I love the Olympics.  I get into every single part of the games.  From the opening ceremony to the closing, I watch as much as I possibly can.  If it’s the winter, I’ll watch Denmark vs. Norway in curling, check out the finals of the 5,000 speedskating between the Netherlands and Italy, and all of the events in between.  However, as a broadcaster, I sometimes have to watch between fingers draped over my eyes while shouting at the TV, not because of the competition, but because of the quality of the broadcast.

    I know this is something that may only interest me, but as I have watched the hours of television produced by NBC for these Olympics, I have come to realize that two things- competition flow and game day directing- must be at a premium, because the network doesn’t seem to have a high enough opinion of either to make the games as enjoyable experience as I think it could be.

     First of all let’s talk competition.  I get how the network, which says it is losing money on the Games (though not as much as “The Marriage Ref” will lose.  Did you see that show after the closing ceremony?  Holy Moly that was horrible television)  wants to pump up the tension to create better television and keep people tuned in, but I cannot abide the continuous splitting up of events.  If you aren’t going to show them live, and NBC has very little live coverage, then at least give me a beginning middle and end in that order.  Continually starting and stopping events by weaving them together made for fractured viewing, and sent many, including myself, to the internet to find out the winners.

     Now about game day directing.  OK, I’m a tough, tough critic here because I’m in the business.  However, during the opening and closing ceremonies, as well as a number of the events, I noticed the shot choices by the director (the man in the truck who decides which camera we see when) perplexing at best, and enfuriating at worst.  Examples were many, but let me focus on just a couple.  During the opening ceremony, which is a stage show that encompasses an entire stadium, the director felt that the public were much more interested in the reaction of the few recognizable US athletes as they watch it unfold than in the ceremony itself.  At one point, we were watching Shaun White and his snowboarder buddies react enthusiastically to what was going on in the stadium, while being denied the chance to see that part of the event itself that was so amazing to the athletes.  Television is supposed to bring you to places you can’t go yourself.  If I want random athlete reaction, I’ll check the Twitter accounts.   This was repeated in the closing ceremony, and once again left me disappointed (Though not as much as “The Marriage Ref”.  That really is bad TV).

    Is this like pointing out a small scratch on an otherwise pristine car, or a mole on a timeless beauty?  Perhaps.  But to paraphrase Seinfeld himself, it doesn’t upset me as a viewer, it upsets me as a broadcaster!