Workaholics and fast livers who are frustrated that a day contains only 24 hours might want to consult with NBC.
The network will break the time barrier with its coverage of the Olympics, broadcasting more than 70 hours a day from Athens.
ABC’s entire coverage of the 1976 Montreal Olympics was 76 1/2 hours, which was considered excessive back then. Now viewers get nearly that much in one day.
NBC didn’t invent a time machine. Through the magic of television, and specifically cable, the network is spreading its coverage over seven outlets.
They range from USA Network and MSNBC to Telemundo, which will air 169 hours in Spanish. Also 399 hours of exclusive HD coverage will be offered.
All told 1,210 hours of Olympics will be broadcast over 17 days, nearly triple what was available from Sydney in 2000. All 28 sports will be covered in unprecedented detail as NBC tries to avoid complaints that more obscure events are ignored.
The driving force will continue to be NBC’s main network, seen locally on WMAQ-Ch. 5. Bob Costas again will host the main prime-time show. The presentation, however, will be significantly different.
In perhaps the only area being reduced, NBC has sliced its nightly program from five hours to four. The network believed the longer show was too difficult to digest.
Otherwise the emphasis is more, more, more. At NBC the notion of doing too much doesn’t exist.
NBC Olympic Chairman Dick Ebersol said the International Olympic Committee “has asked us for years to give this kind of coverage to all of the 28 sports over 17 days.”
Here’s some of what to expect:
No sports slighted
If you’re a fan of team handball, live it up. These will be your Olympics.
Of course you might have to get up early or not go to bed at all to catch those sports. An efficient VCR also will be required if equestrian is your thing.
The broadcast day begins with MSNBC on the air at 1 a.m. With the eight-hour time difference from Athens, the cable part of the package will air more than 300 hours of live coverage. Many of the lower-profile events will be aired during non-prime-time slots.
NBC has assembled expert analysts for every sport. Some might seem a bit strange. Bill Clement, who has made his name as a hockey analyst, will be offering commentary on badminton. Turns out Clement was a two-time Quebec high school badminton champion.
Still on tape
Don’t expect NBC to go live for a women’s gymnastics final or swimmer Michael Phelps’ shot at Mark Spitz’s record for gold medals. The marquee events are the network’s franchise during the Olympics. They will be aired on tape during NBC’s prime-time program.
The evening shows attract the biggest audiences. Not coincidentally, that’s where NBC tries to cash in. With a rights fee of $793 million, not to mention staggering production costs, the network has to make the money back somewhere.
“We have over a billion dollars worth of revenue at stake here,” said Randy Falco, president of NBC Universal Television Networks Group. “So that means we’re not public television, for better or worse. We have three main constituency groups: our affiliates, advertisers and audience. To our affiliates and advertisers, our responsibility is to aggregate the biggest audience we can, and that means tape delay. And to our audience, putting it on when they’re available to watch, that means prime time.”
Not as close
The evening shows again will be about introducing the athletes to American viewers. NBC still will get up close and personal. You’ll still learn about the race walker who had to overcome illness, wars and incredible heartbreak to earn a trip to Athens.
Thankfully, NBC has decided to reduce the volume and length of these segments.
“We decided we could pick up the pace a bit in the prime-time telecast,” Ebersol said. “We cut back the total number of features, and we made the features for the most part shorter.”
Sharper image
NBC will use these Olympics as a platform for future Games to broadcast in HDTV. Viewers with HD access will be able to see specially produced coverage of swimming, diving, track and field and gymnastics, plus the medal rounds of basketball and the gold-medal final in soccer. Those events will have separate announcers from those on the networks.
The coverage will be available in an eight-hour loop that will be repeated twice during a 24-hour period. This is just a prelude as NBC expects to have the capability to broadcast the entire 2006 Winter Games in HD.
Getting around
There are several ways to make sure you don’t miss your favorite sport. Perhaps the best is to check NBCOlympics.com, which will have the complete schedule.
Revealing
It will be interesting to see how much coverage NBC gives to the doping controversies that could overshadow the Games. Ebersol said the network wouldn’t ignore them. It already has addressed the issue in the track meets it has covered this year.
NBC reported extensively on Marion Jones’ former husband, shot putter C.J. Hunter, testing positive for a banned substance in Sydney, Ebersol said. He added that NBC’s news division will be on hand to report on the massive security in Athens and other developing stories.
The enduring factor
All Olympics have controversies, many of them unflattering. Yet the Games continue to thrive on American television.
Ebersol said he believes the magic of the Olympics lies in the Opening Ceremonies. It begins and builds from there.
“There is that moment of just sheer hope from seeing all the best young athletes from 200 countries all gather on the field,” Ebersol said.
