The Numbers Don’t Lie: NBC Is Doing a Crappy Job Covering the Olympics

Bob Costas

If you were hoping to watch sporting events this Olympics, allow me to chuckle at your cute naivete. If, however, you’re really into commercials, Bob Costas’ fireplace, and blimp shots, then you are probably in media heaven these days.

Complaints about NBC’s coverage of these games is nothing new. My Twitter friends have been pretty vocal about it and we even heard from our own HeadlessMom about the absurdity of not being able to see coverage of the Olympics, even though they’re happening in her own time zone.

But what separates bitching and serious criticism is raw data and David Bireman at the Wall Street Journal has given fuel to our fire.

An analysis of NBC’s 3 ½-hour program Friday night showed that there were 56 minutes, 41 seconds of commercials over 24 breaks—that’s three more minutes than actual event action that was showed.

Even more damning? This chart:

NBC Olympics Coverage Breakdown

By the way, charts = science, so don’t even try to question it, mkay?

Obviously, this is not groundbreaking bad coverage. Most major sports events have a similar focus on advertising dollars over actual sports. But I think people are angry because the Olympics offer a chance to see sports that you don’t normally catch. I get that it’s a rare marketing opportunity, but the fact that these events can captivate even the most indifferent viewer should be at least a little respected and NBC should let us see a little more of the awe-inspiring feats that we tuned in to see in the first place.