The following are the reasons:
Time Difference: USA is behind in time from Japan by 16 hours. Whatever American television (NBC) shows as "live" I already know the results. I knew Naomi Osaka lost her tennis match before their "live" broadcast. I already knew the mighty unbeatable American basketball team lost to France.
American prejudice: The network (NBC) thinks Americans want to watch only American athletes. That is why they are losing the audience. The American public wants to watch and learn about all the athletes. For example, if in an event an American athlete comes in 5th place they will ignore all the other first 4 and starts to interview and tell the life history of the athlete that came is 5th. His/her childhood, how did he/she trained, if he /she brought his/her significant other to the Olympics, and if they slept together before the event.
Unrecognizable events if an American is participant. I watched an athletic event called "Slalom Canoe". I watched it for one hour. (Side bar: Even though I am not an athlete, I have theoretical knowledge about many games and their rules. From Kho Kho to American Football) I had no idea how this game Slalom Canoe is played and how they score points and how they win. They showed for a long time only because some Americans were the contestants. Many Americans went back to sleep.
They will never show any event that Americans are not participating. For example: Field Hockey. Badminton, Handball, Rhythmic Gymnastics, Table Tennis, Trampoline.
Stay Tuned for my next week's blog post. I will repost the blog post I wrote about spectators for the London Olympics in 2012.
Lol...this made me realize for the little screen time I get at home I only watch if an Indian is competing...
ReplyDeleteHaHaHa. Thanks for your comments Dee. By the way, where do you live?
DeleteI prefer to watch highlights of only certain important matches on the net... quicker and easier :)
ReplyDeleteDestination Infinity
Thanks for your comments Rajesh. I don't know who is broadcasting the Olympic events in India. Hope you are enjoying.
DeleteThe medal tally shows that US leads China, Japan, ROC and all the rest.Strange NBC covers only events where Americans compete.
ReplyDeletePeople all over the world watch Olympics with awe and admiration to witness the incredible limits of endurance and skills the competitors especially the winners display.
Thanks for your comments KP. As Madhu suggested, may be it is the wish of the advertisers.
DeleteThe real Olympics for me is track and field. And it started today. I am saddened to see many NBA superstars gave a miss to the Olympics. Unless they have a dedicated Olympics channel, NBC can only show what sponsors let them to show :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments Madhu. You are an out of the box thinker. NBC can only show what sponsors let them to show. May be you are right.
DeleteGood point, Rajan.
ReplyDeleteWhat you are watching in the US is what they call "deferred live telecast". In this modern-day, when we can get live updates from any part of the world, these "deferred live" have no meaning at all. It's all about the ad commercials. They are the ones who virtually decide the timings.
For India, Sony is the official broadcaster. They are doing a reasonably good job. If one watches on the SonyLiv app, one can watch any live broadcast, even if India is not figuring in it. At the same time, sometimes there are 5 live telecasts simultaneously going on.
From the Olympics.com website, I have got the schedule of all the matches. Their mobile app is quite good. I can customize it. I watch whatever matches I like to, and whatever I am able to (because of the time difference.)
Once upon a time, when I was in school and college, India had no medal prospects. Now, there are many athletes who have made it to the Olympics, we have moved forward to a stage where we can hope to get one or two medals. Right now, India has one in weightlifting, and we are assured of another in boxing. If nothing, the sheer experience of competing on a world stage is quite good for our sports men and women.
Thanks for your comments Pradeep. I really appreciate your explaining this "broadcast" stuff in simple terms.
DeleteYes, the police of the Globe may be looking down all others.They may have a feeling that they are the real owner of this green planet.
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