The commentary is so annoying and stupid that at times I've actually resorted to just watching the picture with the sound muted.

 

Well, my rant is this: Aren't there ANY OTHER SPORTS in the Olympics besides swimming, volleyball and gymnastics? If so, I'd like to see them!

 

My husband's favorite events are the rowing and the cycling, and my daughter would dearly LOVE to see some of the tae kwon do. DH proposed the theory that the reason they're only showing swimming, volleyball, and gymnastics is because those are the sports where the athletes are the most scantily clad.

 

I told a friend that watching the Olympics on NBC was liking being invited to a party after everyone has already gone home and the lights are out!!

 

 

Bingo!

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My kids take gymnastics and have tried to stay up to watch it, but they always fall asleep. They are very frustrated that they tease them about gymnastics being next and then make them watch something else. LOL

 

I also read an article about how NBC edited the opening ceremonies for the American audience. They cut out a tribute dance that they thought we wouldn't really get.

 

http://www.worldtvpc.com/blog/nbc-cause-controversy-with-olympic-opening-ceremony-cuts/

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It's really horrible this year!

 

Makes you long for the days of ABC and Jim McKay.

 

editing.....

 

I fell asleep last night, waiting what seemed to be an eternity for the women's 4 X 200 free relay. Now I can't find it anywhere online to see it in a replay.

 

Oh, and really----get rid of Andrea Kremer! Those questions she asks are beyond belief!!

 

Oh, and one more thing---Please acknowledge some of the other athletes who don't win gold. Like the swimmers who helped the final relay swimmers get their *lane* for finals. They worked hard to get there, too.

 

Oh, and one more---There are more moms and dads there beside Debbie Phelps. Find them in the crowd and let us see their exuberance over their children's races and events!

Edited by Poke Salad Annie
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Oh and to add insult to my injury, apparently the GB National Ballet performed some Swan Lake on the floor prior to the beginning of the Women's All Around Individual event today. I'm streaming the gynmastics now. They've cut out every two minutes, or at least it feels like it, for a lipgloss commercial, but NO BALLET!!!!! Sure....we can show Bob Costas every ten seconds running off at the mouth about nothing, and we can cut to a commercial every time the audience blinks BUT WE CAN'T SHOW EVEN 30 SECONDS OF THE NATIONAL BALLET! :glare:

 

Dear NBC, "We hate. We hate ya good!!"

 

Faith

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Well, my rant is this: Aren't there ANY OTHER SPORTS in the Olympics besides swimming, volleyball and gymnastics? If so, I'd like to see them!

 

:iagree: I would love to see more archery. I am curious about the trampolining :lol:. I always enjoy diving. And I have not seen any equestrian events either.

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I'm very glad we can watch it online, because the TV coverage has been horrendous, for all the reasons mentioned. We've been watching fencing, tae kwon do, and the equestrian events, and we've been able to see ALL the performances, not just Americans.

 

 

Jackie

 

 

How are you watching it online? With Tunnelbear and BBC?

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Oh, and really----get rid of Andrea Kremer! Those questions she asks are beyond belief!!

 

 

:iagree::iagree::iagree::iagree:

 

I can't tell you how many times my dh and I have said this while watching.

 

Also why can't NBC put all of the human interest stuff/backstories on their website for those who are interested and let the rest of us watch the few sports they show.

 

Cindy

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Okay, here in Canada Olympic coverage has always consumed the channel that carried it for 2 weeks. It was all the channel showed except for news breaks. We also got to see a LOT of sports where Canadians weren't factors (We just aren't huge players in the summer olympics) and so got to see a lot of great stories and performances from athletes from different nations.

 

It shocked me when I learned that's not the kind of coverage Americans get.

 

Right now I have several channels to choose from (CTV owns a sports channel and co-bid for the coverage with another sports network) and can watch women's gymnastics, men's cycling in the velodrome or, I think, volleyball. I don't think there are any Canadians in those events at the moment.

 

I will say I find the CTV coverage a little more cheesy then CBC (who will get the next two games) but I'll still take that over NBC coverage.

 

You guys should all move here. Health care AND good Olympics coverage. What more does a person need? :D

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