NBC, which ponied up $793 million to broadcast these Games, wouldn’t pay nearly as much without the ratings delivered by gymnastics and figure skating.
They’re popular, especially with the female viewers the networks can’t get to watch other sports in big numbers. And they’re popular only during the Olympics.
The grace, the drama, the tears. Television craves the drama, zooms in on the tears. This was reality TV decades before that onerous phrase was coined.
A cynic might suggest NBC is enjoying the controversies as much as the original events. They keep those eyeballs on the screen, and that’s what matters.
It shouldn’t be what matters to the IOC. The athletes should be. It’s a shame each time a competitor is relegated to the sideshow because the judged-sport circus won’t leave the big top.
But spend five minutes around the Olympics and it’s clear who is running things. IOC President Jacques Rogge has a compelling accent and an impressive title, but the real decisions are made down in the control room by American television.
