Missy FranklinAlthough the Olympics are exciting to watch to witness history and see the best athletes in the world compete against each other, sometimes it also has to do with all the scandals/goofs/gaffes that occur during these two weeks. And NBC, taking on the behemoth responsibility of broadcasting coverage to the United States, has made its fair share of mistakes. The latest? Spoiling the outcome of Missy Franklin's incredible gold medal race ... just a couple of minutes before it was broadcast.
I understand that Olympics coverage for NBC equals one thing = ratings. And that they're likely to get more ratings when people are at home at night and not at their desks. But do you know how difficult it is to totally stay off the Internet (especially when you're on a computer all day) to not spoil the outcome for yourself? I can't imagine how infuriated NBC viewers were if they tried so hard to avoid the results, only to see them air a few minutes before the big race.
NBC aired a promo for Tuesday morning's Today show on Monday, and the pre-recorded race was to be shown Monday night. But they broadcast images of Franklin as the obvious winner and hugging her parents in celebration during the preview -- clearly Franklin's win was going to be the big story the next morning. Too bad we Americans hadn't even seen the race yet. Um, whoops.
Teen swimming phenom Missy Franklin's race was amazing. It was awe-inspiring. It was history-making. And many Americans avoided sports headlines the entire work day so they could see her win for themselves. Like I'm desperately trying to do now with women's gymnastics. Damn you, Internets!! (Update: OMG Facebook just ruined it for me kill me now.) But then NBC had to blow it and spoil it for them as they were watching the pre-event coverage. What fun is watching an event when you already know what happens?!
This is just the latest gaffe on NBC's part. From cutting out a performance as a tribute to the victims of the 2005 terror attacks in London (in order to show Ryan Seacrest and Michael Phelps instead) to suspending a guy's NBC-critical Twitter account to showing equestrian instead of live swimming heats, NBC certainly hasn't seemed to be able to handle the responsibility of broadcasting the Olympics that well. Of course there were bound to be mistakes in coverage, but they certainly have managed to piss a lot of people off.
Here's more about Missy's amazing race:
Have you been a fan of NBC's Olympics coverage? Did they spoil Missy Franklin's race for you?
Image via ABCNews/YouTube
This Hot Dad Wants to Do Your Ironing
KStew Refuses to Shower
This Hot Dad Wants to Cook You Dinner
This Hot Dad Cooks AND Does the Dishes
Comments 11
Spoiler Alert: Or how they go on nbcnews.com and tell everyone how the women's gymnastics team did today and they aren't airing it until tonight. I am not happy with that at all!! I have been avoiding twitter like the plague!
Coverage has been HORRIBLE.
I can't complain about showing Equestrian instead of swimming heats. Especially if it was a medal round of Equestrian, and prelims of swimming. There ARE horse fans out here who like to see that stuff. Especially since that's on Cable, and the coverage is running all day long. It's not like anyone missed out on swimming medals to see the horses. I just wish I HAD cable, and was able to watch the Dressage!!
However, I've been beside myself all day, because I can't even listen to the RADIO without spoilers. Every blessed newsbreak leads off with "And today at the Olympics..." and sometimes it's not even that. It's "A ___ MEDAL FOR ___ SPORT!!!" and not time to change the station if I don't want to hear.
I wish they'd offer a click-thru on the internet, and a "Spoiler Alert" on radio and TV so you can switch the channel for that 30 seconds.
I too have been trying to avoid news reports of results for the events I watch in the evening and so far the news sites I look at have done a good job at keeping them off the front page but fox blew it for me tonight. Front page top doing good with just a tease of did he do it? for Phelps but then on the trending articles section farther down, damn it there it is. grrrr. Kill those if they are showing
You can't just blame NBC. I have been visiting alternative sites trying to avoid Olympic results and its STILL blasted across the front pages. Just have a freakin link that says "Olympic results-Click Here" and feature other news. I feel like I have no idea what's going on the world because I'm avoiding spoilers!