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Olympics 2020

Discussion in 'BBS Hangout' started by HTM, Jan 9, 2020.

  1. jchu14

    jchu14 Contributing Member

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    I am not surprised that prime time viewership dropped.

    I think NBC needs to diversify the sports they show on prime time. I like Caleb Dressel and Ledecky, but the first half of the primetime coverage is just swimming sprinkled with some gymnastics. There are just too many swimming events. I'd love to watch more variety of events.

    Though I think primetime TV watching is also an uphill battle that can't be won in this day and age. Spoiling the results of a tape-delayed event is unavoidable in this day and age. It's everywhere with the news, youtube, twitter, and facebook. Sports lose a lot of its draw when you already know the results.

    NBC's peacock and olympics streaming apps also really really suck.

    Paris 2024 will probably do even worse since there won't be any live events during US prime time. LA 2028 should be good though.
     
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  2. TimDuncanDonaut

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    Outside of few games for Team USA (basketball), I hardly watched. This isn't to say others can't or shouldn't enjoy, but the interest is definitely not as strong as before.

    Think the Olympics/Hosting City should ask less money next time, especially if TV stations aren't making a profit (or less of anyways).

    https://deadline.com/2021/08/tokyo-olympics-new-lows-games-final-days-loom-1234810752/

    Fewer sports categories. There are too many medals given away each year; every year the total number keeps growing.
    If the olympics was shorter (17 days?), more viewership may also turn in. Concentrated burst ratings, instead of a dragged on longer schedule.
     
    #463 TimDuncanDonaut, Aug 10, 2021
    Last edited: Aug 10, 2021
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  3. DreamShook

    DreamShook Member

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    I agree. Because there were no real stories, rivalries or big personalities in the pool I did not want to watch them. Ledecky is an amazing athlete but she does not move the needle. The Olympics is all about the diversity of sport you can watch.

    I was living on the Olympic streaming site though. I think I got a decent fill of stuff they refused to show on TV.

    Im supervised Rio didn't do well. All the events were in the central time zone. I was watching everything.
     
  4. DreamShook

    DreamShook Member

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    The number of medals isn't the problem IMO, it's the production. instead of less medal sports, there should be less channels that provide coverage, it divides the audience too much. Give the people what they want, when they want. If a sport takes place at 5AM, run it live at 5AM and rerun the match. Nielson ratings are a thing of the past; streaming should be available on twitch, etc and let people share clips and react to highlights.

    It's all about greed. The IOC wants all the money and it's affecting viewership.
     
  5. Invisible Fan

    Invisible Fan Contributing Member

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    I'm not going to watch the entire prelims, but if they slotted a program where it pregamed the notable clips and rivalries, then hyped up the event an hour or week before, it would be a lot better then me finding a YT clip of some crazy event after the fact.

    Those bastards also made sure to spoil the results in the titles on YT as if I missed out bruh.

    Nah everyone missed it because you were too dumb to make people give a **** about it.
     
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  6. Blake

    Blake Contributing Member

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    First time since I was old enough to watch the Olympics that I didn’t watch one second. Not even sure why I didn’t tune in. I’ve always really enjoyed watching from 84 in LA to 16 in Rio. Happy we won the most golds again.
     
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  7. B-Bob

    B-Bob "94-year-old self-described dreamer"

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    [​IMG]

    Seriously, I think there's a combo of factors. For one, most audiences under 50 don't give a crap about nationalism and the history of all these obscure (to them) sports. For another, American sports fans are now almost more into the GM/personnel/business stuff than they are the sports being played, (e.g. obsessed with drafts and free agency moves). Finally, the games seem kind of trivial in the middle of a pandemic.

    But all that said... if only they had shown more horses and more swimming, NBC could have been a contender. :D
     
  8. mtbrays

    mtbrays Contributing Member
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    I agree with all of the points listed above. There was a noticeable lack of star power this year: no Michael Phelps, no Usain Bolt, no Simone Biles, no Dream Team aside from Durant, etc. The emphasis on swimming in primetime seems like a holdover from Phelps being a must-see event but there was no big name to lure people in again. I'm sure Biles dropping out impacted ratings, too, but gymnastics seems to be missing the old rivalry angle that made it so compelling; it used to be a big deal to take down the USSR, East Germany, Romania, China, etc.

    The time difference was also brutal. I love the Olympics, but found it difficult to care as much when every single news site blared the results 12 hours before NBC would air them. Events in Japan are always tough. I remember being a high school kid and watching the the 2002 World Cup when the US made its run to the quarter finals. Those games were a chore to watch live and these games were reminiscent of that.
     
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  9. daywalker02

    daywalker02 Member

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    California and Texan timezone have always been hard for the Euro members I believe.

    In terms of watching the NBA.

    Same thinking here.
     
  10. ico4498

    ico4498 Member
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    NBC has a reasonable chance of killing the Olympics in the US by 2032.
     
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  11. Haymitch

    Haymitch Custom Title
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    I would be much more likely to watch the Team USA basketball games if they either restricted it to college and G-League, or put a cap on age. If it was only players 23 or younger, for example.

    I already know that KD is the best in the world. I don't need to see him outplay a janitor from Australia to be impressed by him.
     
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  12. mtbrays

    mtbrays Contributing Member
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    On the flip side of that, I enjoy seeing how other countries stack up against the US. Durant may the best in the world, but France was still able to cut the lead to 3 with less than one minute left in the game. I think that having NBA players in the Olympics has helped grow the game a lot internationally since nobody cares about the FIBA World Cup.
     
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  13. Jugdish

    Jugdish Member

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    Apparently the World Cup is a way bigger deal than the Olympics in every hooping country other than the U.S.
     
  14. BigM

    BigM Contributing Member

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    I was into it for the swimming and Dressel going for 5 or 6 gold, was a good draw. I passed on the gymnastics because Biles was out but normally watch that. I like the shorter runs on track and field. NBC pretty much catered to my interests in prime time so can’t complain there. I can’t really be bothered to watch the other stuff.
     
  15. Ziggy

    Ziggy QUEEN ANON

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    For many important events we already knew who won before we could watch at a "normal" viewing hour. Sports on rerun are boring if you already know the outcome.
     
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  16. leroy

    leroy Contributing Member

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    I could see them doing that if they made it universal...such as they do for men's soccer which is basically the U-23 World Cup.
     
  17. JunkyardDwg

    JunkyardDwg Contributing Member

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    The lack of Phelps wasn't quite as noticeable as I thought it'd be, and I'm not so sure that played a huge contribution in lower ratings. You always see turnover from one Olympics to the next, and new stars rise to fill the holes left by others. Caleb Dressel and Katie Ledecky have certainly solidified themselves as stars and should be back for at least the next round in Paris. With track and field, you have Allyson Felix handing the reigns to Athing Mu, Sydney Mclaughlin, and Dalilah Muhammed. In gymnastics, more often than not the women retire after one trip the games. Simone was an exception. It'd be interesting to see the ratings for gymnastics when she competed and when she didn't. On the one hand, the world I'm sure was excited to see how dominant she could be, but at the same time, her dropping events allowed for more competition among athletes where none existed.

    You know something else that bugged me...NBC used to show medal ceremonies from other countries but I can't remember a moment during the Olympics where I heard another country's national anthem. I love hearing our anthem sure, but here's only so many times I can hear that before I get bored. I always enjoyed hearing other anthems and the were several opportunities to play them from countries earning their first gold medal, like the Philippines and India (only their second Summer Games gold).
     
  18. London'sBurning

    London'sBurning Contributing Member

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  19. KingCheetah

    KingCheetah Contributing Member

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