I can find many bad aspects of how NBC has chosen to cover these Olympics. Smarter people than me have tackled that task. Let’s just focus on the horrible execution of their online coverage.
I really enjoyed seeing that they would show curling matches live online, especially since they fell right during lunch on the east coast. So I heated up my soup and sat down to enjoy the beginning of the US team’s opener today.
NBC didn’t like that idea at all. Oh, they have the match online. They have all the matches online. The problem is, they are also broadcasting the US match on the USA Network. So when the television audience gets a commercial, folks like me watching online get a blank screen.
Listen, I get that the network needs to make money off the Games. I really do. But you’re not adding a lot of value to your online presence when you eviscerate the one feed that most people will be watching. How about finding a creative way to put ads online while maintaining the uncut feed for the small cadre of online viewers?
So instead of building loyalty from people like me, they are pissing us off by not showing half of the American action. They just came back from a break halfway through an end (that’s the curling equivalent of an inning). I’m supposed to feel better because I can see Switzerland and Denmark without interruption. Unbelievable.
By the way, those awesome pants in the photo belong to the team from Norway. Love it.
That would necessitate spending time with Jimmy Fallon. I’m not sure I’m willing to go that far. Plus, who says they want him back?
I say we go to New York and storm NBC Studios, taking Jimmy Fallon hostage until such time as the General Electric subsidiary stops being stupid.