"No Fruit", Says The Peacock

Every two years, a substantial portion of the American television-watching audience belongs to NBC. This is more true for the Summer Games, it being the bigger event and its events more commonly being popular across the country. There's no alternative for us but to watch NBC's coverage, although I have read tantalizing accounts of the superior coverage that other nations enjoy. Perhaps they also complain, though. I wonder about that.

I never do find complaining to be very compelling. If worrying is the futile thing that we do when we're afraid, then complaining is the futile thing that we do when we're angry. If there were anything you could do, you'd be doing it instead of complaining, right? Even when there is something to do, many complain because doing it is in reality less appealing than the problem itself. I try to keep my complaints to myself, or at worst to unload them only on dear friends and loved ones who are tolerant.

That brings me back to the deficient broadcast coverage of NBC. There are plenty of problems, although I gather now that a failure to offer every event is now no longer one of them. I have always been bothered by so many events being tape-delayed. When a morning event is broadcast in primetime, there's little hope of making it all day without hearing the result, because no other news outlets are decent enough to hold fire until the event's been televised.

I also dislike the story-based coverage. They tend to feel that we can't enjoy most of the events unless we are arrested by the life story of the athlete, which is something they don't do with about any other sporting event. Maybe it is necessary sometimes, but I find most sports interesting enough that I don't need this whole biographical clips and interview package before I'll sit still for a taekwondo match. I guess most people aren't like me.

There I go complaining, when I meant to condemn it. See, there's no point in it. NBC has the long-term contract, and people watch anyway, so why would they do anything differently? People would have to not watch to make NBC do something, and NBC would have to not televise the Games at all for the International Olympic Committee to do anything. None of that's going to happen though, so we might as well save all the complaining.