First of
all, NBC is my network of choice for news, so I love that they have the
monopoly (or rather the money) to cover all the Olympics and combine my daily
news personalities along with it. People have been complaining ever since the
games started about the fact that “nothing is live” and that everything is
known before you even get the chance to watch it. While NBC is holding a lot of
television coverage for primetime (because that’s what advertisers want), it’s
not like they haven’t given you the opportunity to watch it live on your
computer. And a lot of people are because it seems that some businesses are
complaining of productivity going down since the games began.
Secondly, if
it was all live, how many people have televisions in their offices at work to
watch it? I do, but I know I’m in the minority. What people really want is for
the stuff to be shown live at night when they’re at home. The fact of the matter
is that physically can’t happen. I love the NBC put out a statement saying that
they apologize for not being able to make time in London and the U.S. the same to
fix this problem for everyone. Haha!
Come on,
people! Forget that we’ve been spoiled the past two Olympics with Beijing
morning falling during our primetime and Vancouver being on west coast time.
The fact is that this is the way most Olympics are and we just forgot about it
over the last six years. Anyone remember Sydney?
The other
problem is that this is the second Olympics where Twitter has existed and
really the first that it has been big. Twenty years ago when the games were in
Barcelona we faced pretty much the same time difference (just one hour
difference between London and Barcelona). Back then the only way you found out
what happened before they showed it on television was if you watched the news. Now
people can go on news sites, Facebook and Twitter to find out what has happened
and they are ticked that they’re finding out before they can watch it. First of
all, get over it. Secondly, just don’t go on those sites. I’ve successfully
made it through three quarters of the Olympics without any spoilers so I can
watch it at night. It’s possible and I’m someone that normally sits in front of
that stuff all day long.
NBC did
compromise and show a lot of stuff live over the weekend. But they still have
to please advertisers, so they have to save the big stuff for primetime. Good
news for all you Olympic Scrooges – Rio is just one hour ahead of the east
coast, so stuff will be live in four years. But don’t get too used to it. The
final three cities for 2020 are Madrid, Istanbul and Tokyo, while 2014 is in
Russia and 2018 in South Korea. That doesn’t bode well for live primetime.
Now, if
anyone out there is bashing the city of London, I want you to come and talk to
me face-to-face so we can have it out. London is absolutely the perfect city
for the Olympics. It has so many great sites and things to do and the setting
for some of these venues are absolutely perfect (i.e. cycling, rowing, beach
volleyball, soccer). People were hemming and hawing before the games started
about London being too big, not enough security, blah, blah, blah. I haven’t
heard anything about this since the games began. Have you? They planned it out.
They knew what was coming. I went through Heathrow in June and although it was
a month before the Olympics, we had people asking if we had any questions and I
can promise you the security was tight. It’s clear thy fixed any kinks before
everything started.
On to
talking and defending the Brits themselves. They are very misunderstood. People
think they are stuffy, snobby and not into anything remotely exciting. That is
all very wrong. While they don’t wear their hearts on their sleeves, they are
sentimental and kind people (a little like me). I spent four months there six
years ago and I never met an inhospitable person. I’ve said before that they
don’t always like to show how excited they get over something, but sometimes
they can’t hide it and then there is no holding back for them. This was evident
during the royal wedding, the Diamond Jubilee and now the Olympics. They will
wait until the last possible moment, somewhat complaining, but then they go all
out. And they go nuts! They knew all along that they would not be in the hunt
to win the overall medal count, but they still continue to show up to all type
of events to cheer on the rest of the world. It’s just been a bonus to them that
they’ve started to win all these medals.
Have you
watched any of the events where a member of Team GB wins a medal? It is
awesome! And you can’t look at those British athletes and tell me they aren’t
emotional or sentimental. The Brits are loving the Olympics and loving it so
much that they just might actually admit it to you.
Cheerio.
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