Obviously, I'm not able to judge NBC's coverage of the Athens Games, but I have no doubt that some of what Gerard Baker says in his column in today's (London) Times is true. {Reg and possibly sub required.} I'm sure NBC's coverage is awful, but I'm not sure Baker has actually explained why that is.
Americophile Baker says his patience is tested by the "the quadrennial festival of self-congratulatory, narcissistic pap that is US Olympics coverage". I know when I was last at home during an Olympics, it was a total turn-off. There probably is an excessive focus on the American athletes.
But, I also know that there are a lot of Irish people who would argue that the BBC's coverage is full of "self-congratulatory, narcissistic pap" too. And, on those rare occasions when Ireland wins a medal, I think a little "self-congratulatory, narcissistic pap" creeps in too.
The fact that America wins more medals probably makes that more tiring, but I don't really have a problem with that.
Based on my experience in the past, I fully understand his frustration with NBC's coverage. My biggest complaint, however, is not the nationalism but that there's very little actual sports and WAY TOO MUCH of the "touchy-feely", "get to know the athletes" type stuff. Also, everything's tape delayed. No real sports fan wants to watch tape-delayed competitions (especially when the results are on the news and/or online) or learn about some swimmer's relationship with her cat or whatever.
And, there's the problem. In the US, coverage of the Olympics is directed at a female audience. The beer-guzzling male sports fans are too caught up in baseball and pre-season football to pay much attention to the gymnastics, etc. NBC hopes to attract women to its Olympics coverage and believes that this "getting to know the athletes" is what women want.
