Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Delayed Doosh

You'd have to be living under a rock not to hear the nationwide frustration about the Olympics being broadcast on NBC via a 6 hour tape delay. In this environment of 24/7 access and real-time communication it is near impossible to tune in at night without knowing the result. The anticipation is gone. I'm only watching to see if we can out medal China, and I don't even need to watch for that.

How was such a half-baked decision made? Well, leave it to my good friend and colleague Chris to scour media in his native UK to find the answer. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2184410/Jim-Bell-The-man-NBCs-delayed-Olympics-coverage.html. We have an smug looking dude named Jim Bell to thank for our tape delay. Apparently Jim has never heard of the Internet. Or Smart Phones. Or social media. Mr. Bell, might I suggest you get out of the basement of NBC headquarters and meander down the street to your nearest Apple store and check things out.

Anyway, Jim Bell cites financial concerns as his reason for delaying the broadcast. Sure the Olympics are big business, but they are also an opportunity for a nation to rally together and take pride in our performance. If that is not worthy of being broadcast real-time, I don't know what is.

Thank you Chris for the topic suggestion, and thank you Jim Bell for giving me something to write about.