Was there any Boxing at all? I'm on NBC-OTA and haven't seen a single shred. Showing the entire Men's Marathon blow-by-blow, you'd think other events could have been sandwiched in between....

That's because it was ALL on UniversalHD. Pretty much 24/7 for the first week and a half or so.

CBC covered numerous preliminary and final boxing bouts. TSN HD also covered boxing.

The judging in many of these bouts was very controversial and there was far too much clutching and grabbing that was not penalized.

Was there any Boxing at all? I'm on NBC-OTA and haven't seen a single shred. Showing the entire Men's Marathon blow-by-blow, you'd think other events could have been sandwiched in between....

Plenty on MSNBC and CNBC; in HD on Universal HD and CNBC. They were broadcast usually between 11pm PDT/2am EDT and 1:30am PDT/4:30am EDT with replays throughout the day.

I have to say, I watched little of NBC's coverage, except for the only live programming, which would be USA vs. Spain basketball game. However, I only had Time Warner digital cable for a month even after seeing their paltry list of HD channels, but this month TWC truly surprised me, they temporarily added all the HD channels pertaining to the Olympics (made UHD free), and also added new HD channels a week later. If it weren't for those NBCU cable channels, this years Olympics would have been experienced online. Some day, WNBC and CBC; what was the SlingBox made for anyways?

Ok, hmmm, has anyone seen any field events of track and field other than running?

Only as packaged 2-3 minute recaps, usually on NBC Late Night. When I discovered this by accident I groaned because it meant I had to stay up late to see some jabelin/discus throw, pole vaulting, high jump, hammer throw, etc. The only Field event that aired early in primetime (but still as a 2-3 min. recap) was the Women's Discus throw, and only because American Stephanie Brown Trafton won it (getting gold for the USA for the first time since 1932). You can see videos of all the recap Field events here: http://www.nbcolympics.com/trackandfield/daybydayrecap/index.html.

The highlight (or shame) of these Field NBC recaps was American pole vaulter Jenn Stuczynski getting tongue-lashed by her coach for winning Silver: http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/player.html?assetid=0818_hd_atw_hl_l1722&channelcode=sportat. What a dickweed! :mad:

Yeah, boxng was on the Teddy Atlas channel. To me at least, it seemed like he was talking everytime I switched to that channel. As far as the closing ceremonies go, it will probably be shown after the volleyball game which lasted about 2 1/4 hours. Since NBC coverage starts at 7:00pm, the ceremonies is likely to start in the 9pm hour. I have not watched a recording of the closing yet, so I do not know exactly how long it lasted. Hopefully, NBC shows the closing complete.

I watched the Closing Ceremonies live on CBC HD this morning ... they began at 5am, ending at 7am PDT ... so 2 hours. As with the opening ceremonies there were some spectacular moments.

Nice little feature on our (Vancouver's) 2010 Winter Games. Just hope I can get tickets!!! October 2nd announcement of ticket applications!!! Over-subscription to events will be done by lottery.

NBC seems to have ran out of any more Olympic sporting events to show (except for the USA Volleyball game they're sitting on until primetime) and is now in full recap, self-promotional mode. USA swimming medals recap, plug for the 2010 Winter Games, puff piece on USA Swimming coach Terry Schroeder, etc. Jim Lampley's bio clock is going to be all messed up since he's been up since 12:30AM last night (technically the middle of the day in China) hosting the in-between segments of what has become an NBC Sports infomercial. :(

Presumably, if the recording is of the whole event, it is a low-ish bitrate 720x576/50i (or 544x576/50i depending on source) MPEG2 (or Divx/Xvid etc. conversion) without an on-screen graphic, rather than a 1440x1088/50i BBC HD feed (not sure the Beeb will have shown the whole gala on HD or BBC One)?

for the copy i got, the file was xvid, 608x336, 25fps, about 978kbps cbr, no beeb bug.

for the copy i got, the file was xvid, 608x336, 25fps, about 978kbps cbr, no beeb bug.

Sounds like a rip of the BBC Interactive stream - which was 720x576/50i (no bug, with commentary) originally at between 2 and 4Mbs (statmuxed) in MPEG2.

The only BBC outlets carrying the Olympics with a bug were BBC HD and the bbc.co.uk webstreaming stuff, BBC One and Two are bug-less in the main (BBC Two carries a bug during The Learning Zone overnight educational programming block) as is BBC Press Red interactive stuff.

I watched the Closing Ceremonies live on CBC HD this morning ... they began at 5am, ending at 7am PDT ... so 2 hours. As with the opening ceremonies there were some spectacular moments.

Was Michael Phelps involved? According to NBC he's going to be in the closing ceremony live from London. Yet another chance for NBC to shove him down our throats again. Yes, he won 8 golds..... but enough is enough NBC!

Ok, hmmm, has anyone seen any field events of track and field other than running?Yes.

I saw javelin, high jump, shot put, among others...though they didn't show the whole competition, just the highlights...

Was Michael Phelps involved? According to NBC he's going to be in the closing ceremony live from London. Yet another chance for NBC to shove him down our throats again. Yes, he won 8 golds..... but enough is enough NBC!

If he was CBC did not show it ... they took numerous annoying commercial breaks during the ceremonies!!! They did show the huge crowds in front of Buckingham Palace a few times though (it was the middle of the day in London).

CBC did cover the last round of the women's pole vault and all attempts at the world record ... if I remember correctly that was shown live. Also, the last round of the women's high jump. Most of the other field events were highlights.

CBC also covered live the men's and women's marathons mainly only breaking for commercials ... which is was great because you got to see how the lead pack gradually breaks up and the winner emerges. It is amazing how fast a runner can break ... one moment looking strong ... the next falling off the pace. Great coverage! It was great to see a Kenyan finally win the men's marathon!

So looking ahead for a moment to the 2012 London games, what do you guys think of the 6/7 hour time difference between the U.S. and England in terms of network broadcasting decisions? In a way, that smaller time difference might create more problems and controversy with live coverage of events since primetime in the States would be the middle of the night in London. At least with the swimming events this Olympics, the 12-hour time difference between the East Coast and Beijing allowed us to watch a lot of those competitions live.

I hope, at the very least, that NBC offers LIVE streaming coverage of all events on their website, but I doubt it.

In Canada CTV (along with Sportsnet) will be taking over the broadcast of the Olympics starting with the 2010 games. I just hope they have the same number of hours coverage and carry as much live coverage as CBC did.

http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/news?slug=dw-olympicswinnerslosers082408&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

The tape-delay issue (whether all of the US or just the West Coast) is always a hot issue.

So looking ahead for a moment to the 2012 London games, what do you guys think of the 6/7 hour time difference between the U.S. and England in terms of network broadcasting decisions?I think it makes things easier, in that there is a smaller delay between the actual event and prime-time in the US when it would be broadcast in the US.

While the PQ was equal between NBC (Detroit & Boston) and CBC, NBC had far superior DD5.1 sound. NBC's sound had more dynamic range and a better surround sound effect.That's our boy Wendel!

I think it makes things easier, in that there is a smaller delay between the actual event and prime-time in the US when it would be broadcast in the US.
but the problem is the time difference is in an awkward interval. with beijing, they were able to schedule some of the medal rounds at 9pm EST, 9am Beijing. At 9am, most people are up already and at 9pm, most people aren't in bed. So that time difference managed to work out.

Compared to the 5-hour difference between the east coast & London. If NBC wanted to show an event live in primetime for the east coast, there's no way of doing it. At 8pm east, it's already midnight in london. If it's midnight on the east coast, it's only 5am over there. There's no way the LOCOG/IOC's going to schedule events for the middle of the night.

Now granted, they could start primetime at 7/7:30PM on weekends, which would mean events at 11PM in London. That might work for a few events, but I've a feeling that almost all of NBC's primetime slot for London 2012 is going to be tape delayed.

I think it makes things easier, in that there is a smaller delay between the actual event and prime-time in the US when it would be broadcast in the US.

As far as the "live as it happens" experience, tape-delay is tape-delay, no matter if it's 24 hrs or 1 hr. Bottom line, it's already over and done with by the time you see it.

but the problem is the time difference is in an awkward interval. with beijing, they were able to schedule some of the medal rounds at 9pm EST, 9am Beijing. At 9am, most people are up already and at 9pm, most people aren't in bed. So that time difference managed to work out.Having the ceremonies live is no great advantage to the broadcaster. The advantage comes from broadcasting the competitions before people learn of their results.

Having the ceremonies live is no great advantage to the broadcaster. The advantage comes from broadcasting the competitions before people learn of their results.

by medal rounds, i meant the event finals, not the medal ceremonies.

Either way. To be clear, the value of "live" is vastly over-stated by folks in these online threads. It just doesn't matter that much... what does matter is having the broadcast be the first source most typical Americans learn what happened.

If he was CBC did not show it ... they took numerous annoying commercial breaks during the ceremonies!!! They did show the huge crowds in front of Buckingham Palace a few times though (it was the middle of the day in London).

The crowds outside Buckingham Palace were gathered for a 2 hour music concert to celebrate London 2012 that ran straight after the closing ceremony on BBC One and BBC HD. (Which Michael Phelps was at I believe?!)

When did CBC show the London crowds? I thought it was just the BBC who cut to them during the British National Anthem, and after the London 2012 sequence?

Wonder if CBC also had a feed from the BBC, or whether the BBC provided shots to the host broadcaster to drop in?

If having live is not that important, then NBC should have shown events such as the gymnastics live in the West since it started at 8:00pm Pacific. As 11:00pm is past primetime, the best thing to do would have been to delay it another 24hours in the east. Plus, there would have been no need to display the live logo at all. Anyway, it actually does not matter where the Olympics are anyway. Even an Olympics in the Pacific time zone would result in the exact same thing: live in the east, taped in the west. It is just that in Beijing it showed how many people repeat the lie that coverage is taped-delayed so it could be shown in primetime in the West.

this volleyball game sure is abbreviated.

22 mins into the broadcast & its almost the end of set 3 ;):rolleyes::p

Either way. To be clear, the value of "live" is vastly over-stated by folks in these online threads. It just doesn't matter that much... what does matter is having the broadcast be the first source most typical Americans learn what happened.

In this day and age, you can find the latest news pretty much *instantly* online, so it doesn't matter if the time difference between the U.S. and London is half what it is between the States and Beijing -- it's still a significant time difference. Whether they schedule swimming in the early morning or track and field in the evening at the 2012 games, the FIRST source most people here in North America will turn to for the latest results will be the Internet. I really don't get why you seem to think "only" a 6-hour time difference somehow means the competitions will be broadcast before most Americans learn the results. That makes no sense whatsoever.

... what does matter is having the broadcast be the first source most typical Americans learn what happened.Not gonna happen; a lot like cat-herdin'. Unless....NBC owns every media outlet in the U.S., including web sources.

In this day and age, you can find the latest news pretty much *instantly* online, so it doesn't matter if the time difference between the U.S. and London is half what it is between the States and Beijing -- it's still a significant time difference. Whether they schedule swimming in the early morning or track and field in the evening at the 2012 games, the FIRST source most people here in North America will turn to for the latest results will be the Internet. I really don't get why you seem to think "only" a 6-hour time difference somehow means the competitions will be broadcast before most Americans learn the results. That makes no sense whatsoever.
I disagree. It makes a lot of sense. 6 hours is less than 12 hours. Simple math. It'll be 50% better.

Your objection "makes no sense whatsoever". :confused:

People who want to remain unspoiled can help themselves in doing so, and the shorter the time between the event and the broadcast the more successful their efforts will be.

this volleyball game sure is abbreviated.

22 mins into the broadcast & its almost the end of set 3 ;):rolleyes::p

CBC showed the entire match last evening live!

TSN HD is currently showing the entire USA-Spain Basketball game on tape.

I watched mostly CBC HD since they had the most broadcast hours and the most live action. However, NBC still manage to cover a few sports more extensively.

While the PQ was equal between NBC (Detroit & Boston) and CBC, NBC had far superior DD5.1 sound. NBC's sound had more dynamic range and a better surround sound effect.

I disagree somewhat. PQ was slightly better on NBC (Buffalo) than CBC (Toronto) -- both on Rogers cable. NBC tweaked its picture to be somewhat more contrasty and the blacks were blacker.

Whenever I can, I would try to catch the events live on CBC. But that's not possible 100% of the time. So in the evenings it's mostly NBC for me, and whatever I thought I have missed or need to compare commentaries -- I'll go back to whatever I've recorded on the PVR.

Just comparing what's on the main network in HD now (I don't have time for all the sub channels) ..... NBC had a few events the CBC didn't (e.g. all 5 sets of the Men's table tennis final, less a few points), but vice versa big time.

Either way. To be clear, the value of "live" is vastly over-stated by folks in these online threads.Disagree 100%. The immediacy of live TV is vastly undervalued by existing TV programmers.

CBC showed the entire match last evening live!

TSN HD is currently showing the entire USA-Spain Basketball game on tape.

The volleyball is filler. The closing ceremony (which I only watched 20 minutes on CBC this morning) was not quite 3 hours.

Sorry, I've just checked my PVR, the closing ceremony at the Bird's Nest was 122 minutes. The CBC didn't carry any of the material outside Buckingham Palace.

The crowds outside Buckingham Palace were gathered for a 2 hour music concert to celebrate London 2012 that ran straight after the closing ceremony on BBC One and BBC HD. (Which Michael Phelps was at I believe?!)

When did CBC show the London crowds? I thought it was just the BBC who cut to them during the British National Anthem, and after the London 2012 sequence?

Wonder if CBC also had a feed from the BBC, or whether the BBC provided shots to the host broadcaster to drop in?

I believe they showed the London crowds during the British part of the ceremonies. And they showed a couple of seconds of the concert after the ceremonies ended.

In this day and age, you can find the latest news pretty much *instantly* online, so it doesn't matter if the time difference between the U.S. and London is half what it is between the States and Beijing -- it's still a significant time difference. Whether they schedule swimming in the early morning or track and field in the evening at the 2012 games, the FIRST source most people here in North America will turn to for the latest results will be the Internet. I really don't get why you seem to think "only" a 6-hour time difference somehow means the competitions will be broadcast before most Americans learn the results. That makes no sense whatsoever.

Vancouver in 2010 will be live in the U.S. east coast, remains to be seen if they'll go live in the west.

London in 2012, considering the FIVE hour difference to the east coast, will be delayed on this continent. All the track and swimming finals, and major ball games will be competed probably between 3 and 7 pm in the east. People only had to shut off their browsers or radios for a few hours in the east.

Disagree 100%. The immediacy of live TV is vastly undervalued by existing TV programmers.I suspect you and they are mea$uring value differently, each based on your own constituency.

I disagree. It makes a lot of sense. 6 hours is less than 12 hours. Simple math. It'll be 50% better.

Your objection "makes no sense whatsoever". :confused:

People who want to remain unspoiled can help themselves in doing so, and the shorter the time between the event and the broadcast the more successful their efforts will be.

Xbgamer and others seem to agree with me on this one, so sorry but my objection makes a lot more sense than your assertion.

Let's take your reasoning and apply it to the London games: by your logic, if there's a swimming event at 9 AM London time, which would be 3 AM on the East Coast, NBC delaying coverage until primetime works out even better than the Beijing games because people won't check the results online or hear about it from some news outlet first, but rather, will simply wait the entire morning and afternoon to watch it that evening.

Say whaaa? :confused: That, right there, makes absolutely no sense.

At least with the Beijing games, swimming events airing in the morning Beijing time fell *perfectly* into the primetime/late night slot here in North America, so viewers could watch it live. The problem with your argument is that you're assuming the majority of viewers here will simply ignore all news, avoid hearing about it from friends/family, and disconnect themselves from the Internet entirely those two weeks. That hasn't happened in reality -- it didn't happen at the Turin games, nor the Athens games, nor the Sydney games, etc. -- and it won't happen with the London games. Some people might have the inclination and/or be able to stay in a vacuum during that time, but the vast majority of us won't.

Vancouver in 2010 will be live in the U.S. east coast, remains to be seen if they'll go live in the west.

London in 2012, considering the FIVE hour difference to the east coast, will be delayed on this continent. All the track and swimming finals, and major ball games will be competed probably between 3 and 7 pm in the east. People only had to shut off their browsers or radios for a few hours in the east.

I'm not debating the Vancouver games. The London games are a different matter.

The volleyball is filler.


Only because it was played almost 20 hours ago. I certainly did not consider it filler when I watched it online last night.


NBC does not even have to announce a schedule. Unless something dramatic changes, the Vancouver primetime events will obviously be shown taped in the Pacific timezone just like every other Olympics. We in the west will probably only get some live daytime coverage of lesser events on the sister channels.

I'm not debating the Vancouver games. The London games are a different matter.

okay, okay. I know some people don't care much for the winter games.

Has the Closing Ceremony began yet on the east coast? If so, when did it start?

EDIT: Thanks JCL :)

Only because it was played almost 20 hours ago. I certainly did not consider it filler when I watched it online last night.


NBC does not even have to announce a schedule. Unless something dramatic changes, the Vancouver primetime events will obviously be shown taped in the Pacific timezone just like every other Olympics. We in the west will probably only get some live daytime coverage of lesser events on the sister channels.

Well all of us the in the West need to write NBC and our local NBC affiliates and tell them what we want. If enough people do this then hopefully they will show it live unlike what they did when the Olympics were in Salt Lake.

Has the Closing Ceremony began yet on the east coast? If so, when did it start?

It began at 8:20.

Well all of us the in the West need to write NBC and our local NBC affiliates and tell them what we want. If enough people do this then hopefully they will show it live unlike what they did when the Olympics were in Salt Lake.

You need to tell the sponsors to tell NBC.

I disagree. It makes a lot of sense. 6 hours is less than 12 hours. Simple math. It'll be 50% better.

Your objection "makes no sense whatsoever". :confused:

People who want to remain unspoiled can help themselves in doing so, and the shorter the time between the event and the broadcast the more successful their efforts will be.
It makes no sense, that's like being "almost" pregnant. It's either live, or it isn't, and it doesn't matter when they air it, if it isn't live, it's simply not the same experience.

Only because it was played almost 20 hours ago. I certainly did not consider it filler when I watched it online last night.


NBC does not even have to announce a schedule. Unless something dramatic changes, the Vancouver primetime events will obviously be shown taped in the Pacific timezone just like every other Olympics. We in the west will probably only get some live daytime coverage of lesser events on the sister channels.

May be I wasn't clear.

It certainly wasn't a filler when it was happening (and CBC carried it live at the time if I recall). But for the suits, since the closing ceremony is only a little more than 2 hours long, they need this -- and a bunch of other highlights, to fill out the 4 hour slot.

It makes no sense, that's like being "almost" pregnant. It's either live, or it isn't, and it doesn't matter when they air it, if it isn't live, it's simply not the same experience.

If you haven't seen it before, it's new to you. For Pete's Sake, it's NBC. Wasn't that their motto at one time? :eek:;):rolleyes: Talk about a pregnant pause.

Is anybody else getting really soft PQ watching the Closing Ceremony? I'm on Time Warner Cable (WNBC-DT) with an SA-8300 HD-DVR and the portable cameras with close-ups of the athletes mingling look really soft, almost like upconverted SD cameras. When NBC cut to commercials the TV spots were sharp as a tack, so its got to be the cameras/signal from Beijing that is coming up as HD Lite on my 1080p 747i Olevia. :eek:

If you haven't seen it before, it's new to you. For Pete's Sake, it's NBC. Wasn't that their motto at one time? :eek:;):rolleyes: Talk about a pregnant pause.

Check page 17, post #500 of this thread.

Is anybody else getting really soft PQ watching the Closing Ceremony? I'm on Time Warner Cable (WNBC-DT) with an SA-8300 HD-DVR and the portable cameras with close-ups of the athletes mingling look really soft, almost like upconverted SD cameras. When NBC cut to commercials the TV spots were sharp as a tack, so its got to be the cameras/signal from Beijing that is coming up as HD Lite on my 1080p 747i Olevia. :eek:

Looks clear to me. NBC is still clearer than CBC. The difference is very slight, though.

For me nothing beats seeing events live. It was well worth getting up at 5am to see Eric Lamaze win gold in the show jumping event ... especially since it had such a dramatic finish. In fact I often got up as early as 4am to watch events live. And when I did not plan to get up early I stayed up as late as 3am watching live events.

Forgive me but I am in a foul mood tonight...and NBC has that damn logo in the upper right hand position, all glarring in gold...Why the hell cant they put it ALL the way over to the upper right hand corner....instead they put it about 10% shy from being all the way over to the right.

Also, did the closing ceremonies start yet!

I am in Central Time zone.

Looks clear to me. NBC is still clearer than CBC. The difference is very slight, though.

I just checked the picture quality between NBC and CBC when the IOC president was speaking ... the color quality on NBC looked much better ... much more saturated. NBC was using a different camera feed. However, other scenes look to be very close. Viewed on a Sony 36XBR400 (33" widescreen picture).

Check page 17, post #500 of this thread.

OK, the point of citing that post was...? :confused:

See below:

No - the time difference works well. The Beijing morning events happen very early in the morning - when BBC One would normally be carrying overnight news from the BBC News channel, and BBC HD would have closed down. Both networks therefore carry live SD and HD coverage respectively, for those who are able, or want, to stay up and watch it live. The live coverage continues throughout the morning and early afternoon.

Many of the events are broadcast live in the morning and early afternoon. The rowing was broadcast live this morning for example.

By the evening, the BBC are able to replay edited highlights in their 7pm "The Games Today" hour-long highlights show.

If you want to watch a particular sport in depth, you just go to the (SD) interactive TV options (6 streams on satellite/cable, 3 on OTA) and chose from these.



Yes - I like being able to witness events as they happen - and there is a feeling of "shared experience" you only get watching stuff live. Watching a recording is like watching a history show. You know that even if you don't know the result - nothing is going to change it. Watching it live you still know that anything could happen!

In Sydney 2000 - when Sir Steve Redgrave was going for his 5th (?) consecutive rowing gold, the BBC got a huge audience for the final of the coxless fours, even though it was early morning!

Interestingly, Gary Herbert, who coxed the the coxed mens pairs in 1992 to Gold, and is now a main (and very enthusiastic) BBC rowing commentator was telling people to "scream and shout at their TVs to will these guys on" during the final of the mens fours (not exactly impartial as a commentator!) - as one of the rowers in that boat (Steve Williams?) had asked for Britain to cheer them on. It is things like that just don't happen if your not live.

It is just inconceivable that the Beeb wouldn't show the Olympics live - whatever timezone they are in - these days. How could they justify it? (The Beeb don't have to deliver a profit to shareholders - they have to serve us - the British public - who fund them)



Amazingly - Britain is currently THIRD in the medals table (behind China and the US) - and we've had a great weekend with multiple rowing, cycling and sailing golds.

I've cheered on most of the rowing and cycling live - but the sailing events don't really work in a way that you can really!

Nobody can believe we've got 11 Golds (I mean nobody - we're not usually an optimistic lot...) We may not stay 3rd on the table - though we may get a few more cycling medals - but it does at least bode well for 2012.

For me nothing beats seeing events live. It was well worth getting up at 5am to see Eric Lamaze win gold in the show jumping event ... especially since it had such a dramatic finish. In fact I often got up as early as 4am to watch events live. And when I did not plan to get up early I stayed up as late as 3am watching live events.

Eric didn't win it until 11:50 am ET that day. Still dead calm at midnight there in Hong Kong, but then the next day the Typhoon hit!! If they couldn't finish the event that day, they may had to do it on Saturday.

Yeah, CBC had them all live but I couldn't get up in the middle of the night, so PVR'd those and played them in the morning. The big Canadian moments were the Wrestler and Eric, I thought. O Canada never sounded so good!

Forgive me but I am in a foul mood tonight...and NBC has that damn logo in the upper right hand position, all glarring in gold...Why the hell cant they put it ALL the way over to the upper right hand corner....instead they put it about 10% shy from being all the way over to the right.

Also, did the closing ceremonies start yet!

I am in Central Time zone.
it started already.
and they put their bug only slightly off the center instead of in the corner because they want their bug to be seen on the analog broadcast & those with full screen TVs that crop off the sides to make the letterbox broadcast "fit" their screen.

Cut to London crowds at Buckingham Palace happened during the passing of the Olympic flag.

Hmmmm, I wonder if all those kids were lip syncing?

Hmmmm, I wonder if those firework Olympic rings were CGI or real?

Is that Darrel Hammond of Saturday Night Live doing Clinton doing the Mayor of London?

Eric didn't win it until 11:50 am ET that day. Still dead calm at midnight there in Hong Kong, but then the next day the Typhoon hit!! If they couldn't finish the event that day, they may had to do it on Saturday.

Yeah, CBC had them all live but I couldn't get up in the middle of the night, so PVR'd those and played them in the morning. The big Canadian moments were the Wrestler and Eric, I thought. O Canada never sounded so good!

As I remember they showed the women's diving live first that morning (not sure if that was the silver medal performance or not), then the show jumping.

For me nothing beats seeing events live. It was well worth getting up at 5am to see Eric Lamaze win gold in the show jumping event ... especially since it had such a dramatic finish. In fact I often got up as early as 4am to watch events live. And when I did not plan to get up early I stayed up as late as 3am watching live events.

Same here. Of all the great stuff I watched during the Olympics (on TV or online) the highlight was watching online at 2AM when Matt Emmons blew his last shot at 50M Rifle Shooting and, for the second Olympics in a row, lost an all-but-certain Gold Medal: http://www.nbcolympics.com/shooting/news/newsid=224611.html#emmons+misses+gold+medal+once+again. Four years prior I accidentally stumbled upon Matt's first choke on the same event while channel flipping, and seeing the guy blow his chance at Gold blew my mind. This year, when the same s*** happened to the same guy twice in a row, I was screaming at the top of my lungs and jumping up and down in disbelief.

I'm sure one of NBC's cable channels aired Matt Emmons' Beijing disaster during the day, but to see it live at 2AM online is just something that no amount of tape-delayed polish can recreate. Easily the highlight of the '08 Olympics for me. :)

Comparing NBC and CBC for the closing ...... PQ aside, the sound quality of the CBC telecast was unacceptable. CBC wasn't plugged into the main audio feed of the stadium. Listening to the PA system through the TV was a horrible experience.

i'm watching on a timeshift right now and the IOC president is speaking. whats up with all the reverb in the stadium? don't they have the mics patched into the audio feed?

Edit: ^^^JCL got it 2 mins before I did. I'm watching on NBC but getting the same problem.

I am suprised to see Page and not some Beatlemania thing going on...please dont make 2012 Olympics into some Fab Four historical lesson!

i'm watching on a timeshift right now and the IOC president is speaking. whats up with all the reverb in the stadium? don't they have the mics patched into the audio feed?

Wait until you get to Jimmy Page. The only thing I turned on my receiver for and the 5.1 audio is just terrible.

I had to switch to stereo.

I know not everyone in Canada was not entirely happy with CBC's coverage. But just the fact that they tried to bring as much live coverage as possible gets kudos from me. They were on the air everyday during the week from 3am - 9am PDT and from 3pm to 12midnight PDT and on weekends they usually broadcast all night long. As with NBC it was 100% HDTV for the first time, which was so great. TSN covered mostly team sports which were on at the same time as other sports that CBC was covering ... so you had a choice. I just hope CTV and Sportsnet does as good a job with 2012.

Wait until you get to Jimmy Page. The only thing I turned on my receiver for and the 5.1 audio is just terrible.

I had to switch to stereo.

Yeah... just hideous

What was Jimmy Page doing there? We're talking 2012 not 1969. It's a new millennium we don't need dinosaur rock. I found it embarrassing for the world to see, that's the best England can offer? Pathetic.

What was Jimmy Page doing there? We're talking 2012 not 1969. It's a new millennium we don't need dinosaur rock. I found it embarrassing for the world to see, that's the best England can offer? Pathetic.

Actually not a big deal, since we couldn't hear him...

What was Jimmy Page doing there? We're talking 2012 not 1969. It's a new millennium we don't need dinosaur rock. I found it embarrassing for the world to see, that's the best England can offer? Pathetic.

Who else are you going to get? Coldplay or the blandness of James Blunt?

You can't exactly roll out Arctic Monkeys and Razorlight.

They had that other girl who is apparently famous but I've never heard of her. I imagine most of the viewers haven't either. At least the majority have heard of Jimmy Page and know that riff.

What was Jimmy Page doing there? We're talking 2012 not 1969. It's a new millennium we don't need dinosaur rock. I found it embarrassing for the world to see, that's the best England can offer? Pathetic.

Well, they also had current English pop star Leona Lewis with him. And several Canadians I talked to were looking forward to seeing Jimmy Page!

Is Page still relevant?

Well Time Warner San Diego shutoff the NBC olympic channels except Universal HD since thats on the HD VIP tier which I have. Time Warner San Diego is using SDV for those channels. The channels say more HD is coming soon which is about time since a former Adelphia area has more HD channels than us.

Opening ceremonies was spectacular.
Closing ceremonies is BoRRRRRRRRIIIINNNNNNNGGGGGGG!

Until now, NBC's coverage of the closing was better than the opening because Costas, Hicks and Carillo were quiet for most of the time.

But they've just cut out 10 minutes of the singing. On the cutting room floor was a duet w/ Placido Domingo and a leading chinese soprano, and a song featuring 7 ladies in colourful evening gowns.

At least London kept it in relatively recent times! When Vancouver did there part in the closing ceremonies in Torino, Canada came across as a nation that still traps fur and ice fishes! Canadians were highly critical ... and the organizers said they got the message ... I only hope so!! I would hate to see this city totally embarrass itself during the 2010 opening ceremonies!

Opening ceremonies was spectacular.
Closing ceremonies is BoRRRRRRRRIIIINNNNNNNGGGGGGG!

The opening was more of a showcase of chinese culture and heritage. This is more about celebration in front of the athletes. It's apples and oranges.

watching WRC (NBC O&O) in DC via OTA.

is anybody else having SEVERE sync issues during the singing portions of the show? leona lewis and now the chinese popstars were all off. either everyone sucks at lipsyncing or there's an a/v sync issue..

is anybody else having SEVERE sync issues during the singing portions of the show? leona lewis and now the chinese popstars were all off. either everyone sucks at lipsyncing or there's an a/v sync issue..

I thought the Chinese singers were singing in Chinese and the audio was an English overdub, it was that bad.

I can't believe the Olympics has only lasted 2 weeks. This closing ceremony feels like it's running at least three weeks long. :D

At the end of Beijing's ceremony, NBC now has the part of the London segment -- the part with Michael Phelps (of course). Screen credit went to "BBC Events". But it's only in 4:3 SD. Was it in this ratio when shown in the UK?

Well Time Warner San Diego shutoff the NBC olympic channels except Universal HD since thats on the HD VIP tier which I have. Time Warner San Diego is using SDV for those channels. The channels say more HD is coming soon which is about time since a former Adelphia area has more HD channels than us.

Time Warner NE Ohio is showing the message from the network. Thank you for watching this NBC specialty channel. They haven't turned Universal HD off yet.

Until now, NBC's coverage of the closing was better than the opening because Costas, Hicks and Carillo were quiet for most of the time.

But they've just cut out 10 minutes of the singing. On the cutting room floor was a duet w/ Placido Domingo and a leading chinese soprano, and a song featuring 7 ladies in colourful evening gowns.

The Duet was thrown in now

I saw that too. The London segment looked like $%&@ with that stupid "blurry sides" effect. :mad:

Until now, NBC's coverage of the closing was better than the opening because Costas, Hicks and Carillo were quiet for most of the time.

But they've just cut out 10 minutes of the singing. On the cutting room floor was a duet w/ Placido Domingo and a leading chinese soprano, and a song featuring 7 ladies in colourful evening gowns.

That's being played now.

I saw that too. The London segment looked like $%&@ with that stupid "blurry sides" effect. :mad:
Was the London segment originally shot 16x9 but NBC only got a 4x3 version of it?

Working in different aspect ratios is tougher than mixing HD and SD.

That's being played now.

Actually only partially true. The song that followed this (with the 7 ladies) was cut.

This Placido duet actually occured 25 minutes earlier in the program, they edited the chain of events so to make it appeared Michael Phelps was interviewed by the BBC in London WHILE the ceremony was still in progress. So the Placido duet became the "finale" on NBC. Sneaky guys!!

@whoever asked the question a few pages ago:

seems like the BBC produced the Phelps part separately and didn't patch it into the host feed. nbc broke off to show it. and they did a "courtesy of BBC events" bug in the corner.

We still buy beer in pints.
Thank God for that!

Was the London segment originally shot 16x9 but NBC only got a 4x3 version of it?

Working in different aspect ratios is tougher than mixing HD and SD.

CBC showed the crowds in front of Buckingham palace and a very brief segment from the concert in what looked like HDTV. I believe the feed was live. It may have been a feed live from the BBC. They did not show Phelps ... the segment was probably was produced exclusively for NBC.

NBC has it's traditional closing montage. This part has always been well edited. Too bad we actually didn't get to see some these events live and in real time. Or is this a promo for tours in China?

wow.
yet ANOTHER cris collinsworth fluff piece!

nbc sure loves them.

Nice to see Wendel's name pop on the credits...

For those Americans that did not see the Canadian broadcast of the USA vs Spain gold medal basketball game, you might be interested in knowing that the announcers praised the US team for their conduct both on and off the court during the Olympics. Unlike previous teams they were sportsmanlike and attended many other events.

Want to permanently voice your opinion/rating of NBC-Universal's coverage of how it covered/aired the 2008 Beijing Olympics? Vote on the poll currently running on the "Hot Off the Press" at the AVS Forum Programming Forum (the most widely read thread on AVS with over 2.5 million views to date): http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=838060. Please copy-paste the questionaire and post your answers on the previous link so that they're permanently recorded. You can post your responses here on this thread but, as the days/weeks go by and the Olympics become history, this thread will eventually wind down and be archived. The "HOTP" thread is a permanent record that's been active since 2004 (on two different versions). Your vote there will be permanent.

The 2008 Olympics Poll
How to you rate the coverage?

All kinds of athletes got graded in Beijing the past 17 days. Now, with the closing ceremonies over, it is your turn to grade the channels of NBC Universal.

1.Where do you live and who was your provider (please be specific, if not OTA, give a cable, telco, or satellite company name).

2.Did you watch the Olympics on SD TV, HDTV, via computer or other.

3.Your favorite, most memorable moment, and why:

4.Your least favorite moment and why:

5.On a scale of 1-5, 5 being best, your overall grade to NBC:

6.On a scale of 1-5, 5 being best, your overall grade to the NBCU cable channels:

7.On a scale of 1-5, 5 being best, your overall grade to NBC’s Olympics.com:

8.If you could speak to Dick Ebersol directly and give him one (hopefully constructive) suggestion to improve the coverage of the next Olympics, you would tell him……….:

For those Americans that did not see the Canadian broadcast of the USA vs Spain gold medal basketball game, you might be interested in knowing that the announcers praised the US team for their conduct both on and off the court during the Olympics. Unlike previous teams they were sportsmanlike and attended many other events.

I guess the word "redeem" applies to on-court and off-court performances.

I am still disappointed that I was unable to catch any Track and Field events other than running. I shouldnt have had to search out for these events by watching at odd times, odd channels or via internet broadcast...it should have been on primetime.

Things I didnt see at all

Pole vault
high jump
long jump
hammer throw
discus
shot put
hammer throw
triple jump (is this even an event anymore?)


I also felt that Boxing was covered too much and I wish U-HD would have been more diverse in their coverage.

Want to permanently voice your opinion/rating of NBC-Universal's coverage of how it covered/aired the 2008 Beijing Olympics? Vote on the poll currently running on the "Hot Off the Press" at the AVS Forum Programming Forum (the most widely read thread on AVS with over 2.5 million views to date): http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=838060.

The 2008 Olympics Poll
How to you rate the coverage?

All kinds of athletes got graded in Beijing the past 17 days. Now, with the closing ceremonies over, it is your turn to grade the channels of NBC Universal.

1.Where do you live and who was your provider (please be specific, if not OTA, give a cable, telco, or satellite company name).

2.Did you watch the Olympics on SD TV, HDTV, via computer or other.

3.Your favorite, most memorable moment, and why:

4.Your least favorite moment and why:

5.On a scale of 1-5, 5 being best, your overall grade to NBC:

6.On a scale of 1-5, 5 being best, your overall grade to the NBCU cable channels:

7.On a scale of 1-5, 5 being best, your overall grade to NBC’s Olympics.com:

8.If you could speak to Dick Ebersol directly and give him one (hopefully constructive) suggestion to improve the coverage of the next Olympics, you would tell him……….:

To be not too American-centric, perhaps international visitors are also welcomed to rate their home broadcasters for each of these criterias, sub out the name Dick Ebersol for whomever was in charge of the telecast you've watched --

Vote on the poll currently running on the "Hot Off the Press" at the AVS Forum Programming Forum (the most widely read thread on AVS with over 2.5 million views to date)

here's the direct link to the post: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=14515190#post14515190
i got a bit confused when I click on your link & wound up on the 1st page of 700+

To be not too American-centric, perhaps international visitors are also welcomed to rate their home broadcasters for each of these criterias, sub out the name Dick Ebersol for whomever was in charge of the telecast you've watched --

For this particular thread the editor of "HOTP" wants to limit it to the NBC coverage because that's the one most American viewers were exposed to. Feel free to create a new thread on the Programming thread that says 'Rate Your Local Country's Olympic Coverage' so that people that watched the Olympics on BBC, CBC, etc. can rate their local networks.

What was Jimmy Page doing there? We're talking 2012 not 1969. It's a new millennium we don't need dinosaur rock. I found it embarrassing for the world to see, that's the best England can offer? Pathetic.


Sacrilege!

You kids today and your Vanilla Ice. :p

Canada came across as a nation that still traps fur and ice fishes!


Do they not?! :eek:

Has anyone seen the Universal Sports channel. It looks like they do the internet stuff, but from what I can tell it's an actual TV channel as well. Hopefully it's in HD.

If the background is visible in the BBC (and thus the host) feed but not the NBC feed then it is likely to be either a camera angle issue (i.e. the host is showing you a less dim background area) or a camera balance issue (i.e. the host vision engineers are setting their black levels so as not to crush background details)
building on what you said, I grabbed the BBC broadcast of the closing ceremony. same thing as the gala: the NBC one looked "better" whereas the BBC one looks a bit washed out.

from what I can tell, it looks like NBC has their black levels set darker & the saturation way up.

i'm gonna miss the summer olympics!! is it 2012 yet?

Thank you, Beijing, for a memorable Olympics. No matter what social and political criticisms might be leveled against their government (and let's face it -- practically every nation on Earth, the U.S. included, isn't exempt from such criticism), the Chinese people were gracious, enthusiastic hosts and put on a spectacular show, one that a lot of us will never forget. :)

Looking forward to the London games. Hopefully, I'll be able to take my family there to attend.

finally kobe can get his hand surgery

i'm gonna miss the summer olympics!! is it 2012 yet?

We got Vancouver 2010 in less than two years; it will still have the Olympics atmosphere, but on a smaller scale compared to the summer. And trust me, those two years go by fast, by the time KNBC and NBC drops the Olympics logo from their bug, it'll reappear in only a couple months! The same will happen between Vancouver and London, and by the time you know it, you are 4 years older and the summer games have begun.

For those Americans that did not see the Canadian broadcast of the USA vs Spain gold medal basketball game, you might be interested in knowing that the announcers praised the US team for their conduct both on and off the court during the Olympics. Unlike previous teams they were sportsmanlike and attended many other events.

thaanks for letting us know but theyve been shoving that down our throats the past couple months. ESPN and nike did a whole mini series just dedicated to the redeem team and they talked about it every second they could during the games USA was playing in. still nice to hear that jerry colangelos idea of revamping the whole team USA image actually worked. it was great seeing them at swimming events and soccer games cheering on their country. :D

Closing Ceremonies ... CBC vs NBC (Seattle) (both from Star Choice)

HD PQ ... Colors slightly more intense on NBC
Sound Quality ... Superior on NBC ... cleaner sound ... more in the stadium experience partly because of more sound to the rears
Over all experience ... better on NBC due to better camera angles and more close-ups (CBC use too much wide angle shots)
Even though NBC had more commercial breaks that seemed longer, they managed to catch a few images that CBC missed.

So while over all I have to give the nod to CBC for its Olympic coverage due to its live coverage, I have to give the nod to NBC for its coverage of the closing ceremonies.

I thought the Chinese singers were singing in Chinese and the audio was an English overdub, it was that bad.

Large outdoor stadium plus no direct feed from the mic. Or it could have been lip-synced to a previous recording. Same result either way.

When IOC president Jacques Rogge was interviewed on CBC he said one of the best moments for him was when he saw Roger Federer getting his gold medal. Here was this millionaire huge tennis star with tears rolling down his cheeks ... he had finely achieve his dream!

Speaking of tennis ... now it is on to 10 hours of daily LIVE tennis from the US Open starting tomorrow (on TSN HD in Canada)!!!

As for the Olympics ... just 18 short months until the Olympic flag raises in my city ... I cannot wait ... I am counting the days as the excitement raises here in Vancouver!

Check page 17, post #500 of this thread.

Yes, sneals2000 captures the idea of live viewing perfectly, excellent post.

Large outdoor stadium plus no direct feed from the mic. Or it could have been lip-synced to a previous recording. Same result either way.

i just finished watching the bbc version (aka host feed). the audio was in sync there. i'm guessing NBC messed up the sync while they were editing.

i have to say - the host feed is much better than the nbc production. all the camera angles were perfect. i didnt realize how much of the action i was missing because of a wrong shot, much less what NBC left on the cutting room floor. the 7 ladies in traditional chinese clothes singing, 90% of both Jaques Rogge & the Beijing mayor's speeches, etc...so much was cut out of NBC's show!

i just finished watching the bbc version (aka host feed). the audio was in sync there. i'm guessing NBC messed up the sync while they were editing.

i have to say - the host feed is much better than the nbc production. all the camera angles were perfect. i didnt realize how much of the action i was missing because of a wrong shot, much less what NBC left on the cutting room floor. the 7 ladies in traditional chinese clothes singing, 90% of both Jaques Rogge & the Beijing mayor's speeches, etc...so much was cut out of NBC's show!

I felt the same way about the opening ceremony, the NBC camera angles, the editing, and the constant yapping detracted from the performance, with the angles and the editing actually destroying some of the imagery. NBC would be the last people on the planet Yimou Zhang would be using to edit his next film.

Forgive me but I am in a foul mood tonight...and NBC has that damn logo in the upper right hand position, all glaring in gold...This was the most obnoxious moment of the closing ceremonies, when things got all solemn and silent as they were about to douse the Olympic Flame.

The silly camera down on the stadium floor looking up at the torch was positioned in such a way that the stupid NBC glimmering/shimmering/non-transparent/multi-colored but was RIGHT OVER THE FLAME!!! COULDN'T SEE THE FLAME!!!


Also, I thought the audio quality of this whole event was awful. Where did they have microphones... in the crowd? Was there no feed direct from the singers? Echoes were atrocious, like they'd used cellphones to pick up sound.

Leona Lewis, Jimmy Page, Jackie Chan, Placido Domingo, all of their voices were coming through the stadium sound system and picked up 1/2-second later by whatever random sound system NBC decided to kluge together.

Most of the time I could barely hear Dan Hicks' commentary, and that brilliant Joshua guy was about 99% overwhelmed by stadium sounds.

Ridiculous.

For me nothing beats seeing events live.Actually, nothing beats REAL COMPETITION, showing all competitors and the complete session. You've got to see the athletes come in, leave, mill about, look nervous, etc., in order to have any sense at all of the continuity, thrill and excitement of what's going on. And that means more than just showing a 90-second performance before cutting to commercial, or the next competitor's 90-second performance.

Near-worst event coverage was Sunday's final in the rhythm gymnastics group competition. No before-and-after, only 4 out of 8 groups shown in each of the two rotations... just dreadful. Might just as well have been eliminated, for all the excitement that 30-minutes of "filler" produced. I really wanted to see ALL the 8 groups perform at least once, so that I could feel something.

I don't care if it's tape-delayed. I want to see competition, start-to-finish... and be advised via some near-accurate schedule about when it will be on TV (say posted 24-hours in advance).


In passing, I present as evidence that it IS obviously possible to know exactly when what events are going to occur, and then to plot out anticipated TV coverage, the well thought-out Beijing official event schedule and results (http://results.beijing2008.cn/WRM/ENG/Schedule/index.shtml). Very intuitive, provides everything you ever wanted to know. Clearly much more informative than the NBC TV Listing schedule.

Here's another well thought-out and presented results page for swimming (http://swimming.about.com/od/olympicswimming/qt/oly08swimevents.htm), which obviously started out being just the schedule page but got filled in as events unfolded.

So why was NBC's TV Listing schedule so difficult to navigate and near-worthless in actually planning your TV viewing?

Also, I thought the audio quality of this whole event was awful. Where did they have microphones... in the crowd? Was there no feed direct from the singers? Echoes were atrocious, like they'd used cellphones to pick up sound.

Leona Lewis, Jimmy Page, Jackie Chan, Placido Domingo, all of their voices were coming through the stadium sound system and picked up 1/2-second later by whatever random sound system NBC decided to kluge together.

i agree. i don't think NBC patched into the host's audio feed. when I watched the host version, everything was synced up and the sound was EXCELLENT. but for whatever reason, NBC was reverb hell. it almost felt like NBC decided to add in the reverb in post to make it seem more stadium-like.

i didnt mind all the tape delays. i didnt know what events were live or not since i havent been watching the news lately anyway. although the thing i was mainly paying attention to was the basketball. that probably took up 98% of my olympic events viewing. i stayed up all night just to watch the games since they were all live on the olympics basketball specialty channel so i didnt have to deal with any commercials or chris collinsworth studio time. i get enough of him criticizing me on madden 09 already. :D

Is that Darrel Hammond of Saturday Night Live doing Clinton doing the Mayor of London?This had to be really embarrassing, I would guess. His open jacket and whole demeanor kind of reminded me of G.Bush when he has no idea how to sit during photo ops with foreign leaders and other dignitaries... legs wide apart and undignified body language, caught on camera eating with his mouth open, etc.

In fact, I was very surprised at the whole British part of the handover. Maybe nothing can ever really compare to the Chinese opening and closing ceremonies, and it's not fair to include someone else's seemingly lame attempt at cleverness and iconic imagery, but I thought it was all quite cheesy and seemingly unprofessional.

David Beckham? NBC breaks to a silly impromptu interview with Michael Phelps with dumb questions, by who... England's Ryan Seacrest or Rick Diis? Dreadful. And not even in HD.

Also, I thought the audio quality of this whole event was awful. Where did they have microphones... in the crowd? Was there no feed direct from the singers? Echoes were atrocious, like they'd used cellphones to pick up sound.


That bugged me too. I couldn't even hear what they were singing because of the echo from the stadium. It cheapened the whole production since they didn't have a feed from the singers. All that work and we can't even hear it...

At the end of Beijing's ceremony, NBC now has the part of the London segment -- the part with Michael Phelps (of course). Screen credit went to "BBC Events". But it's only in 4:3 SD. Was it in this ratio when shown in the UK?

BBC Events were doing the Buckingham Palace concert in 16:9 1080/50i - including their Michael Phelps interview... If it was the same interview - open air on a stage outside Buckingham Palace ?

That said - it could be the BBC provided a world 4:3 SD feed of the contest and NBC picked that up?

BTW - if it was the same interview, the male presenter wasn't our equivalent of Ryan Seacrest, it was Matt Baker. He is an ex-Gymnast, presented the kids show Blue Peter (where you do everything) for a couple of years, and was one of the BBC Sport commentators in Beijing. Much more versatile, and far less "showbiz" than Seacrest. If you saw a woman with him - that was Claudia Winkelman, who is one of the Beeb's more "showbiz" presenters - who presents some of our Saturday evening entertainment shows. (Bit like Cat Deeley - who does "So You Think You Can Dance?" in the US now?)

This had to be really embarrassing, I would guess. His open jacket and whole demeanor kind of reminded me of G.Bush when he has no idea how to sit during photo ops with foreign leaders and other dignitaries... legs wide apart and undignified body language, caught on camera eating with his mouth open, etc.


Ah - you've not met Boris Johnson before...

Boris is a real character - a bit of a shambolic toff. If he'd made himself over and looked like a clone it really wouldn't have been him. Like his predecessor (Ken Livingstone) he's a character, not a carbon cut-out - and they both speak their minds rather than being slick political operators.

He does need a new suit - but on the other hand he did acknowledge the crowd and the event - and smiled...


In fact, I was very surprised at the whole British part of the handover. Maybe nothing can ever really compare to the Chinese opening and closing ceremonies, and it's not fair to include someone else's seemingly lame attempt at cleverness and iconic imagery, but I thought it was all quite cheesy and seemingly unprofessional.


Think that is a tad unfair - there was more humour in it (Chris Hoy - triple-gold medal winning cyclist at this games, dressed as a commuter riding a fold-up bike? Made me laugh!)

Also nice to see a more inclusive representation of London - we didn't aim for the "perfect" look (as China did with the scandalous "fake child singer" issue in the opening) - we had a multicultural representation of our capital - including those with disabilities. Think we will be aiming for a very different image for London. Perfection can be so boring!

Historically the handover bits have always been a bit of a contrast with the hosts - every time they appear a bit of a culture shock, and they are never as polished as the host, as they don't get rehearsed in the same way.


David Beckham?


Well he is probably our most well known global sporting name - the roar in the stadium as he appeared on the bus was huge according to a friend who was there.

He is an icon in the Far East.


NBC breaks to a silly impromptu interview with Michael Phelps with dumb questions, by who... England's Ryan Seacrest or Rick Diis? Dreadful. And not even in HD.

Well it was in HD in the UK. The interview was part of a pop concert at Buckingham Palace - to celebrate London being the host city. The presenter was a former gymnast, Matt Baker, who was a very popular presenter of the kid's show Blue Peter, and is now one of the BBC Sport Olympic team (as a Gymnastics commentator). He was an unusual choice to front a pop concert - but he's a versatile presenter and did it well.

However an interview on the stage of a pop concert as part of a pop show is never going to be a rigorous journalistic grilling...

Interesting that Phelps is in the UK - he was on the BBC Breakfast show, our version of "Today" this morning.

I saw that too. The London segment looked like $%&@ with that stupid "blurry sides" effect. :mad:

Sad - cos it was 16:9 1080/50i at source if it was the main BBC interview from the pop concert that BBC Events were doing.

@whoever asked the question a few pages ago:

seems like the BBC produced the Phelps part separately and didn't patch it into the host feed. nbc broke off to show it. and they did a "courtesy of BBC events" bug in the corner.

The BBC interview was not part of the BBC ceremony coverage. It was part of a 2 hour live concert from Buckingham Palace shown straight after. The BBC showed the closing ceremony live - and didn't cut away for any interviews during it...

There were live shots of the Mall and Buckingham Palace during the closing ceremony which were provided by the BBC (but I don't know if they were on the host feed or just made available to rights holders to float over themselves)

Well, they also had current English pop star Leona Lewis with him. And several Canadians I talked to were looking forward to seeing Jimmy Page!

Yep - and Leona Lewis, a Londoner from just up the road from where the Olympic Village will be, is the first UK female artist to get to the top of the US Billboard charts I believe.

As for the Olympics ... just 18 short months until the Olympic flag raises in my city ... I cannot wait ... I am counting the days as the excitement raises here in Vancouver!

And the first native 60Hz production since Salt Lake City in 1998? At least the Olympic Ring wipe won't be double imaging!

The BBC interview was not part of the BBC ceremony coverage. It was part of a 2 hour live concert from Buckingham Palace shown straight after. The BBC showed the closing ceremony live - and didn't cut away for any interviews during it...

There were live shots of the Mall and Buckingham Palace during the closing ceremony which were provided by the BBC (but I don't know if they were on the host feed or just made available to rights holders to float over themselves)

As I mentioned earlier, there was some editing trickery employed by NBC. The Michael Phelps interview with BBC's Matt Baker was edited to appear before the Placido Domingo duet. I guess the BBC would never have scheduled him to appear so early in the proceedings.

But I also think NBC did this to mirror the ending of the Torino Games when the late Luciano Pavarotti was the final performer. Perhaps fitting, in NBC's view. Keenan said it right, Zhang Yimou wouldn't want to have NBC edit his ceremony this way.

Xbgamer and others seem to agree with me on this one, so sorry but my objection makes a lot more sense than your assertion.Uh, well, let's see. It seems to me that the professionals who run NBC, and are being hailed in the industry for their accomplishments (and luck) this morning, agree with me. Let's call it a stalemate, with "my" side actually getting to decide. :p

Better yet, let's just both put our perspectives forward and neither claim that our own perspective makes more sense than the other. Okay?

Let's take your reasoning and apply it to the London gamesOkay. If there is a swimming event at 4PM Olympic local time, to be broadcast 9PM in the United States. For games in China, most Americans would have to avoid seeing the results for 17 hours, of which I'll grant you most folks are asleep for two of them, so let's say 15 hours. For games in London, most Americans would have to avoid seeing the results for 11 hours. A four hour advantage for the London games.

It makes no sense, that's like being "almost" pregnant. It's either live, or it isn't, and it doesn't matter when they air it, if it isn't live, it's simply not the same experience.I didn't say it was the same. I said that the delay from London will be "better" (i.e., less bad) than the delay from China.

Why the hell cant they put it ALL the way over to the upper right hand corner....instead they put it about 10% shy from being all the way over to the right.Because too many people in the US still have SD televisions, and so the logos need to go where a center-cut will keep the logo on-screen.

I didn't say it was the same. I said that the delay from London will be "better" (i.e., less bad) than the delay from China.

I agree that the delay is better, but it will be more difficult to have live events from London during US prime time, won't it? I mean, 8pm to 12am in the US (EDT) is what 1am to 5am in the UK? It would be just about impossible to schedule events for the middle of the night in order to air live in the US.

As I mentioned earlier, there was some editing trickery employed by NBC. The Michael Phelps interview with BBC's Matt Baker was edited to appear before the Placido Domingo duet. I guess the BBC would never have scheduled him to appear so early in the proceedings.


Yep - the Matt Baker interview wasn't part of the BBC Sport Olympic Closing Ceremony coverage at all. It was part of a different show straight after... (Must have been at least an hour after the ceremony finished...)

I agree that the delay is better, but it will be more difficult to have live events from London during US prime time, won't it? I mean, 8pm to 12am in the US (EDT) is what 1am to 5am in the UK? It would be just about impossible to schedule events for the middle of the night in order to air live in the US.

The Brits would never go for it, the colonies asking the empire for a favour?

Dick Ebersol hinted that NBC will float some ideas around ( http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=14513722#post14513722 ), so that got me very very curious. More "live" is good, always.

Awful closing ceremony audio... I thought they were lipsynching (again?), but no, I now see that it was NBC's fault..

Because too many people in the US still have SD televisions, and so the logos need to go where a center-cut will keep the logo on-screen.


Even if I give them that, it was still crappy camera work and direction, because even for SD people, the logo still covered the flame due to eeh center cut.

Also nice to see a more inclusive representation of London - we didn't aim for the "perfect" look (as China did with the scandalous "fake child singer" issue in the opening) - we had a multicultural representation of our capital - including those with disabilities. Think we will be aiming for a very different image for London. Perfection can be so boring!



This is an excellent point, and I for one greatly appreciated seeing the racial diversity of the Londoners as depicted by those performers. I also thought Jimmy Page's guitar work -- horrid audio from NBC aside -- was awesome, whether or not some of the music was prerecorded.

I couldn't care less about Beckham, though. Someone could've kicked him into the crowd and that would've been far more entertaining. :p However, I understood why they chose him for that segment.

This is an excellent point, and I for one greatly appreciated seeing the racial diversity of the Londoners as depicted by those performers. I also thought Jimmy Page's guitar work -- horrid audio from NBC aside -- was awesome, whether or not some of the music was prerecorded.

I couldn't care less about Beckham, though. Someone could've kicked him into the crowd and that would've been far more entertaining. :p However, I understood why they chose him for that segment.
I guess that Beckham was chosen because he is one of the only British athlete with an international noteriety. Although I thought it was an interesting choice since he is now playing soccer in the U.S.

I guess that Beckham was chosen because he is one of the only British athlete with an international noteriety. Although I thought it was an interesting choice since he is now playing soccer in the U.S.

Yeah. Like I said, I understand why they chose him. I just think he and Posh Beckham should disappear down a deep, dark hole. :p :D

I guess that Beckham was chosen because he is one of the only British athlete with an international noteriety.


Yep - he's one of the few British global sporting icons, and is particularly huge in the Far East.


Although I thought it was an interesting choice since he is now playing soccer in the U.S.

He was (at least until very recently) and may still be a member of the England national football team though - and was a key member of the 2012 bid team. (He has a network of youth football camps across the UK to help develop new talent)

Even if I give them that, it was still crappy camera work and direction, because even for SD people, the logo still covered the flame due to eeh center cut.

Aren't NBC logos now 4:3 safe on their HD feed - so will cover the same area of the picture in both SD and HD?

Aren't NBC logos now 4:3 safe on their HD feed - so will cover the same area of the picture in both SD and HD?Yes.

The point here was that because of poor camera direction, the framing of the primary now-time-to-douse-the-flame shot had the torch in the upper-right corner of the 4:3 area, which is precisely where the "planetary NBC bug" sits.

So we couldn't see the flame!

The silly camera down on the stadium floor looking up at the torch was positioned in such a way that the stupid NBC glimmering/shimmering/non-transparent/multi-colored but was RIGHT OVER THE FLAME!!! COULDN'T SEE THE FLAME!!!

When I saw that, I could almost hear hundreds of people posting on the AVS Forum.

What was pathetic is that they noticed this and briefly turned the logo off after it was too late, then turned it back on before they went back to the same shot so it could block the flame a second time.

When I saw that, I could almost hear hundreds of people posting on the AVS Forum.

What was pathetic is that they noticed this and briefly turned the logo off after it was too late, then turned it back on before they went back to the same shot so it could block the flame a second time.

And this was on a RECORDED show?!

Yes.

The point here was that because of poor camera direction, the framing of the primary now-time-to-douse-the-flame shot had the torch in the upper-right corner of the 4:3 area, which is precisely where the "planetary NBC bug" sits.

So we couldn't see the flame!

Ah - in the areas I've worked where a logo is inserted - but downstream of the gallery (aka control room) providing the coverage, either a graphic cage is overlaid over the preview monitor (so you can see what won't be seen), or in more basic trucks, a china graph pencil is used (though these aren't good on LCDs...)

I agree that the delay is better, but it will be more difficult to have live events from London during US prime time, won't it?Yup, but again, I see the reduction in the delay, overall, to effectively trump any benefit from flashing "live" in the corner of the screen -- not based on hardcore live coverage fans, of course -- just based on the typical viewers.

So, what did the big drums really sound like?

Even if I give them that, it was still crappy camera work and direction, because even for SD people, the logo still covered the flame due to eeh center cut.Is it possible that that shot was coming from an international feed (which wouldn't have any way of knowing that their framing was inappropriate given NBC standards)?

So, how was the Olympics HD transmisson quality in U.S. overall?

The BBC HD feed was great. :)

And this was on a RECORDED show?!

Delayed at least.

here's a visual reference:
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l160/justkeepsingn010/b0b19c1d.jpg
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l160/justkeepsingn010/03e420c4.jpg
^^^that one's from the beeb

here's a visual reference:
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l160/justkeepsingn010/b0b19c1d.jpg
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l160/justkeepsingn010/03e420c4.jpg
^^^that one's from the beebThe really remarkable thing here is that in all of that entire 16x9 frame, the primary subject the artistic director most likely really wanted your eye to look at was the torch in the upper-right corner of 4:3... and yet apparently nobody at NBC noticed the fact that it almost looked like they were trying to "block out Janet Jackson's ***" with their bug.

One of the all-time directorial-decision bloopers, if you ask me, given the high profile of this show and in particular this specific moment and scene.

That "planetary bug" is just ridiculous, even on an ordinary scene, with a black background (like inside a gymnastics arena). Could it possibly be any more intrusive? I think not.

Could it possibly be any more intrusive? I think not.
Agreed. I don't know who gave the ok, but this has to be the worst bug design in the history of the olympics. They used to be transparent but this time around, it's not only solid, it's pulsing.

kind of reminds me of the 20th Century Fox spotlight sequence...

Is it possible that that shot was coming from an international feed (which wouldn't have any way of knowing that their framing was inappropriate given NBC standards)?


You may have a point there.

If so, it is not the camera work, but the blame is squarely on the director of the brodcast at NBC, who surely is aware of their graphics and as someone pointed out, this was a taped show after all.

I didn't say it was the same. I said that the delay from London will be "better" (i.e., less bad) than the delay from China.

Were talking about two different things. You're saying it will be better from a broadcaster standpoint, and for viewers who don't care if it's live or not. What I'm saying is that for the viewer who likes his sports live, there is no range of whether it's better or worse, it's binary situation - it's either live, or it's not.

You may have a point there.

If so, it is not the camera work, but the blame is squarely on the director of the brodcast at NBC, who surely is aware of their graphics and as someone pointed out, this was a taped show after all.

Exactly, it's just another example of NBC bollixing-up an otherwise nice image/moment with their "we think our audiences are stupid so we put the network identifier on the screen so they know who they're watching" bug.

As if the audience even gives a hoot what network they're watching, it's all about the content anyways.

Exactly, it's just another example of NBC bollixing-up an otherwise nice image/moment with their "we think our audiences are stupid so we put the network identifier on the screen so they know who they're watching" bug.

As if the audience even gives a hoot what network they're watching, it's all about the content anyways.

I think NBC's use of the bug has always been two-fold. 1. They want give the channel-flippers an easy way to ID the channel with Olympic content. 2. They want to make sure no other broadcaster can lift videos from NBC without that burnt-in watermark.

I do agree 100% this thing with the Cauldron is a huge blunder.

Actually, nothing beats REAL COMPETITION, showing all competitors and the complete session. You've got to see the athletes come in, leave, mill about, look nervous, etc., in order to have any sense at all of the continuity, thrill and excitement of what's going on. And that means more than just showing a 90-second performance before cutting to commercial, or the next competitor's 90-second performance.

Near-worst event coverage was Sunday's final in the rhythm gymnastics group competition. No before-and-after, only 4 out of 8 groups shown in each of the two rotations... just dreadful. Might just as well have been eliminated, for all the excitement that 30-minutes of "filler" produced. I really wanted to see ALL the 8 groups perform at least once, so that I could feel something.

I don't care if it's tape-delayed. I want to see competition, start-to-finish... and be advised via some near-accurate schedule about when it will be on TV (say posted 24-hours in advance).


In passing, I present as evidence that it IS obviously possible to know exactly when what events are going to occur, and then to plot out anticipated TV coverage, the well thought-out Beijing official event schedule and results (http://results.beijing2008.cn/WRM/ENG/Schedule/index.shtml). Very intuitive, provides everything you ever wanted to know. Clearly much more informative than the NBC TV Listing schedule.

Here's another well thought-out and presented results page for swimming (http://swimming.about.com/od/olympicswimming/qt/oly08swimevents.htm), which obviously started out being just the schedule page but got filled in as events unfolded.

So why was NBC's TV Listing schedule so difficult to navigate and near-worthless in actually planning your TV viewing?

CBC was great in showing complete events ...

One evening they showed one of the women's diving event LIVE & COMMERCIAL FREE!
They also showed live ...
- several volleyball matches complete from the first point, and not taking a commercial break at every time out so you got to see the coaches talking to the players
- several complete soccer games COMMERCIAL FREE ... including a pre-opening ceremony game.
- several softball games live from the first pitch to the last.
- the individual showing jumping event live and mostly commercial free from start to finish.
- most of the swimming events starting with the swimmers walking on to the pool surface.
- the men's triathlon from the athletes getting ready for the swim.
- the men's marathon from start to finish ... so you got to see exactly how and when each runner broke.

With the exception of the marathon and the triathlon, the only way to see these events better would have been to be there!

These are some of the examples I remember. So, in this way CBC totally blew away NBC!

Well just remember that NBC paid a lot more for the rights then CBC did. That's why NBC had to show a lot of commercials.

Well just remember that NBC paid a lot more for the rights then CBC did. That's why NBC had to show a lot of commercials.

Yes I am aware of that ... I guess it has to do with the much larger potential number of viewers.

You may have a point there. If so, it is not the camera work, but the blame is squarely on the director of the brodcast at NBC, who surely is aware of their graphics and as someone pointed out, this was a taped show after all.To be fair, they did realize it, and tried to get rid of the obstruction. They were just too late. Perhaps they needed to plan a longer period of time between the live event and the broadcast, so as to better preclude this situation in the future.

Were talking about two different things. You're saying it will be better from a broadcaster standpoint, and for viewers who don't care if it's live or not.Absolutely. And we know that that's typically what drives what happens. It is a bit like all the disappointment expressed by fans of the American Olympic Judo team that that competition didn't get prominent coverage in prime time; it all comes back down to money.

CBC showed a very faint white small "CBC HD" logo in the lower corner of the 16:9 screen, so that was totally unobstructing and hardly noticeable. TSN also had a faint white "TSN HD" logo in the lower 16:9 screen ... still unobstructing, but a little more noticeable due to its larger size. On the other hand I found the NBC Logo very annoying.

I appreciate the CBC and TSN logo not just for being unobtrusive, but as a soon to be plasma owner much, much less chance of burn in.

I came across a few Olympics videos on youtube (yes, a few of them somehow got past the web police). Some international broadcasters have very colourful and large watermarks at the top left or right corners of 4:3 screens.

If you're the television director of the international feed, your mandate is to do a program that's faithful to the stage director's vision. Obviously you would have no way of knowing exactly where each of the TV bugs around the world would appear -- but you can take a safe guess.

The point being: If they are capable of framing a 16:9 telecast to be 4:3 safe, they should also consider not placing important information at the corners of a 4:3 cutout. CBC had their small one at the bottom right, BBC had an even smaller one at the top left, but others have them at other corners. If NBC was having this problem, it could potentially be so for many other broadcasters.

I came across a few Olympics videos on youtube (yes, a few of them somehow got past the web police). Some international broadcasters have very colourful and large watermarks at the top left or right corners of 4:3 screens.

If you're the television director of the international feed, your mandate is to do a program that's faithful to the stage director's vision. Obviously you would have no way of knowing exactly where each of the TV bugs around the world would appear -- but you can take a safe guess.

The point being: If they are capable of framing a 16:9 telecast to be 4:3 safe, they should also consider not placing important information at the corners of a 4:3 cutout. CBC had their small one at the bottom right, BBC had an even smaller one at the top left, but others have them at other corners. If NBC was having this problem, it could potentially be so for many other broadcasters.

Or, they don't have to put the dang thing on there at all, at least not all the time. IIRC, there's nothing in the US broadcast rules that say that identifier has to be constant, I think it only has to be shown a few times per hour, maybe only once.

Or, they don't have to put the dang thing on there at all, at least not all the time. IIRC, there's nothing in the US broadcast rules that say that identifier has to be constant, I think it only has to be shown a few times per hour, maybe only once.

local stations are only required to ID their call letters for a few seconds at the top of the hour, but most splash their ID at the bottom of the hour too. there's no requirement for a network identification.

be glad nbc's bug wasn't this big:
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l160/justkeepsingn010/07155fed.jpg
^that was capped during one of nbc's michael phelps human interest pieces when they turned their bug off.

CCTV actually had 2 logos at the top of the screen: their tv & dotcom logos. The dotcom logo was on the top left portion. The tv logo was on the top right portion. There were maybe 3 shots during the simulated farewell with the flame in the top right corner. On one, the CCTV logo covered a small portion of the flame. In the other 2 scenes, the CCTV logo is off to the right. Their tv logo is the letters CCTV with the Olympic rings below the letters.

On another matter...

From Steve Springer's "On Sports Media" commentary in Monday's LA Times Olympics section wrapup edition, saying what I said early last week:

"Is there a better track analyst than Ato Boldon?"

Agreed. I think not. Best new commentating addition to come along in any sport, if you ask me. Standout of these games. Honest, blunt, knowledgeable, eloquent, passionate, what else can you say?

On another matter...

From Steve Springer's "On Sports Media" commentary in Monday's LA Times Olympics section wrapup edition, saying what I said early last week:

"Is there a better track analyst than Ato Boldon?"

Agreed. I think not. Best new commentating addition to come along in any sport, if you ask me. Standout of these games. Honest, blunt, knowledgeable, eloquent, passionate, what else can you say?

Can anyone tell us on this side of pond how Michael Johnson fare as a BBC track analyst? Why didn't NBC sign him? Is he is that good (or is it the exact opposite)? Is it about the money?

Ato Boldon did well as a rookie. After the 200, he said (with some paraphrase here) "Of all the world records, I thought Michael Johnson's 200 would stand until the day I die. I had no idea it would only last 12 years". Not sure if he actually came up with it, but it was very well put and, I suspect, widely shared.

Can anyone tell us on this side of pond how Michael Johnson fare as a BBC track analyst?

Well, I'm answering my question.... because I've found this review of his performance on the BBC.

http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/tv/2008/08/michael_johnson_solid_gold_spo.html

Why didn't NBC sign him? Is it about the money?

This I don't know much about. Anyone?

Ato Boldon....... Best new commentating addition to come along in any sport, if you ask me. Standout of these games. Honest, blunt, knowledgeable, eloquent, passionate, what else can you say?

Not trying to belittle Ato. He's got a future on this business. The day after Usain Bolt's 100, he gave a good analysis -- something like he needs 41 strides to finish 100 while other guys need 46 or 47. Ato also had good connections at the games. He said he's got a text message prior to China's Liu Xiang's quick bow out of the 110 hurdles. He knew it was big, and hence tipped off NBC to go live with the story within seconds rather than sitting on it overnight.

CBC was great in showing complete events ...

One evening they showed one of the women's diving event LIVE & COMMERCIAL FREE!
They also showed live ...
- several volleyball matches complete from the first point, and not taking a commercial break at every time out so you got to see the coaches talking to the players
- several complete soccer games COMMERCIAL FREE ... including a pre-opening ceremony game.
- several softball games live from the first pitch to the last.
- the individual showing jumping event live and mostly commercial free from start to finish.
- most of the swimming events starting with the swimmers walking on to the pool surface.
- the men's triathlon from the athletes getting ready for the swim.
- the men's marathon from start to finish ... so you got to see exactly how and when each runner broke.

With the exception of the marathon and the triathlon, the only way to see these events better would have been to be there!

These are some of the examples I remember. So, in this way CBC totally blew away NBC!
I agree about CBC itself showing events live. However you forget that NBC had cable channels show a lot of stuff live. All the basketball and soccer games were live. Altogether NBC networlks blew away everybody in the amount shown, too bad though that you had to have cable or satellite tv to get it.

Usually CCTV broadcast whatever were the best live events at a particular hour. Of course they had an advantage of being the host nation, and they could use up to 6 of their own channels. The 3 primary Olympic channels went non-stop Olympics by replaying (those sometimes condensed) events overnight. If an event was scheduled, you never missed any action as there were never any commercials if play continued. That meant there were no commercials for the majority of sports. Only time I even remember them breaking away for an ad & missing action was during the marathon. Of course, I could not understand anything that was said. On the other hand, announcers do not always enhance my viewing experience. Over there, p2ptv is popular. That is why the channels were available online if you knew how to get around the ip restriction.

Can anyone tell us on this side of pond how Michael Johnson fare as a BBC track analyst? Why didn't NBC sign him? Is he is that good (or is it the exact opposite)? Is it about the money?


He's fantastic - dry, witty, no nonsense and very intelligent.

He works for the BBC on events other than the Olympics - being a main element in the coverage of the domestic, European and World athletics events on the BBC.

No idea why he works for the Beeb and not NBC. How much does NBC cover Athletics in the US other than the Olympics?

How much does NBC cover Athletics in the US other than the Olympics?

Not an extreme amount. Probably one or two major events a year, and of course, the U.S. Olympics trials just prior. Athletics -- or as they call it Track and Field, is somewhat of a tainted sport in the U.S. because of the earlier doping scandal. The scarcity of U.S. Track medals at these games does not help either. This is very different from swimming or gymnastics -- the other big two.

NBC has just signed up to televise the next two World Championships of SWIMMING, no doubt trying to capitalize on the success of Michael Phelps.

Not an extreme amount. Probably one or two major events a year, and of course, the U.S. Olympics trials just prior. Athletics -- or as they call it Track and Field, is somewhat of a tainted sport in the U.S. because of the earlier doping scandal. The scarcity of U.S. Track medals at these games does not help either. This is very different from swimming or gymnastics -- the other big two.


Could be because the BBC do a bit more Athletics? They're covering the British Grand Prix with three hours on BBC Two this Sunday. (Don't think Michael Johnson is part of this - but he has been when the BBC cover the European and World events)?


NBC has just signed up to televise the next two World Championships of SWIMMING, no doubt trying to capitalize on the success of Michael Phelps.

Ah - the BBC have covered swimming quite extensively as well of late.

The BBC show a LOT of sport at weekends during daytime on BBC One and Two - both on Saturday and Sunday - and can also show stuff on BBC Two weekdays (the schedule for BBC Two can be quite flexible)

I guess having two main channels AND interactive services (so stuff like MotoGP qualification can be broadcast on interactive if no BBC Two or One slot is avialable) allows for a greater commitment to a wider range of sports?

Hi. I couldn't post from Beijing, so I am catching up now, from Fed Ex Field.

I see many of you said the closing ceremony sounded like...uh...not good. I haven't been home yet to hear the final edit. I mixed it live and much of it was to be re-voiced. We had a feed from the international broadcaster, but we had three open commentary mics 75 yards away, with a very loud PA. The result is quite a reverb smack.

We also had no rehearsal. The ceremony itself was rehearsed outside the city. We got to work at 5 am for the marathon, then spent the day changing over the Birds Nest for the ceremony at 8 pm.

No excuses, though. I just haven't heard the final version yet. Maybe I don't want to, from what I read.

It was my first Olympics, and while I know the posters here had lots of issues with NBC's coverage, being there was awesome. The technology in place there (and remember, these are literally temporary facilities) blew me away. Miles of fiber, awesome tech support, and great personnel.

So while it's disappointing to see it picked apart online, it was one of the best work experiences of my career.

Enough about that. Got to start setting up for my Thursday night NFL game.

Wendel

Hi. I couldn't post from Beijing, so I am catching up now, from Fed Ex Field.

I see many of you said the closing ceremony sounded like...uh...not good. I haven't been home yet to hear the final edit. I mixed it live and much of it was to be re-voiced. We had a feed from the international broadcaster, but we had three open commentary mics 75 yards away, with a very loud PA. The result is quite a reverb smack.

We also had no rehearsal. The ceremony itself was rehearsed outside the city. We got to work at 5 am for the marathon, then spent the day changing over the Birds Nest for the ceremony at 8 pm.

No excuses, though. I just haven't heard the final version yet. Maybe I don't want to, from what I read.

It was my first Olympics, and while I know the posters here had lots of issues with NBC's coverage, being there was awesome. The technology in place there (and remember, these are literally temporary facilities) blew me away. Miles of fiber, awesome tech support, and great personnel.

So while it's disappointing to see it picked apart online, it was one of the best work experiences of my career.

Enough about that. Got to start setting up for my Thursday night NFL game.

Wendel

Well, Wendel, nice to finally hear from ya. If it's any comfort, the folks over at CBC didn't feed us a clean audio track for the closing either. The vocals on stage (not sure what's live and what's pre-recorded) were all picked up via the PA not a direct pipe to the networks (NBC or CBC).

You said there were 3 open mics, that presumably were for Bob Costas, Fred Hicks and the China analyst Romos? I saw them at the beginning when they're setting up the scene. For the remainder of the 2-hour ceremony they were only heard. Did they do the rest of the telecast on the scene, or was the commentary done off an edited tape of the ceremony?

If NBC has access to the international feed, I can't imagine it having such wonky audio which we've all heard over here. Ideally you could have mixed in the commentary from the three guys from a studio with much higher quality audio from the ceremony.

Hi. I couldn't post from Beijing, so I am catching up now, from Fed Ex Field.

I see many of you said the closing ceremony sounded like...uh...not good. I haven't been home yet to hear the final edit. I mixed it live and much of it was to be re-voiced. We had a feed from the international broadcaster, but we had three open commentary mics 75 yards away, with a very loud PA. The result is quite a reverb smack.

We also had no rehearsal. The ceremony itself was rehearsed outside the city. We got to work at 5 am for the marathon, then spent the day changing over the Birds Nest for the ceremony at 8 pm.

No excuses, though. I just haven't heard the final version yet. Maybe I don't want to, from what I read.

It was my first Olympics, and while I know the posters here had lots of issues with NBC's coverage, being there was awesome. The technology in place there (and remember, these are literally temporary facilities) blew me away. Miles of fiber, awesome tech support, and great personnel.

So while it's disappointing to see it picked apart online, it was one of the best work experiences of my career.

Enough about that. Got to start setting up for my Thursday night NFL game.

Wendel

I think you guys did a good job. Just make sure you show it live on the West coast in Vancouver.

The three commentators were in the arena, calling it live to tape, but some parts were probably revoiced later. Haven't seen or heard the final product, so I don't know much more.

The three commentators were in the arena, calling it live to tape, but some parts were probably revoiced later. Haven't seen or heard the final product, so I don't know much more.
Were you recording a 5.1 mix of the host feed and your talent? I don't think the editing process preserves your 5.1 mix (if that's what you gave them.) I checked the closing ceremonies from time to time and it seemed pretty mono to me and a little difficult to hear the announcers. I have it recorded too, but haven't gone back to check it. (Guess I should...)

You get an A for effort. :DHi. I couldn't post from Beijing, so I am catching up now, from Fed Ex Field.

I see many of you said the closing ceremony sounded like...uh...not good. I haven't been home yet to hear the final edit. I mixed it live and much of it was to be re-voiced. We had a feed from the international broadcaster, but we had three open commentary mics 75 yards away, with a very loud PA. The result is quite a reverb smack.

We also had no rehearsal. The ceremony itself was rehearsed outside the city. We got to work at 5 am for the marathon, then spent the day changing over the Birds Nest for the ceremony at 8 pm.

No excuses, though. I just haven't heard the final version yet. Maybe I don't want to, from what I read.

It was my first Olympics, and while I know the posters here had lots of issues with NBC's coverage, being there was awesome. The technology in place there (and remember, these are literally temporary facilities) blew me away. Miles of fiber, awesome tech support, and great personnel.

So while it's disappointing to see it picked apart online, it was one of the best work experiences of my career.

Enough about that. Got to start setting up for my Thursday night NFL game.

Wendel

Could be because the BBC do a bit more Athletics? They're covering the British Grand Prix with three hours on BBC Two this Sunday. (Don't think Michael Johnson is part of this - but he has been when the BBC cover the European and World events)?
The U.S. cares about American sports. Here we have billion dollar behemoth leagues like the NFL, the NBA, and MLB, plus hundreds of major collegiate sports events every year. There's not much room nor interest for covering international competitions like swimming.

The U.S. cares about American sports. Here we have billion dollar behemoth leagues like the NFL, the NBA, and MLB, plus hundreds of major collegiate sports events every year. There's not much room nor interest for covering international competitions like swimming.

Swimming is not just international, there's a lot of involvement at the U.S. collegiate level too. Michael Phelps' performance probably generated a lot of buzz and interest now. NBC's gotta to be pretty bullish to make an investment like that in Swimming -- they need to sustain the momentum until London.

But I do think there isn't much chance in shaking up the pillars of the big 3 pro sports -- short of a giant doping scandal that hits all of them at once (not gonna happen). So year in year out, it's pretty much the same drill -- it has been like that for the last 30 years!

Historically the handover bits have always been a bit of a contrast with the hosts - every time they appear a bit of a culture shock, and they are never as polished as the host, as they don't get rehearsed in the same way. Actually leave it the folks of the Beijing Olympic committee who made the exception to this rule. Go to Youtube (I can't access it right now or I'd provide a link) and do a search on "2004 Athens Closing Ceremony China". There is a 9+ minute video of Beijing's presentation and it was easily the best part of the Athens closing ceremony. I couldn't wait to see what they'd do for their opening ceremony, and my expectations were monumentally surpassed.

Olympic closing ceremonies have always been a big letdown for me... until Beijing. I found their ceremony to surpass most previous opening ceremonies.

From the opening, to the coverage, to the conclusion: this was the single best Olympic experience I've ever had watching on TV. Erik Kuselius of ESPN Radio said it best: "if you weren't interested or didn't like the Beijing Olympics, you'll never like the Olympics."

There are many versions of the DVD advertised on the market: NBC, Hong Kong, mainland China and more. It seems they are all standard definition with various sound and languages, no Blu Ray. I recorded the HD on DVR but it's short of the full length and has all those commercials and that Bob prick. Some even include the closing ceremony (I think the closing is much worse). It's hard to decide which to choose now. I want the best picture quality. Any thought?

Immediately after the closing ceremony no program was available. It's impossible to catch all broadcastings and no way to watch missed ones. I bet I am not the only one who want to see missed ones though they are not live any more (it's a big big shame NBC broadcast live only a little). I know it's business for NBC and americans are more into their professional sports. But come on, this is Olympics and you bought the right to cover North America for 17 days and then make it no longer available. I guess in a lot of countries they would rebroadcast some Olympics in the following weeks.

the replays during basketball games has been pretty ugly. heres some screens and video.

http://img241.imageshack.us/img241/1906/kobe1om4.th.jpg (http://img241.imageshack.us/my.php?image=kobe1om4.jpg)http://img105.imageshack.us/img105/6015/kobe2dw4.th.jpg (http://img105.imageshack.us/my.php?image=kobe2dw4.jpg)http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/7493/kobe3cc2.th.jpg (http://img153.imageshack.us/my.php?image=kobe3cc2.jpg)

http://www.sendspace.com/file/kx25qf

Even the feeds on nbcolympics.com were sometimes fuzzy but for the most part clear. I would even perform a print screen to capture some moment like "The Redeem Team's" moment of victory. Have any clear screenshots of basketball action ?

The three commentators were in the arena, calling it live to tape, but some parts were probably revoiced later. Haven't seen or heard the final product, so I don't know much more.I think you'll find that you can BARELY HEAR THEM!

In particular, Joshua Ramos' very learned and well-spoken comments on Chinese culture (which I'd look forward to more of, ever since we met him during the Opening Ceremonies) were essentially INAUDIBLE.

Shame, really. The levels on all three of those three mics was too low (at least based on what I heard with my own ears at this end), but especially Joshua's.

Hi. I couldn't post from Beijing, so I am catching up now, from Fed Ex Field.

I see many of you said the closing ceremony sounded like...uh...not good. I haven't been home yet to hear the final edit. I mixed it live and much of it was to be re-voiced. We had a feed from the international broadcaster, but we had three open commentary mics 75 yards away, with a very loud PA. The result is quite a reverb smack.

We also had no rehearsal. The ceremony itself was rehearsed outside the city. We got to work at 5 am for the marathon, then spent the day changing over the Birds Nest for the ceremony at 8 pm.

No excuses, though. I just haven't heard the final version yet. Maybe I don't want to, from what I read.

It was my first Olympics, and while I know the posters here had lots of issues with NBC's coverage, being there was awesome. The technology in place there (and remember, these are literally temporary facilities) blew me away. Miles of fiber, awesome tech support, and great personnel.

So while it's disappointing to see it picked apart online, it was one of the best work experiences of my career.

Enough about that. Got to start setting up for my Thursday night NFL game.

Wendel


Hi Wendel

Glad you had a good games. I've been catching up with friends and colleagues who were out there and they had a pretty good time too - in broadcast terms - though they have some interesting "Beijing Bubble" comments as well. (Like the fake buildings constructed to hide less than pretty bits of the city)

Out of interest do NBC cover the ceremonies like the BBC - with in-vision presenters (aka anchors) book-ending (with quite subtle head mounted mics - as used by the anchors at the Democratic convention I see) - but with quite a lot of background bleed (which is fine as they are in-vision and you can see they're in a noisy location), but with commentators (aka announcers) providing the out-of-vision commentary (using lip mics to exclude background noise)? (In fact the Beeb have a camera with their commentators for use either side of the event but not during)

Or do your anchors commentate as well ? The Beeb had three commentators - but the bleed wasn't too bad as they were lip-miced - but they couldn't appear for long in-vision holding those large things in front of their faces!

i'm not sure if i've got the right thread but a number of my tivo recordings of the olympics on nbc hd were unwatchable. the pixelation was very high and the audio kept on cutting out. my receiver would switch between dolby and PLIIx. did anyone else have this problem?

Hi Wendel

Glad you had a good games. I've been catching up with friends and colleagues who were out there and they had a pretty good time too - in broadcast terms - though they have some interesting "Beijing Bubble" comments as well. (Like the fake buildings constructed to hide less than pretty bits of the city)

Out of interest do NBC cover the ceremonies like the BBC - with in-vision presenters (aka anchors) book-ending (with quite subtle head mounted mics - as used by the anchors at the Democratic convention I see) - but with quite a lot of background bleed (which is fine as they are in-vision and you can see they're in a noisy location), but with commentators (aka announcers) providing the out-of-vision commentary (using lip mics to exclude background noise)? (In fact the Beeb have a camera with their commentators for use either side of the event but not during)

Or do your anchors commentate as well ? The Beeb had three commentators - but the bleed wasn't too bad as they were lip-miced - but they couldn't appear for long in-vision holding those large things in front of their faces!

Obviously this is not Wendel, who's busy now with SNF....

I'll comment on what I saw on screen, NBC's anchors (I'll stick with American lingo) only did their intros on camera Sunday night. During the 3-minute piece, all three of them did not have bookends, they each held a hand mic. When they're off-camera narrating the action on the field, it would be impossible to tell what they were using -- but I assume they did some of this in a studio. But the stadium sounds were picked up on the PA not directly fed. A somewhat less than ideal sound mix.

A further follow-up comment on anchors and commentators,

There were 3 main NBC anchors stationed in Beijing, Bob Costas, Jim Lampley and Mary Carillo. For high profile events like Swimming, Athletics and Gymnastics, commentators were on-site. The other sports were less certain, and I've heard commentators actually mentioning on air that they're in New York -- NBC's fair disclosure requires them to do so. Sports called in New York include, but not limited to, Rowing, Canoeing, Equestrian, Table Tennis.... etc. I wasn't sure about Diving: Ted Robinson was calling the dives on Saturday but was back in New York Monday calling the U.S. Open on-site.

For high profile events like Swimming, Athletics and Gymnastics, commentators were on-site. For beach volleyball, commentators Chris Marlowe (http://www.bvbinfo.com/player.asp?ID=373) and Karch Kiraly (http://www.bvbinfo.com/player.asp?ID=69) were also on-site.

26.3 MILLION WATCH OLYMPICS CLOSE

Sunday night's closing ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics drew 26.3 million viewers, up 27 percent over the the closing night of the Athens Olympics in 2004 and 38 percent over the Sydney Olympics in 2000, according to figures from Nielsen Media Research.
The ratings service also confirmed that the NBC telecasts turned out to be the most-watched event in U.S. television history, beating the Atlanta Olympics of 1996 by 11 percent, with 214 million tuning in at one point or another during the 17-day event. An average of 27.7 million viewers watched each night.

Still wondering about U.S. HD transmission quality...:confused:

A further follow-up comment on anchors and commentators,

There were 3 main NBC anchors stationed in Beijing, Bob Costas, Jim Lampley and Mary Carillo. For high profile events like Swimming, Athletics and Gymnastics, commentators were on-site. The other sports were less certain, and I've heard commentators actually mentioning on air that they're in New York -- NBC's fair disclosure requires them to do so. Sports called in New York include, but not limited to, Rowing, Canoeing, Equestrian, Table Tennis.... etc. I wasn't sure about Diving: Ted Robinson was calling the dives on Saturday but was back in New York Monday calling the U.S. Open on-site.

Interesting. The Beeb had a studio in the Ling Long Pagoda (which was a number of levels of window-based studios built for broadcasters), where they had presenters on-air between approx 0130/0200ish and 1700-ish. The BBC had a single studio presenter for most of the day - with two presenters doing Olympic Breakfast (which replaced the normal Breakfast news show on BBC One but contained hourly 5'00" News bulletins from London, and an hourly slot for local BBC One stations to show their local news) 0600-0900. The BBC had a balcony position at the Birds Nest where one of their presenters (anchors) presented the bulk of the athletics coverage - with Michael Johnson and Colin Jackson as pundits.

(Presenting team was Richi Persad overnight, Adrian Chiles with either Hazel Irvine or Clare Balding for the 0600-0900 Breakfast slot, then Hazel or Clare on their own, Jake Humphrey, Sue Barker and then Gaby Logan for the 1900-2000 The Games Today highlights show. Sue relocated to the Birds Nest for the main athletics coverage, and Clare Balding was based in Hong Kong for the early equestrian events. Adrian Chiles went out and about filming colour pieces - as well as presenting the early show - and had a wry look at some sports. They had a good mix of presenters - a couple of slightly less experienced rookies - but Sue, Hazel, Clare and Gaby really shone - and Matthew Pinsent (who won 4 olympic rowing golds before retiring in 2004 - and who now works a journalist for the BBC) and Phil Jones (formerly of CNN International) were fantastic reporters)

Overnight the BBC had reporter/presenters (who effectively anchored the bulk of their coverage and are experienced presenter/anchors) from the rowing and equestrian venues - both presenting and interviewing. They also had reporters poolside at the swimming, on the gymnastics floor, trackside at the athleticsm, and a couple roving between the other venues with British interest (e.g. Taekwando, Badminton), a live reporter on a boat for the sailing finishes, as well as a presenter (mainly pre-recorded) doing a daily sailing wrap.

AIUI all commentary was from Beijing (though for one or two events the BBC used other broadcasters commentary), as the main BBC One/BBC Two/BBC HD production was entirely from Beijing - not going via any control rooms in London.

(The football on BBC Three had pre-recorded links from Beijing rather than live and may have been assembled in a London control room, as were some of the interactive streams. However the commentary for the interactive streams was local from Beijing, and mainly from the venues rather than off-tube at the IBC AIUI.)

The Beeb got great figures - with more than 40 million people watching some of the coverage - which in a country of 61 million isn't bad. The peak audience was over 7 million during one of the highlights shows I believe, which is a very strong figure for the 1900-2000 slot)

Another version

All possible thanks to Net Insight :)

The Olympics were a ratings success for the BBC, but they were an even bigger hit for NBC, with the Beijing Games being declared the most watched event in American television history.

NBC's Beijing coverage reached 214 million viewers during the event's 16-day run, according to US media reports, eclipsing the 209 million viewers who watched the the Atlanta 1996 Olympics.

The US network broadcast a record 3,600 hours of coverage from Beijing across its various multimedia outlets - including mobile and online - after paying $894m (£486m) for the rights.

NBC has more than made its money back, taking an estimated $1bn in advertising revenue from the Beijing Games.

The top five most viewed events on US television history have all been Olympics.

After Beijing and Atlanta comes the Lillehammer winter games in 1994, with 204 million viewers; the 2004 summer Olympics in Athens, 203 million; and the 1998 Seoul summer games, with a total audience of 194 million.

The average audience for NBC's primetime coverage of the 2008 games, which finished on Sunday, was 27.7 million, up 11% on Athens four years ago.

With more than 40 million watching at least 15 minutes of the Olympics in the UK on the BBC, it gives the Beijing Games a combined audience of more than 250 million across the two countries.

Olympics win gold in US TV history (http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/aug/26/olympicsandthemedia.television?gusrc=rss&feed=media)

A further follow-up comment on anchors and commentators,

There were 3 main NBC anchors stationed in Beijing, Bob Costas, Jim Lampley and Mary Carillo. For high profile events like Swimming, Athletics and Gymnastics, commentators were on-site. The other sports were less certain, and I've heard commentators actually mentioning on air that they're in New York -- NBC's fair disclosure requires them to do so. Sports called in New York include, but not limited to, Rowing, Canoeing, Equestrian, Table Tennis.... etc. I wasn't sure about Diving: Ted Robinson was calling the dives on Saturday but was back in New York Monday calling the U.S. Open on-site.

Just a few more that I noticed:

-Baseball and softball games were called from New York

-Mike Breen, Doug Collins, and Craig Sager were all on site for the USA mens and (some) USA womens basketball games. Every other game was called by various people (I believe) from New York.

The Beeb got great figures - with more than 40 million people watching some of the coverage - which in a country of 61 million isn't bad.

Not bad??? I think NBC President Jeff Zucker's head would explode in joy with like-share numbers...

But then he has already said he's in it for the margin, not the great hits.

A further follow-up comment on anchors and commentators,

There were 3 main NBC anchors stationed in Beijing, Bob Costas, Jim Lampley and Mary Carillo. For high profile events like Swimming, Athletics and Gymnastics, commentators were on-site. The other sports were less certain, and I've heard commentators actually mentioning on air that they're in New York -- NBC's fair disclosure requires them to do so. Sports called in New York include, but not limited to, Rowing, Canoeing, Equestrian, Table Tennis.... etc. I wasn't sure about Diving: Ted Robinson was calling the dives on Saturday but was back in New York Monday calling the U.S. Open on-site.Here is a fluff piece from the NY TImes on this issue..:cool:

August 14, 2008
TV Sports
New York-Based Crews Just Call It as They See It

By RICHARD SANDOMIR


On the temporarily vacated set of NBC’s “Saturday Night Live,” where John Belushi and Will Ferrell once roamed wild, the Summer Olympics are being called.

The announcers are at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, nearly 7,000 miles from Beijing, sitting inside 14-foot-wide booths that are equipped with 24-inch HD monitors and headsets that pipe in the ambient sounds from the game sites in China. Every bit of 13 sports, and some of basketball, is called in this fashion on MSNBC, USA and CNBC.

The announcers never see anything more than what the viewers see.

There is no deception afoot here. The announcers make it clear that they are in New York, as do the studio hosts Bill Patrick, Melissa Stark and Matt Vasgersian, who is taking a break from the dismal fortunes of his usual employer, the San Diego Padres.

This sportscasting from afar is an odd yet modern spin on the nearly ancient practice of baseball games called by radio announcers who read off ticker tape. Games are supposed to be called from arenas and stadiums, not in booths far from the action.

But NBC’s arrangement is not unique. ESPN has shown World Cup games that were being called by announcers at its Bristol, Conn., headquarters, and NBC called some Olympic events in Athens off monitors at the international broadcast center. The New York Times sometimes blogs about live events from its offices.

But an agreement by NBC in 2003 with the International Olympic Committee to cut the size of its Olympic contingent, combined with the technology to send all high definition signals from Beijing, led to the Studio 8H operation.

So, live from New York, it’s archery, badminton, baseball, equestrian, fencing, field hockey, handball, shooting, soccer, softball, table tennis, tennis and weight lifting (none of which matters a whole lot to NBC’s prime-time strategy).

On Wednesday around dawn, Studio 8H was quiet because all the noise was inside the black booths. Barry MacKay and Jimmy Arias were calling tennis. Eric Collins and Joe Magrane were describing the United States-South Korea baseball game. J. P. Dellacamera and Marcelo Balboa were calling the United States-Nigeria men’s soccer game.

“For a former soccer player, it’s difficult to do this off a monitor,” Balboa, who played in three World Cups, said during halftime of Nigeria’s 2-1 victory. “You can’t see plays developing. You want to be where everyone is screaming.”

Dellacamera said he didn’t feel that much was lost by not being in Beijing.

“The natural sounds makes you feel like you’re there and the pictures are great,” he said. “If you’re not there, you have a different focus. At the stadium, you’re seeing different things, things your audience can’t see.”

There’s no formality in this set-up. There are no stand-ups in front of camera.

At game’s end, Balboa, dressed in a hoodie and baggy jeans, rushed to the nearby set to be interviewed by Vasgersian, the USA network’s host. Balboa wondered what prompted defender Michael Orozco to elbow a Nigerian player, earning an ejection that left the United States short-handed for most of the game. The Americans were eliminated. “The referee was right there!” Balboa said excitedly. “One silly mistake.”

Vasgersian ended the short interview by telling Balboa, “Go back to your box.”

As Balboa left to cool down for another game, he passed the room where Brandi Chastain, another analyst who works from a sound-proofed box, was getting her hair done.

Chastain said that she also had just called a game in which a player received a red card. “You couldn’t feel the intent of the player who got it,” she said of watching from a studio perch. “But in terms of seeing the game and getting replays, it’s just as well that we’re here. But you do miss a lot of atmosphere.”

In the baseball box, Magrane and Collins were hamstrung by the limited camera work of the world broadcaster, which would have been balanced if they were at the ballpark.

“You’re not seeing the defensive alignments,” said Magrane, an analyst for the Tampa Bay Rays. (Runners taking leads were not regularly seen, either.) He added: “Subtle, game-within-a-game elements we’re not seeing. I instinctively hit the talk-back button a few times to ask to see some pitches, but we don’t have any control of that.”

Weight lifting presented an easier task for NBC’s Shane Hamman, a two-time Olympian, and Pete Pranica; they could call this sport in their pajamas from a hotel room.

There isn’t much production subtlety about capturing a heavily muscled man or woman lifting a barbell: one camera, maybe two, will do it.

A separate part of the New York operation oversees the editing of events into on-demand, streaming video packages for NBCOlympics.com. One replay stands out: an all-underwater recapitulation of the men’s 4x100-meter freestyle relay that Jason Lezak won with an astonishing final leg and preserved Michael Phelps’s pursuit of eight golds.

It reimagines the race from the view of the swimmers’ feet and is augmented by the sound of pool walls being hit. “This is what is not done on TV,” said Kevin Landy, coordinating producer of NBC’s At Home Highlights Factory, “and what you can do on dotcom.”

E-mail: sportsbiz@nytimes.com

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/14/sports/olympics/14sandomir.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=olympics%20announcers&st=cse&oref=slogin

On the topic of strange closing ceremony audio:

I believe our NBC audio tech friend was saying that they were mixing a direct feed of the international broadcaster and the mics of the commentators. What I interpreted him say was the problem was that the commentators were fairly close to very loud PA speakers that were also pumping out event audio to those in attendance. The direct feed, PLUS the house feed bleeding into the commentators mics caused the bad audio for the broadcast.

Correct me if I'm wrong or misinterpreted that.

On the topic of strange closing ceremony audio:

I believe our NBC audio tech friend was saying that they were mixing a direct feed of the international broadcaster and the mics of the commentators. What I interpreted him say was the problem was that the commentators were fairly close to very loud PA speakers that were also pumping out event audio to those in attendance. The direct feed, PLUS the house feed bleeding into the commentators mics caused the bad audio for the broadcast.

Correct me if I'm wrong or misinterpreted that.


That was my reading of Wendel's post - the commentary mics picking up location PA and that being loud in the mix.

Not bad??? I think NBC President Jeff Zucker's head would explode in joy with like-share numbers...

But then he has already said he's in it for the margin, not the great hits.

I think my post may have been ambiguous. The 40 million figure is the number of people who watched at least 15 minutes of BBC TV coverage during the fortnight - not 40 million people watching simultaneously.

The peak simultaneous 15 minute figure was around 7 million - which was still enough to give a great share for the timeslot.

That said - it did give the BBC their best all-day share figures for two years!

On the topic of strange closing ceremony audio:

I believe our NBC audio tech friend was saying that they were mixing a direct feed of the international broadcaster and the mics of the commentators. What I interpreted him say was the problem was that the commentators were fairly close to very loud PA speakers that were also pumping out event audio to those in attendance. The direct feed, PLUS the house feed bleeding into the commentators mics caused the bad audio for the broadcast.

Correct me if I'm wrong or misinterpreted that.

You said it much better than I did. That was the scenario.

W

You said it much better than I did. That was the scenario.

To me, it sounded like there was no "direct feed" at all ... just the PA pickup from the announcer mikes. ... And the opening ceremony was pretty much the same.

To me, it sounded like there was no "direct feed" at all ... just the PA pickup from the announcer mikes.That's certainly how it seemed to my ears, even if there was a "direct feed" component to the mix.

Worst part was that once the action really got started the levels for the announcer mikes was obviously much too low. I was pleased to see the reappearance of Joshua Cooper Ramo as the "Chinese culture commentator" because I'd been impressed with him back at the Opening Ceremonies. Unfortunately, his mic level was so low (relative to the whole mix) that he was essentially inaudible. No idea at all what he said... though I know he was talking some of the time.


... And the opening ceremony was pretty much the same.Well, the Opening Ceremony was where NBC's super-low audio level (-23db dialnorm -> very low audio on NBC-HD, but I don't want to start that discussion again other than to say that audio levels on other networks with -27db dialnorm are "normal sounding" and much more pleasant to listen to with much more presence and clarity) really detracted from the fantastic visuals. The real thrill that comes from fantastic sound (e.g. "House of Flying Daggers" stone/drum sequence) was absolutely missing because of the too-low audio level.

2008 drummers, and we could not hear them properly. I saw them, and I sort of heard them, but not so much. The audio level really should have been much higher (like 4db!) and 2008 unison drummers would have been absolutely thrilling.

I know... [/rant-off]

Also nice to see a more inclusive representation of London - we didn't aim for the "perfect" look (as China did with the scandalous "fake child singer" issue in the opening) - we had a multicultural representation of our capital - including those with disabilities. Think we will be aiming for a very different image for London. Perfection can be so boring!



Did anyone else notice that the woman in the wheelchair was not really disabled, she was walking about(very well) and climbing up the back of the bus I think. Seemed a little strange to me.

http://www.imdb.com/news/ni0557788/

NBC Olympics President Gary Zenkel has apologized to Australian gold-medal winner Matthew Mitcham for not profiling the openly gay diver during the network's coverage or showing his partner in the stands at the time of his victory. "We regret that we missed the opportunity to tell Matthew Mitcham's story. We apologize for this unintentional omission," Zenkel said.

Did anyone else notice that the woman in the wheelchair was not really disabled, she was walking about(very well) and climbing up the back of the bus I think. Seemed a little strange to me.Are you sure that wasn't Guy Caballero?

To be honest, that bus segment looked like your better-than-average Rose Parade float.

Are you sure that wasn't Guy Caballero?

very sure, I watched her dash back to her chair at one point.

very sure, I watched her dash back to her chair at one point.

i noticed that too.

http://www.imdb.com/news/ni0557788/

That is all sorts of lame. To be fair I guess NBC should also apologize every time they don't do a puff piece on a straight person that wins or when they don't show a straight person's significant other in the stands.

That is all sorts of lame. To be fair I guess NBC should also apologize every time they don't do a puff piece on a straight person that wins or when they don't show a straight person's significant other in the stands.

I recall Dick Ebersol mentioned in a print interview..... that NBC only prepared about 60 profiles this Olympics, which is a very low number compared to past Olympics. So the chances are high they're going to miss someone major. What's the big deal? Gay or not, it's not an issue.

I recall Dick Ebersol mentioned in a print interview..... that NBC only prepared about 60 profiles this Olympics, which is a very low number compared to past Olympics. So the chances are high they're going to miss someone major. What's the big deal? Gay or not, it's not an issue.

It's not like he was a major medal contender either. Had he been American, even if he wasn't a favorite, they would have profiled him. Gary Zenkel has nothing to apologize for. If they thought Mitcham was even going to be in the running, they would have been prepared, but they showed him winning the gold and especially the way he did it with a near-perfect final dive to prevent the Chinese from sweeping, they at least got him on the air as they should have.

The study also showed significant growth in HD viewing, with 53% of Olympics fans having watched the events in HD.

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6589799.html

Or they saw the HDTV logo on their old television sets and assumed. :(

Are you sure that wasn't Guy Caballero?

LOL, maybe the chair "gets her respect" too :)

I'm watching the Oprah special with Team USA. They're showing clips from NBC's dirty feed.

Surprisingly, Oprah knows how to use a gaussian blur on NBC's LIVE bug. Wished NBC knew how to do that too...

Anybody recorded and reviewed some games? I did. I reviewed the men's marathon and it still made me excited. I had run a few marathons but never knew how those world elite runners had been doing along the full course. I must say I truly admire those guys.

Not HD channel, and not online either. Instead, it is being shown on the SD digital sub-channel that some people might get. I believe it started Monday night. From the listings, they showed women's gymnastics, men's waterpolo, men's & women's swimming, and the men's marathon today. As I have no interest in watching them, I cannot tell you if the coverage is complete or not. The women's gymnastics was a 2 hour show. The rest were 1 hour each.

On another topic, it seems odd that Universal Sports is not showing any of the Paralympics on tv instead of online. They could have shown the Opening Ceremonies as it was entertaining. Even if the rest of the games is not that great, at least the event is not months old like the rest of their schedule.

yes, Universal Sports started showing it on 9-8-08, 1 month after the olympics opened.

Ironically...nbc STILL has the damn LIVE bug pulsing in the corner. :rolleyes:

one more thing about the olympics re-run on the Univ Sports subchannel:

they're not reairing the broadcasts that actually aired. instead, they're showing collages of various sports that happened. Right now, it's women's swimming.

I would be enjoying this way more if they chronologically replayed the NBC broadcasts that happened last month instead of showing race segments.

On another topic, it seems odd that Universal Sports is not showing any of the Paralympics on tv instead of online. They could have shown the Opening Ceremonies as it was entertaining. Even if the rest of the games is not that great, at least the event is not months old like the rest of their schedule.

So is no US TV outlet showing any coverage of the Paralympics in Beijing, and instead is it just webstreamed?

The US is currently 3rd in the medals table, behind China and Great Britain, I'd have thought that there would have been enough interest to sustain audiences on a digital channel?

The BBC aired the Opening Ceremony live and BBC One (SD) was the most watched UK station in that time slot (21% share, 2.2 million audience) - the event was also simulcast in HD on BBC HD, and whilst most of the live coverage has been on the Press Red cable, satellite and OTA interactive TV streams (SD), the daily highlights round-up show running weekdays 1900-2000 has been getting 1.8 million / 9% on the minority (but still mainstream OTA) BBC Two network (against stiff mainstream network competition from popular magazine show "The One Show" on BBC One and popular soap "Emmerdale" on ITV1)

13 year old Eleanor Simmonds won gold for GB in the pool, and her emotional reaction on winning was headlined in many UK news bulletins.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/disability_sport/7603402.stm (Don't know if this is fully accessible to those outside the UK)

@sneals,
according to the press release at http://paralympics.teamusa.org/news/article/6580, it looks like Universal Sports TV will start showing the paralympics in October.

I think nbc wants to milk as much out of the main olympics before people look back and think 'wow..what was a long time ago!'

@sneals,
according to the press release at http://paralympics.teamusa.org/news/article/6580, it looks like Universal Sports TV will start showing the paralympics in October.

I think nbc wants to milk as much out of the main olympics before people look back and think 'wow..what was a long time ago!'

Ah... Seems a bit of a shame to not show it live or as-live shortly after each day's events.

On the plus side - I guess the competitors will be able to watch the coverage when they return to the US?