ESPN Sets Sights on Different Way to Show Olympics

New York Times ^ | February 24, 2010 | Richard Sandomir

[C19fan]

With 25.2 million viewers watching the Winter Olympics in prime time, NBC Universal feels vindicated by a strategy that features tape delay of some events and shows nothing live in the Mountain and Pacific time zones.

“A tremendous amount of time and experience goes into how we plan the Olympics,” Gary Zenkel, the president of NBC Olympics, said Wednesday from Vancouver. “Quite frankly, we’re pleased with the results.”

But fans who crave the chance to see everything live, as many Canadians do, may find an ally in ESPN, which plans to bid for the 2014 Winter Games and 2016 Summer Games. It would discontinue the tape-delay template.

[C19fan]

Sort of sad how far things have fallen when I am rooting for PC ESPN to win broadcasting rights to the Olympics. Hopefully the "sob stories" will finally be ended.

[Colonel Kangaroo]

I hope ESPN fails to get the winter games. I don’t want college basketball displaced by worthless winter sports.

[C19fan]

Great point. Definately Duke vs. NC more important than curling, hee hee.

[Colonel Kangaroo]

Great point. Definately Duke vs. NC more important than curling, hee hee.

Maybe not this year.

[TigerBait]

Olympics are popular because people are tired of seeing all these sports with ‘natural athletes.’

85% of the NBA is black. That’s obvious racism. Blacks are 12% of the population and there should be a lawsuit filed against the league to make sure the league reflects the demographics of the nation.

If Affirmative Action works for other businesses, why is the NBA (NFL, too) exempted from racism?

[Colonel Kangaroo]

The NBA MVP in 2005 and 2006, Steve Nash:

The MVP in 2007, Dirk Nowitzki:

[Oldpuppymax]

How much planning went into replacing the US Hockey team with ICE DANCING??

[dfwgator]

Seriously, who cares about college basketball until March, anyway?

[Colonel Kangaroo]

There were a few thousand of your fellow Gator fans who seemed quite excited the other night when the Gators and the refs beat the Vols.

[BenKenobi]

I don’t understand why you folks can’t watch the olympics in real time. Up here no one would settle for anything less.

[Yaelle]

NBC Olympics coverage SUCKS!!!

I love the Olympics. But I’d prefer to see the sports and nothing but the sports, without over-focus on the Americans, and I’d like there to be a place to watch full 100% of a sport you are interested in. Online. I’d pay $ for it too. On demand. Why NOT?

I went to see the video coverage at the NBC site and it offered a video of highlights of figure skating. Great, I thought. Clicked on it. It was several minutes of the last one second on the ice of each couple or skater. Just 30 “Ta-da’s.” What kind of poop is that??

[RayChuang88]

I think ESPN SHOULD take over Olympic coverage for one reason: no need to cater for "prime time" coverage. Given ESPN's success in showing the 2002 soccer World Cup from South Korea/Japan in the middle of the night and ESPN2 showing the evening sessions of the tennis Australian Open live in the middle of the night US time, Disney could use ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN Classic, and ABC Family for multichannel live feeds (plus additional feeds on ESPN3.com, formerly ESPN360.com), uses ESPNews for commentary and news and ESPN produces a three-hour nightly "compilation" package to be shown on ABC for those who can't see the live feeds.