Detroiters miss CBC Coverage of the Olympics
Friday, February 19, 2010 at 1:38AM | Becks Davis 
Standing in Windsor with my beloved Detroit over my shoulder.Yesterday, in my preamble before the Weekend Roundup, I mentioned that people have been grumbling about NBC’s coverage of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
I’ve heard people in Seattle, who are in the same time zone as Vancouver, bemoan the fact that they are on a tape delay. People all around the country have been complaining about which events are being shown, finding out the results ahead of time, the announcers, and missing crucial moments.
Here in Detroit we’ve been a bit spoiled over the years. One of the perks of sharing a border with Canada is that when we don’t like the coverage on the American TV stations we can flip over to CBET, the CBC station out of Windsor.
Unfortunately, that isn’t the case for these Olympics. The CBC lost the contract to broadcast the Olympics to CTV. So, us Detroiters are stuck with NBC just like the rest of the country.
All of this reminded me of the 2004 Summer Olympics. I had just moved to the UK and was a bit confused as to why certain events were covered over others. I didn’t expect them to pay special attention to the American athletes but I wasn’t prepared to watch endless coverage of what some might call minor events.
This is an email I sent my friends and family back in 2004:
Watching the Olympics here in England is an odd thing. Great Britain won their first medal of the games (silver) in the ‘Jump Into The Water At The Same Time’ event. Synchronized diving? Who knew? Worse, it's MENS synchronized diving!
Other events Great Britain has won medals in thus far: equestrian, badminton, archery, and canoe. Is this the Summer Olympics or summer camp? I'm not making this up.
They did win a medal in swimming; I’ll give them that. Their next major chances for medals, and probably even gold ones, are sailing and rowing. Ah... it's a very posh summer camp!
But not to worry, track and field is coming up. The husband says their best events are the egg and spoon, the sack race, and the three-legged race. God Save the Queen!
So, I guess we could be subjected to hours of curling coverage. Oh wait, we are.
(To the curling lovers throughout the world, please don't hate on me, it was just a good analogy. And I don't like sweeping. It's a lot like housework.)
Reader Comments (5)
No CBC coverage? Then I guess I'm not missing much this year :lol:
I miss CBC so much my heart breaks.
I mean NBC can't even start a hockey game on time and when they give you bonus coverage they send you to another station which isn't even covering the game.
I get why CBC lost the contract to CTV. The fact is that CTV has multiple channels and can show more of the games. This is what we are in for 2012. I know I am a hockey snob but it isn't even about that. Okay maybe it is. I don't understand why they would tape delay the West Coast? Just does not make any sense. If you are in the same time zone why the heck would you tape delay? I could go on but I will try and stay positive.
Amen. I hate NBC's coverage. It's been rough. I don't want a nicely polished clip show. Then again, maybe that's inevitable for a network that's after ratings. I doubt CBC put ratings before the integrity of the events; they're just the public network after all.
I'm interested as to how CTV are showing the games. Is it similar to the NBC method? Or is it mostly live? After all, CTV are owned by a media conglomerate that would presumably be more interested in hype and ratings as well. Would coverage on more channels really trump what CBC used to do, in that case? I could care less that NBC makes a weak attempt to put a few events on its cable networks.
Dominique,
Yes, having to rely on NBC for coverage sucks!
Jamie,
Thanks for your heartfelt comment. I know this is hurting you immensely. I don't understand why they would tape delay the West Coast either.
Ben,
Yes, NBC is obviously only concerned with ratings. They have ice dancing on instead of USA vs Canada in Hockey (which is on MSNBC).
I'm curious how CTV are covering the games as well. All I can say is I haven't heard Canadians complaining about coverage like the Americans are.
Thanks for your great comments!
I think CTV is basically doing the same thing NBC is with the games. Which is why they have the contract. BUT at the same time I doubt they cut in and out of games and I am pretty sure they would never miss a face off. I have been shocked we have actually seen face offs.