04/24/24
August 15, 2004
Think the Olympics Look Better in HD? Think Again.: Apparently due to some arcane FCC Rules, NBC's HD Olympics coverage is one full day behind the main broadcast. NBC claims only 6 of the venues are wired for HD, making real-time broadcasting impossible, but they're managing to pump out yesterday's coverage in HD. Here's my contribution to the FAQ: How do you spend all that money on the rights to the Olympics and show up with such an also-ran sports department?
That makes 0 sense to me. I would say it's more likely because they have nothing for major sports. The only thing NBC even has anymore is half a NASCAR contract and they can't get that together in HD either. NBC is still owned by GE, right? I think they have two nickels to rub together.
posted by yerfatma at 02:12 PM on August 15, 2004
Once the contract runs out in 2008, I expect Fox to make a serious run for the Games. They seem to really step up for the big events, and they would kick serious ass doing the Olympics. They have FX, Fox Sports Net, and Fox News to spread out the coverage. ABC would also be good at it as well, with most of the coverage going to the ESPN family of networks. Besides, if Fox does get the games, they'll probably shift some coverage over to Fox News, we won't have to listen to those right-wing bastards they call reporters for a couple of weeks! lol /runs like hell to avoid the approaching flame war!
posted by jasonbondshow at 08:49 PM on August 15, 2004
I'd love to see ABC+ESPN[2|C|News] to do the olympics; I just get the sense they'd do it more thoroughly and seriously (and hopefully with fewer Dramatic Stories) than anyone else. Of course, anyone who complains about NBC's Olympics coverage should be forced to become a serious college basketball fan and then watch CBS's nearly unwatchable NCAA tourney coverage. It is nearly criminal that the NCAA rejected a bid from ABC+ESPN. Makes NBC look like experts by comparison.
posted by tieguy at 09:22 PM on August 15, 2004
Oh, and no fox; would be nice to shut down foxnews for a while but we'd have giant robots all over. And we'd get Terry Bradshaw inflicted on us.
posted by tieguy at 09:23 PM on August 15, 2004
Once the contract runs out in 2008, I expect Fox to make a serious run for the Games. They seem to really step up for the big events, and they would kick serious ass doing the Olympics. You have got to be kidding...right??? The people at Fox are as ignorant as a box of hammers when it comes to anything but football, baseball, basketball, hockey, and NASCAR. Take a look at the list of Olympic sports, and I expect you'll find that Fox has never once broadcast a single event in the majority of those sports. They wouldn't kick ass, they'd shoot themselves in the foot.
posted by lil_brown_bat at 09:58 PM on August 15, 2004
fox can't even get baseball right. i wouldn't mind seeing it back on ABC and their affiliates.
posted by goddam at 10:20 PM on August 15, 2004
Fox's football coverage sucks, too. The graphics and production are high quality if overdone, but the commentators seem to get lamer every season. And I don't know what happened to the studio show. I seem to recall it was good once, but it's so bad now that I think I must have been drunk or high when I watched it in college.
posted by dusted at 12:06 AM on August 16, 2004
Well, on second thought, maybe your right. Fox does suck. CBS fragged up the Winter Olympics coverage they had in the 1990s, and we all know about NBC's ineptitude. Last time ABC had the games was 20 years ago, and those were well covered games. If they forget Dick Ebersol's (NBC Sports head honcho) formula, then ABC/ESPN/ESPN2 will kick serious butt covering the games. Fox's problem is that they use too many gismos and in-your-face graphics and sounds that annoy the hell out of me. I don't know what I was thinking suggesting they take the games. However, I wouldn't put it past ol' Rupert Murdoch to snatch them up since NBC has been losing out on sports lately. By the way, if NBC loses the Olympics after 2008, and doesn't have a major league sport to replace them, my money's on Bob Costas jumping to ABC/ESPN.
posted by jasonbondshow at 04:19 AM on August 16, 2004
The people at Fox are as ignorant as a box of hammers when it comes to anything but football, baseball, basketball, hockey, and NASCAR. Take a look at the list of Olympic sports, and I expect you'll find that Fox has never once broadcast a single event in the majority of those sports. What? Fox only knows how to broadcast the 5 major sports in the US and that shows how incompetent they are?1 Not that long ago Fox hadn't broadcast an event in any major sport. They seem to be doing ok now. And what a straw man: when's the last time any US network broadcast a crew event? NBC's been broadcasting track and field events for two or three years because they have no other sports to show on Saturdays (when Notre Dame's not in school and arena football's over) and their coverage hasn't impressed me so far. 1. I'll second goddam's comment about their baseball coverage.
posted by yerfatma at 06:18 AM on August 16, 2004
What? Fox only knows how to broadcast the 5 major sports in the US and that shows how incompetent they are? It shows how ignorant and inexperienced they are. So far in these games, NBC has done pretty well in the events that I've watched in getting good commentators, although they seem to be getting them from all over. I'm watching the US/Czech basketball game right now, for example, and they've got the team that normally covers WNBA games. It's pretty good. NBC doesn't normally show women's basketball (except affiliates showing some local games), but they do seem to be able to find who they need when they need them. Maybe Fox could do the same; I'm just saying, they never have. I will say, though, that NBC is doing one Foxian thing that's really bothering me, and that's the stupid on-screen graphics. They have those annoying swooping whooshing semi-transparencies taking up a quarter of the screen, telling you what's going to be on in fifteen minutes or half an hour...while you're trying to watch what's happening now. Very annoying.
posted by lil_brown_bat at 06:46 AM on August 16, 2004
From what I've seen, the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Company) seems to be doing an excellent job. Why don't you Yanks try and pick them up on the sat feed? It'll be a bit Can-centric, but they've got good commentators and a decent collection of analysts too.
posted by grum@work at 08:04 AM on August 16, 2004
it's times like these that i wish i lived closer to our northern neighbors.
posted by goddam at 08:48 AM on August 16, 2004
It shows how ignorant and inexperienced they are Well, their Fox Sports Net regional networks have experience covering a wide variety of events. OK, so they might be covering college gymnastics or track and field meets, but they could draw on that experience. It's not like they could be much worse than NBC. it's times like these that i wish i lived closer to our northern neighbors. Damn. I go to school in Michigan and get the CBC, but unfortunately I'm stuck in California till the end of the Olympics and will miss out on their coverage of the games.
posted by gyc at 01:19 AM on August 17, 2004
Maybe it's because they spent all that money on the rights to the Olympics that they've got such an also-ran sports department.