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Conference ljsrv1::tv_chatter

Title:The TV Chatter Notes Conference
Notice:Welcome to TV Chatter :-)
Moderator:PASTA::PIERCE
Created:Wed Dec 16 1992
Last Modified:Thu Jun 05 1997
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:498
Total number of notes:5416

211.0. "1994 Winter Olympic Games" by ALFA1::ACQUAFRESCA (Take me to the beach, please!!!!) Tue Jan 11 1994 08:58

    I have a question about the figure skating that was on Sat. night.  In
    1992, they had several Olympic skaters who were on the U.S. team, the
    top three being Kristy Yamaguchi (sp), Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya
    Harding.  There were also others who skated for the U.S. that ended up
    in like 7th - 9th place.
    
    So, my question is, why have they picked only two to be on the team
    this year?  Are there others who have already been picked?  Does anyone
    know about the selection process?  It looks like the same few have been
    picked for the men's team also, Brian Boitano and the one who won, I
    forget his name.
    
    Cheryl
T.RTitleUserPersonal
Name
DateLines
211.41HELIX::MAIEWSKITue Mar 01 1994 10:2430
RE                    <<< Note 211.40 by CSC32::K_BOUCHARD >>>
>                                -< dumb events >-

>    Hate to disagree with you .39,but "short track" reminds me of
>    roller-derby. It's as silly to have it as an Olympic event as it would
>    be to have a bunch of guys on skis shooting at things! Hey...
    
  Any sport seems goofy if you look to close. How about those nuts that strap
sticks on their feet and zoom down a mountain at 60 mph or zig zag down the
hill knocking down silly sticks? Or how about those clowns that go out and
kick an inflated ball and yell GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!
in the unlikely event that it goes through an opening the size of a barn
door? All arts and sports are silly to some extent.

  One big difference between short track skating and roller-derby is that in
roller-derby the skaters could bash each other all they wanted. In short track
it seems to be a foul. 

  True there were some questionable calls and Turner seemed to win a gold medal
where she should have been disqualified and she got disqualified where she
shouldn't have, but a few bad calls doesn't mean it's a bad sport, just bad
officiating. 

  Also roller-derby seemed like it was run by the same people that did pro
wrestling which suggested that the outcome was less than honest. 

  But what's wrong with an honest game of non-contack roller-derby on ice?
Seems like it's just as much a sport as anything else. 

  George 
211.42smilesCSC32::K_BOUCHARDWed Mar 02 1994 09:087
211.43BUSY::SLABOUNTYIs this p_n great or what?Wed Mar 02 1994 11:5910
    
>    roller-derby. It's as silly to have it as an Olympic event as it would
>    be to have a bunch of guys on skis shooting at things! Hey...
    
    
    	Heh heh ... reminds me of "Skeet Surfing" from "Top Secret!".
    
    	8^)
    
    							GTI
211.44HELIX::MAIEWSKIWed Mar 02 1994 13:0312
  Well it's over. I watched just about every night and most of the days. Now
I'm going into Olympic withdrawl.

  The press really beat up on CBS during the 2nd week but I thought their
2nd week wasn't that bad, especially at night. Lots of sports, and some of
the special reports were not that bad, especially the ones by Charles Karult.

  I thought Greg Gumble did a pretty good job. Much better than Tim McCarver
or brother Briant.

  On to Nagono,
  George
211.45can't wait!CSC32::K_BOUCHARDWed Mar 02 1994 13:248
    Maybe there'll be another scandal to liven up the next olympics. Hate to
    see anyone get hurt though,maybe the scandal will involve some sexual
    escapade this time,you know like the entire Russian team getting caught
    on film doing...
    
    Ken
    
    
211.46From the Internet...AWECIM::MCMAHONLiving in the owe-zoneThu Mar 03 1994 09:1817
Article 5047 of rec.humor.funny:
Message-ID: <S67a.48c9@clarinet.com>
Date: Wed, 2 Mar 94 3:20:02 EST
Newsgroups: rec.humor.funny
Subject: the Olympic spirit
From: rwinters@hq.nasa.gov (Robert N. Winters)
Keywords: topical, smirk, olympics
Approved: funny@clarinet.com
Lines: 12

Seen on a poster in a bar shortly after Tonya Harding placed tenth
in the first half of the women's figure skating competition:

       "Tonya Harding: Nine clubbings away from Gold!"


--
211.47NBC's coverage of the 96 Summer GamesWMOIS::LYONS_SThu Jul 25 1996 20:1723
    Rather than start a new Olypmic Games topic...i thought I would just
    add to this one.  Moderator, if you feel it is justifiable to start a
    new topic, than, please, by all means change this.
    
    
    I was wondering what folks thought about this years coverage of the
    Opening Ceremony and the actual games by NBC.
    
    I ended up staying awake for the Opening Ceremony (no choice with the
    crowd I was with!) and I thought the coverage was horrible.  The camera
    angles were horrible.  The coverage would be of one nation and the talk
    would be of a different one.  You couldn't hear the commentators
    because of the background noises.  All in all I thought NBC's coverage
    of the Opening Ceremony was horrible.
    
    I haven't been too happy with the coverage of the games either.  I only
    sit to watch them on occasion for a few minutes here and there, but I
    would be really upset if I was an advid watcher.  They sporatically
    cover each sport with no logical sequence and they show so many "Up
    Close and Personal" pieces that they don't have time to show any of the
    actual games.  
    
    Well, that's just my $.02 worth.  Was wondering how others felt.
211.48US onlyAIMTEC::STDBKR::Burden_dKeep Cool with CoolidgeThu Jul 25 1996 22:1311
I realize this may sound silly, but they show too much of the US teams!  We 
went down to see the women's volleyball on Monday and saw China vs Korea and 
then Ukrane vs Japan.  Good matches, even without the US team involved.  The 
only volleyball matches NBC is going to air are the US mens and womens vs 
whomever.  Also, how much basketball do they have to show?

Let's see how many medal rounds they show (of any sport) that the US is not 
involved.

Dave
(Woodstock, GA)
211.49The US Olympics?RICKS::BERMANFri Jul 26 1996 13:467
    I also noticed that the US coverage is extremely high.  I think some
    slant is natural, but they are almost ignoring all of the other
    athletes.  It's frustrating.
    
    I haven't watched too much, mostly gymnastics.

    Rachael
211.50been goodGRANPA::JBOBBJanet Bobb dtn:339-5755Sun Jul 28 1996 16:4333
    I really liked the opening ceremony - the Olympic "spirits" was kinda
    theatrical but I liked it. I especially liked what they did with the
    sheets/lights and shadow figures - inventive, simple and impressive.
    
    Coverage on the other hand was fair to poor.  And the bit about the
    atheletes having to run from the holding area to the stadium - what was
    the staff doing with all those radios - listening to a ball game? 
    
    As far as the coverage goes - I've been watching quite a bit and am
    also upset about NBC's coverage. It is very bias - unless the Americans
    are in it, you don't see it. For example - the 3 day equestrian team
    event - final show jumping - they showed one round of New Zealand (who
    won bronze), all 3 rounds of US (silver) and only bits and pieces of
    Australia (Gold).  At least show the gold winner rounds! And in many of
    the medal ceremonies they don't even show the other teams.
    
    And - i'd like them to spend more time on the other sports and less on
    the "fluff" pieces. (ex: piece on the civil war by Ken burns, a "how
    wonderful Georgia is" piece). Also - show us the events as they
    happen/or were taped and not some editted and stylized piece on the
    event. I would have liked to see more of the "other sports", fencing,
    table tennis, judo, shooting.
    
    I understand NBC is getting alot of grief over their coverage -
    presenting taped events as if live, the American bias, etc. It will be
    interesting to see if anything changes for the last week. 
    
    I am still watching a lot of the events and am glad for the coverage,
    since there's no way I'd want to be in Atlanta with the mobs. I enjoy
    watching the wonderful atheletes, even if it makes me feel like a gold
    medal couch potato!
    
    janetb.
211.51I can for the rest of my life, "I was there!"ODIXIE::LOWERWhat fools these mortals be!Mon Jul 29 1996 08:2511
    >I am still watching a lot of the events and am glad for the coverage,
    >since there's no way I'd want to be in Atlanta with the mobs. 
    
    The mobs aren't really here.  The only real crowds are on the subway and
    busses, but never nearly as bad as Manhattan at rush hour.  
    
    Going to an event is the most exciting experience of my life.  And I
    have two more to to attend.  I wouldn't pass it up for the world!
    
    
    Rick
211.52Poor at bestTNPUBS::NAZZAROAin't no one gonna dog me downMon Jul 29 1996 17:547
    Olympic coverage is as awful as I had feared.  I hate when they show
    you an event that was taped hours before, but don't tell you it's on
    tape.  Let's have a little honesty, please.  And the focus on
    gymnastics to the exclusions of many other events is strictly motivated
    by ratings, not by a responsibility to cover the games.
    
    NAZZ
211.53ODIXIE::MOREAUKen Moreau;Technical Support;FloridaMon Jul 29 1996 19:1223
This isn't about either the Games themselves, or the TV coverage of the Games,
but it happened during the coverage so I guess it is fair game. :^)

Did anyone see the McDonald's commercial with the runner on Sunday night?
If not, here is the entire commercial:

A USA runner has just won his race and is walking around cooling down and
just really enjoying the fact that he is in the Olympics.  Crowd shots
and his reaction to them.  He then glances back to the starting blocks
where this little boy (roughly 7 years old) is looking at the runner with
adoration.  The little boy then gets into starting position at the blocks,
and the two characters just look at each other (the boy thinking "Maybe
someday I can be there" and the man thinking "That's me 15 years ago").  Fade 
to McDonald's logo.

I still get misty when I remember it.  If ever there was any competition
for honest emotion and real effect in a commercial, this is the only one I
would ever put in the same class as the Mean Joe Greene Coke commercial,
which IMHO is one of the finest commercials ever made.  

Good job, McDonalds.

-- Ken Moreau
211.54WMOIS::LYONS_SMon Jul 29 1996 20:1911
    
    RE: Ken:
    
    I agree...great commercial from Mickey D's.
    
    RE: a couple back...even though NBC seems to be getting slack about
    their coverage, they don't seem to be making any changes in it!
    
    Even their coverage of the bombing that occurred was terrible.
    
    I hope another network gets the coverage for the next round.
211.55Beach volleyball tape soughtDREGS::BLICKSTEINThe moment is a masterpieceMon Jul 29 1996 21:409
    Which reminds me...
    
    Does anyone have a VHS copy of the men's semi-final beach volleyball
    match between Karch Kiraly/Kent Steffes and Sinjin Smith/Carl Henkel?
    
    If so, please send me e-mail.   I'd REALLY love to see it (borrow or
    buy, whatever).
    
    	Dave Blickstein
211.56CLUSTA::MAIEWSKIBos-Mil-Atl Braves W.S. ChampsThu Aug 01 1996 18:1735
  Showing U.S. Athletes is nothing new. Even back when the Wide World of Sports
crew from A.B.C. was doing the Olympics they always concentrated on events in
which the United States did the best. I remember once that Jim McCay admitted
up front that the reason they did this was that ratings were always higher when
a U.S. Athlete was involved. 

  In fact ratings is driving just about everything you see. The president of
NBC said before the Olympics that if they covered it the way the people who
read Track and Field magazine wanted it covered no one would watch. As it is
they are pulling in record ratings. 

  One big effort by NBC which is working is their effort to get more women to
watch the Olympics. The NBC president said that to get women to watch they have
to do those personal stories that go into the athletes background since women
are more interested in who the athletes are rather than than who wins a
particular event. And it's working. Women are making up 55% of the NBC audience
which is up from 51% last time.

  The president went on to talk about the triple cast they tried to do four
years ago from Spain. If you remember, they worked a deal with cable outlets
where by there were three cable channels (the Red, White, and Blue channels) in
addition to the NBC network feed. I believe one concentrated on Track and
Field, one on basketball and other team sports and one on other sports. 

  Anyway, it was a financial disaster. The NBC president said that they lost so
much money on that deal that it would have been cheaper to fly all the
subscribers to Spain, put them up in hotels and buy them tickets to the events.

  Yes people complain, they always complain, but what people want to watch just
doesn't match up with what the most vocal critics are saying. And when you come
right down to it, they are not doing all that bad. At least they are doing a
whole lot better than CBS did the last two times they covered the Winter
Olympics. 

  George 
211.57Broadcasting101 - "PICN"ODIXIE::LOWERWhat fools these mortals be!Fri Aug 02 1996 04:4224
>Yes people complain, they always complain, but what people want to watch just
>doesn't match up with what the most vocal critics are saying. And when you come
>right down to it, they are not doing all that bad. At least they are doing a
>whole lot better than CBS did the last two times they covered the Winter
>Olympics.
    
    
    I agree, George.  There's a reason NBC picks the events they cover: 
    those are the ones MOST people want to see.  Fortunately, they under-
    stand that there will be those who gripe about not getting to see judo
    or kayaking in prime time, but the ratings speak for themselves.
    
    Speaking of ratings, one noter here complained that NBC was going for
    ratings over responsibility.  How so?  If the ratings are indeed
    setting records, then NBC must be providing what the majority of people
    want to see.  Isn't that their primary responsiblity, serving the
    public interest?  Ever hear of "public interest, convenience and
    necessity" as it relates to broadcasting?  In short, those are the
    reasons broadcast stations are granted their licenses.  They have no
    responsiblity to the Olympic Games, only to the American public.
    
    
    Rick 
    
211.58The John Tesh OlympicsDONVAN::KEEFEFri Aug 02 1996 15:1436
    This week's New Yorker has an article describing in detail the
    reasoning behind the way the games are covered. Essentially it's 
    as George described in .56. I found it creepy though. They talk with
    one of the marketing guys who quacks on about how women need to see a
    sport from "the inside out", as opposed to the men who want to just
    watch the event (outside in), and do not care about the athlete's poor
    mum etc, but will put up with that stuff, and even the unspeakably
    dreadful John Tesh, and watch anyway.
    
    Not me, I can't stand it. Violins, sentiment, hometowns, heartbreak!
    Ah, such a poignant struggle. Bleah!
    
    Apparently the market guy is right though. It is a success in my
    household. My wife who could normally not give a * about sports is
    watching, and I hang around on the off chance of a glimpse of the
    "minor" sports like wrestling or judo. 
    
    Speaking of which, I don't know that gymnastics, swimming, and track
    and field are so popular anyway. Somebody made the remark that you
    could have a world championship track meet in the middle of a town
    square, give tickets away, and still only get two hundred people to
    show up.
    
    What I'd wish for, which I think NBC could easily afford, is that
    they'd at least make an attempt to provide a "coverage of record" for
    "minor" events. Set up a couple of cameras at the Judo mat and let them
    run. Use one announcer instead of three. Then play these back during
    the night, when ratings are not an issue. 
    
    This would fulfill a bit of the responsibility to the Games someone
    mentioned. It would satisfy those interested in seeing the poor-cousin
    sports and in seeing, God forbid, the invisible hordes (non-American
    competitors) that are apparently so detrimental to the primetime
    ratings, at little cost to the network.
    
    Neil                                   
211.59ORION::chayna.zko.dec.com::xanadu::eppesNina EppesFri Aug 02 1996 16:2725
>    They talk with
>    one of the marketing guys who quacks on about how women need to see a
>    sport from "the inside out"

Well, they're wrong about THIS woman.  I am SO SICK of all those "personal
profiles"!  I like knowing some information about the athletes, but these
reports by NBC are so sickeningly sappy and melodramatic (and interminable!),
I can't stand them.  If I hear about Vitaly Scherbo's wife one more time I'm 
gonna scream!!  And as for John Tesh, well, words fail me......

They could show a lot more of the actual events if they would cut back on
the idiotic personal pieces!

However, I *am* watching the Olympics, and I usually don't care about sports.
So maybe their strategy is working.  :-)

-- Nina

P.S. Dave Barry did a hilarious spoof of NBC's coverage in a recent column
(he's posting daily columns from the Olympics).  Check out the 1996 Olympics
topic in the HYDRA::DAVE_BARRY notes file (I forget the note number, but it's
close to the top of the list if you do a directory of the notes file in 
descending order, i.e., LAST-1).


211.60the Dave Barry column I mentioned in .59ORION::chayna.zko.dec.com::xanadu::eppesNina EppesFri Aug 02 1996 17:09113
Live From NBC! Drum Roll Please.
By Dave Barry
Knight-Ridder Newspapers
 
ATLANTA (KRT) -- And now for my impression of the Olympics on TV:
 
TRUMPETS: BOM! BOM! BOM-BOM BOM BOM BOM!
 
BOB COSTAS: Good evening, and as you can tell by the sound of the Olympic
Theme Song that we play almost as much as we show Kerri Strug's historic
vault, it's time for our broadcast of The Recently Videotaped Olympic Games
Featuring Americans. We're going to start by taking you right to the
track-and-field stadium, where the men's 100-meter dash is about to get under
way, despite the fact that it actually happened four hours ago.
 
TRACK COMMENTATOR: Bob, this promises to be an exciting race, featuring
Americans.

COSTAS: And what are the obstacles that these Americans have overcome to
create a Human Interest Factor for our broadcast?

TRACK COMMENTATOR: Bob, from left to right, they have overcome psoriasis,
vertigo and a bad allergy to vinaigrette dressing.

COSTAS: We'll come back to the men's 100-meter final, but right now we're
going to replay the video of Kerri Strug, an American, overcoming her ankle to
make her courageous vault.

(Kerri Strug vaults.)

COSTAS: What a human moment! Time for a commercial.

ANNOUNCER: We're IBM. We're a giant corporation with vast computer expertise.
That's why we're in charge of keeping track of all the statistics for these,
the Olympic Games of 1953. Thank you.

BOM! BOM! BOMBOM BOM BOM BOM!

COSTAS: Now we're going to take you to women's beach volleyball, where the sun
is shining brightly despite the fact that it is now 10:37 p.m. on the East
Coast.

BEACH VOLLEYBALL COMMENTATOR: Thanks, Bob. This is Holly McPeak, an American,
and as you can see in this digitized, computer-enhanced, ultra-slow-motion
Beach Cam closeup shot, she has overcome cellulite.

COSTAS: I'll say. When is she going to serve?

BEACH VOLLEYBALL COMMENTATOR: She'll be serving in about 4 seconds, Bob.

COSTAS: I'm sorry, but we don't have that kind of time, because we need to
show this Heartwarming Moment.

(Kerri Strug vaults.)

COSTAS: Now let's go out to the cycling competition, where I believe we have a
race involving an American.

CYCLING COMMENTATOR: That is correct, Bob. We have an American shown here
pedaling furiously in 637th place, with a solid chance to move up to 636th.

COSTAS: What obstacle has this American overcome?

CYCLING COMMENTATOR: Bob, he is overcoming one hellacious case of hemorrhoids.

COSTAS: We'll have more on that exciting cycling race, but right now we're
going to return to the Olympic track stadium for an update on the men's
100-meter dash.

TRACK COMMENTATOR: Bob, the race started about two seconds ago and should be
over in about eight more seconds. None of the Americans has fallen down.

COSTAS: We're going to break away from the men's 100-meter dash at this point,
but we will be covering it throughout the course of the evening. Right now,
however, we want you to see this moment, captured by our NBC cameras.

(Kerri Strug vaults.)

COSTAS: Now let's head out to the pool to check on the progress of the
American swimmers, all of whom have overcome asthma.

SWIMMING COMMENTATOR: Bob, here we see an American swimmer winning a race.
This happened earlier.

COSTAS: How much earlier?

SWIMMING COMMENTATOR: Twenty-four years, Bob. This is Mark Spitz.

COSTAS: Time for this commercial.

ANNOUNCER: We're the Nike Corporation. We pay famous athletes millions of
dollars to wear our shoes. Because of this, you, the public, pay absurdly high
prices for these shoes. Is that stupid, or what? Thank you.

BOM! BOM! BOMBOM BOM BOM BOM!

(Kerri Strug vaults.)

COSTAS: OK, right now there are exciting gold-medal competitions going on in
archery, shooting, rowing, kayaking, table tennis, softball, volleyball, team
handball and judo, so right now we're going to take you to beach volleyball.

BEACH VOLLEYBALL COMMENTATOR: Bob, as you can see, American Holly McPeak is
bending over.

COSTAS: I'll say.

BOM! BOM! BOMBOM BOM BOM BOM!

(Kerri Strug vaults.)



211.61another no vote for fluff!GRANPA::JBOBBJanet Bobb dtn:339-5755Sun Aug 04 1996 23:5534
    I'd like to log in as another woman who is sick of the personnal stuff!
    
    Other than an occassional football game I do not watch sports on TV.
    However, I always watch the Olympics, as much as I can. I enjoy seeing
    the atheletes from all over the world engaged in something other than
    fighting.  I enjoy watching the events I would never watch otherwise -
    like weight lifting and swim meets. 
    
    There was an article in the washington Post sometime last week where
    they mentioned that one of the 5 hour coverages , it had 70 minutes of
    commercials, 70 minutes of actual sports coverage and the rest of
    "fluff".... good grief!
    
    I think NBC is getting the ratings because there are many people like
    me. They will watch the olympics, even if the coverage is crummy,
    because it's the Olympics. 
    
    If NBC is so concerned about ratings, then in this day and age of
    vcr's, I'd love NBC to show the "other" sports during the sleeping
    hours and I'll watch the tape at my leisure. I agree with Neil, just
    have a camera or 2 running and 1 person doing comments and run it.
    
    As I said in an earlier note, I also would like to see at least the
    medal winning bouts/runs or whatever they are called of the "other"
    sports.
    
    Oh well - you gets what you pay for! And, to be fair, some of the
    coverage was very good.
    
    Was John Tesh ever a gymnist? I caught comments one day that implied he
    had also covered the Barcelona gymnastics... 
    
    janetb.
    who will miss it when its over, but glad to get off the couch!
211.62From the Old CountryCHEFS::PATEMANAlfa CorseMon Aug 05 1996 11:5837
    The US coverage has received comments over in Europe too. We have to
    watch live stuff by staying up until 2am so those of us watching are
    pretty dedicated.
    
    The view over here is that the US coverage has been pretty dreadful as
    SPORTS broadcasting, and that the games as a whole have been less than
    successful. A comment a few back about track & field getting small
    audiences is not true in Europe. The Grand Prix meets get very high
    attendances while the view here is that the US only gets interested in
    T&F during the Games.
    
    My own visits to the US has shown that the only sports that really get
    interest are Basketball, Baseball, Football (US style) and Hockey (Ice
    variety) and possibly Golf & Boxing. Everything else is of periphery 
    interest. 
    
    UK TV is clearly focused as well with Soccer, Cricket, Rugby and Horse
    Racing probably taking most coverage but there is extensive coverage of
    Motor Racing of many types, Track & Field, Swimming, Cycling, Tennis,
    Golf, Boxing etc etc. I  guess Europe has more wide ranging interest
    given our wider cultural diversity.
    
    I must be honest and say that I think the US influence is generally bad
    for Sport. The fact that they even discussed changing the rules of
    soccer to make it more accessible in the World Cup (how many Americans
    remember USA 94?) is appalling.
    
    Sport in Europe is watched by a range of classes and sexes, indeed
    soccer now attracts significant numbers of women both live and on TV.
    
    The Games ARE different and just as Tennis audiences rise during
    Wimbledon, people in Europe watch sports they would not normally see
    let alone watch such as Yachting and Beach Volleyball, but, and this is
    the final, killer point, we watch it as SPORT, not, as we are led to
    believe NBC covered it, as SOAP crossed with Oprah.
    
    Paul
211.63CLUSTA::MAIEWSKIBos-Mil-Atl Braves W.S. ChampsMon Aug 05 1996 13:3420
               <<< Note 211.62 by CHEFS::PATEMAN "Alfa Corse" >>>

>    My own visits to the US has shown that the only sports that really get
>    interest are Basketball, Baseball, Football (US style) and Hockey (Ice
>    variety) and possibly Golf & Boxing. Everything else is of periphery 
>    interest. 
    
  This is just about right but add to the list Tennis, Figure Skating, and one
of the biggest ratings winners candle pin bowling. The ratings for bowling are
odd in that no one can explain it. Almost no one ever admits to watching it but
it always comes out near the top when sports ratings are announced. 

  I'm curious about one thing. You mention Europe's view of U.S. Coverage,
was NBC's coverage broadcast in Europe or are you talking about Europeans
who happened to be in the U.S. watching U.S. TV during the games?

  I was of the impression that the BBC and other European networks handled
their own coverage in Europe? Is that wrong?

  George
211.64STRWRS::KOCH_PIt never hurts to ask...Mon Aug 05 1996 22:2210
    
    Re: Triplecast
    
    The biggest problem with this was that it required you to purchase all
    the events up front for lots of money. IMHO, this is where they went
    wrong. If they had allowed people to purchase individual events for say
    $.99, then as the event which came up people could call and unlock that
    one event, it would have succeeded. However, given that you had to buy
    each block of events for an outrageous amount of money, I knew it was
    doomed to failure.
211.65CHEFS::PATEMANAlfa CorseTue Aug 06 1996 08:077
    Re -2
    
    I was referring to UK journo's reviews of the coverage they saw in the
    US. The actual UK coverage was fine, other than occasional focus on US
    competitors to the exclusion of "gallant" (ie losing!) Brits!
    
    Paul 
211.66CLUSTA::MAIEWSKIBos-Mil-Atl Braves W.S. ChampsTue Aug 06 1996 12:5618
  In general, what does European TV Olympic coverage look like?

  Do you get a lot of hours of coverage?

  Do they cover many events a little or do they devote most of their time to
  certain sports?

  Do they focus on the athletes of their own country, on winners, or is it
  spread around some other way?

  Do you ever get stories about the athletes personal lives or do they just
  stick to sports?

  How much time is spent on controversies rather than sports?

  Anything else different from NBC's type of coverage?

  George
211.67BUSY::SLABForget the doctor - get me a nurse!Tue Aug 06 1996 13:434
    
    	Did anybody hear that a boxing match in '88 might have been
    	fixed via payoffs to the judges?
    
211.68Dunno about the rest of EuropeCHEFS::PATEMANAlfa CorseTue Aug 06 1996 14:4323
    Re -2
    
    The BBC have been running the following schedule:
    
    7am-9am	Olympic Breakfast
    		Summary of overnight events, headlining with British
    		success
    
    9am-??	Overview programming with more in depth coverage of smaller
    		sports
    
    2pm-5am	Pretty much rolling coverage on one or other channel with a
    		summary program early evening
    
    Added to that, EuroSport, a satellite & cable station has been
    effectively 24 hour coverage except for the German Grand Prix with
    live, tape delay and highlights.
    
    The BBC coverage has hit almost everything over the two weeks although
    some sports like shooting, wrestling etc have not had much prime time
    coverage.
    
    Paul
211.69CPCOD::JOHNSONA rare blue and gold afternoonTue Aug 06 1996 15:1113
   I watched less of the summer Olympics this year than I normally do because
   I grew impatient with the personal bios, the amount of commentator
   chat, and the number of commercials.  It wasn't so much that I don't
   like bios, I just thought they should be shorter and fewer of them.
   I really feel like I was "cheated" out of the Olympics this year.  
   After a little while of watching them in the evening, I got restless 
   and bored, and so turned the TV off and went and did other things.  Many 
   of the women I work with have said similar things so I'm not sure where 
   this rating stuff comes from.  I think, like someone else said, because 
   it is the Olympics, people watch even though they are frustrated with 
   the coverage.

   Leslie
211.70PASTA::PIERCEThe Truth is Out ThereTue Aug 06 1996 15:1717
    
    I just wish all the channels would carry the olympics, or mabye they
    could divi up what they wanted to show...so that way we could see
    everything.  I wanted to see all the equistrian events, espcially the
    dressage event - but they only showed 5min of it.  They did show some
    jumping but only the falls :-(.
    
    and that way, if someone wanted to see the badmitten, then they could.
    I didn't like that they choose to only show what they thought the
    public wanted - I'm sure there are alot of angry boxing fans out there.
    
    but, over all - I had fun watching it.  There is NEVER anything good on
    TV anymore, it was a nice change of pace.  I was at a loss lastnight,
    so I put on A&E and learned all I wanted to know and more about Thomas
    A. Edison. :)
    
    Louisa
211.71LA vs. AtlantaGRANPA::JBOBBJanet Bobb dtn:339-5755Wed Aug 07 1996 16:5420
    I had pulled out an old tape to use in the vcr during the olympics, to
    record events when I couldn't watch. Didin't realize how old the tape
    was until I sat to watch it last night. Tape starts off with equestian 
    coverage from this year, goes through some old shows and then starts
    Olympic Jumping - but from the LA Olympics!   Show jumping -team, end
    of 3 day event. Interesting Differences!
    
    1. course looked much easier
    2. they had 2 minutes to finish
    
    3. coverage was much better!  ABC started off with decsription of the
    course and each fence, giving height/width and explaining why
    easy/difficult.  Shots were farther away so you could see what happened
    to the fence after the horse went over. Commentary seemed more
    intelligent.
    
    hopefully if NBC gets enough feedback, they have 4 years to fix
    problems!
    
    janetb.
211.72yeechEVMS::SCHUETZVMS Clusters Memory Channel 381-6075Thu Aug 08 1996 16:347
    I was particularly upset when the reporter had to ask every single
    member of the Men's 4x100 relay team if they would have won with
    Carl Lewis on the team.  I thought that was particularly blatant 
    abuse.  Asking the first guy was ok, but then they should have let
    it drop.  Afterall, the Canadians had a better time, it wasn't
    that the US team goofed up.