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Published Monday, February 20, 2006 by seanlmccarthy | E-mail this post

EVEN NBC IS BORED BY THE OLYMPICS

How else to explain the scene that played out during Sunday night's telecast, when Bob Costas took several minutes to interview Jerome Bettis (yes, the Jerome Bettis who just retired from the National Football League) about football and the announcement that Bettis would join NBC's NFL team next fall? No wonder people would rather tune in to American Idol, House, Survivor, Dancing With the Stars, 24, and almost anything else.

Technology -- and an outdated broadcast philosophy -- finally have caught up with NBC's Olympic coverage. We're so used to getting our information now that we'll call up the results online and decide for ourselves whether it's worth tuning in for the tape-delay. But NBC also does itself a disservice by not adapting to the changing results and conditions by showcasing events and people we might actually want to see in primetime. Which makes the alternative -- going online to watch video clips or even watching highlights on other news stations -- enough. Remember back in 1992, when Summer Olympics TV coverage seemed so revolutionary with three different channels providing anything we wanted to see? How did NBC fall behind? Tonight, they're showing me aerial freestyle skiers. Um, why? I'd rather watch curling at this point. At least tomorrow they're promising "wall-to-wall hockey," which should be worth watching.