Mytheos Holt @ The Blaze:
NBC’s coverage of the Olympics has, put charitably, been rather comparable to Michael Phelps’ performance: underwhelming and overhyped. To be sure, an event as big as the Olympics is sure to produce a few logistical hurdles, but the trouble for NBC transcends logistical problems, in that their missteps covering the event seem to stem more from a crass desire for money than from honest mistakes. The Twitter hashtag #NBCFail has been slowly growing in strength ever since the opening ceremony was covered, and its pages and pages of tweets come from both sides of the Atlantic.
And until recently, one of NBC’s most vociferous critics on that hashtag was one Guy Adams, a Los Angeles-based reporter for the UK Independent, who already proved his anti-NBC bona fides by writing one of the most scathing stories about the network presently in circulation. From that article:
At the centre of controversy was NBC’s attempt to leverage maximum revenue from the Games, for which they paid almost a billion dollars, by foregoing live coverage of high-profile events. Instead, it intends to footage on time-delay during evening prime time, when brands will pay a premium to advertise.[…]
Even when they do find live sport, NBC viewers must suffer some of the most invasive advertising in the history of television: roughly 20 minutes during each hour is taken up by commercial breaks.
Critics have also rounded on the quality of NBC’s commentary, which has been riddled with basic factual errors. They ranged from a cycling host’s allegation that the Surrey countryside is full of “chateaus” to a map on NBC’s website which describes Australia as “located in central Europe, bordered to the north by Germany and the Czech Republic, [and] to the west by Switzerland”.
Strong stuff. But it doesn‘t even begin to scratch the surface of Adams’ scathing tweets savaging NBC’s coverage. For a quick sample, via Twitchy:
Coincidence?
–mark zuckerberg visits white house
– July 6, 2011, President Obama participated in the first-ever Twitter Town Hall held at the White House. The event, which was moderated by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey
– Facebook Abstainers Could Be Labeled Suspicious – Slashdot
– Critic of NBC has Twitter account suspended after network complains
– NBC=GE=Jeffrey Immelt=GE’s Jeff Immelt to Head New White House Jobs Panel
I want 100% certainty this lives: Amora McDaniel, Reporter – July 23, 2012 | 11:34am EDT Let the Social Media Games begin.: Twitter is serving as an official narrator for NBC’s coverage of the 2012 Summer Olympics through Twitter’s Olympic Hub.