It’s been pointed out that NBC can’t seem to broadcast events live from London, yet the Mars rover Curiosity can send images from fucking Mars with only a 14-minute delay.
Their coverage of the Olympics has been widely reviled. Who the hell decided that the viewing public wants to see so much manufactured drama instead of, I don’t know, actual athletic competition? Or medal ceremonies. Or the entirety of the Opening Ceremonies.
They’ve spoiled the outcome of competitions they’ve insisted on tape-delaying so they can be shown during prime time. They aired a commercial showing a monkey doing gymnastics right after Gabby Douglas won gold. Their boxing commentators (the only ones allowed ringside) have been asked by Olympic officials to stop talking because they’re interfering with officials.
And now they’ve gone into creepy, soft-porn videos of female athletes taking off their pants, among other things. And called it “Bodies in Motion,” advertising it as an appreciation of athlete’s bodies (at least the thin, hot, mostly white ones).
God, I miss Jim McKay.
About the only part of the montage that I didn’t object to was the hurdlers.
This is why I’m glad I live near the Canadian border and get CTV…I actually get to watch the Olympics without all the crap NBC gives.
if you mask your ip address, and then convince the internet that you live in Great Britain, you can watch BBC streaming for free. And with an added bonus, you also get British commentators which are SO MUCH BETTER than NBC ones. More detailed instructions can be found
I’ve been streaming BBC’s coverage using a program called Expat Shield which does, pretty much, what LadyBlues says. So much better. (While I live near the US/Can border, I don’t get CTV and haven’t been able to for a long time.)
[...] feministe (emphasis added): It’s been pointed out that NBC can’t seem to broadcast events live from [...]
I followed the links and got to the “Bodies in Motion” video. No commentary, no context, just a bunch of footage of women’s bodies. It wasn’t even attempting to celebrate victorious moments; there were slow-motion shots of women falling.
The way I read it, I assumed that the monkey gymnast commercial was a regular commercial with poor placement. I hadn’t realized that it was one of NBC’s own commercials for one of their shows.
Everything I’ve heard about NBC’s coverage has been negative and most of it has been infuriating.
Apparently — and thankfully — the backlash was so great that NBC has pulled the video.
I noticed they didn’t show the women weight lifters or the women wrestlers stripping down. Aren’t their bodies just as amazing and admirable in their own right? This was exactly what people have been saying about it — creepy! Soft porn voyeurism and adolescent ogling. You can almost hear the editors and producers nervously and lasciviously giggling as they put it together.
Grow UP NBC — there are actually some men who watch women’s sports because we appreciate athleticism.
CTV has internet feeds/footage of all the events, from start to finish (all competitors, not just the headline ones), without commentary and with slo-mo replays of the best moments. It’s how I’ve watched most of the events. The “no commentary/no framing/no human interest crap” is the best part!