East Coast and Mid-West Bias: A Short Rant

No, this is not an explanation of why ESPN needs less coverage of the Yankees or BoSox, nor is it an admonition for networks to hype the Pac-10 over the SEC. It's just an Olympics-watcher venting over NBC's Olympic broadcast schedule on the West Coast of the U.S.

I understand that during the gap between the real event and the tape-delay broadcast that there are things to do that won't reveal the winner, like reading a book, etc., etc. Heck, it might even induce some people to get off their butts and exercise. Fine.

But what if you've been watching sports and you want to get some real news? Well, if you watch CNN or FOX or other cable news, you'll be treated to, well, important news, as well a nice concise description of other events, such as "US wins relay gold, sets world record."

I realize that NBC paid over $900 million for the right to host the Olympics, and can do whatever they please with the coverage (even if they blow half the camera angles during the opening ceremonies). I also realize that they want to maximize their ratings. But there's really no reason to show Phelps (or other events that many people want to see) at a different time than the event actually occurs.

It's not so much that there's a "live" Olympic rings logo at the top-right of the screen. It's that the major events that could comfortably be shown live in prime-time should be shown, whereas events or interview segments can be pushed to a later time-slot.

There's no loss of time involved in showing events live as opposed to taped: The relays were shown eventually anyway. Of course, by then, many people probably knew the outcome already.

Only about twenty percent of the U.S. population lives in the West. (Apparently the Mountain time zone is affected also). But still, NBC shouldn't alienate one-fifth of its market.

What other events will be shown on tape delay? And how many kids didn't get to see their heroes because NBC pushed the event past their bedtime? Not to mention adults that work early in the morning. This is not a good way to expand the Olympic audience. And isn't better ratings the point for NBC?