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View Poll Results: This was 13-years in the making...was it worth it?
Yes 74 96.10%
No 3 3.90%
Voters: 77. You may not vote on this poll

 

 
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  #41  
Old Posted Mar 2, 2010, 12:49 AM
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Totally.
     
     
  #42  
Old Posted Mar 2, 2010, 12:59 AM
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Originally Posted by mr.x View Post
And NBC's coverage was terrible.
That is the dumbest thing yet written. The quality of NBC's coverage was sensational. (By "quality," I am referring to the "look" and "sound" of the coverage, not necessarily its comprehensiveness.) It was one gigantic, high-def, technicolour spectacle. It made the Games, Vancouver, Whistler, and British Columbia look glorious. It also graciously devoted a generous amount of time to Canadian althletes. It often depicted the Canadian narratives (Bilodeau, Rochette, etc.) with greater emotion and gravitas than CTV. In fact, NBC made the Rochette story the emotional centerpiece of the Games.

As good as CTV's coverage was (and it was good), at times NBC made CTV look like a local community channel in terms of "look" and "feel" and "sound."

Have you ever watched "NFL Films", those high-quality, slow-motion, dramatic films about historic NFL games? That is essentailly the kind of treatment that NBC gave to the Vancouver Games. Top notch.

Last edited by Prometheus; Mar 2, 2010 at 1:14 AM.
     
     
  #43  
Old Posted Mar 2, 2010, 1:01 AM
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I'm probably the odd man out but I thought the CTV coverage was sub par. This is the first time ever that I had to actually tune into NBC to see some decent coverage of athletes, though nowhere near CBC level, that were not form Canada or the US. What irked me the most was how CTV generally cheapened many accomplishments, especially in women's figure skating, of other athletes. Almost felt like a big FU by CTV to our sizable minority population that would have loved to cheer for Canada and their Country of origin. But I guess you can't really muster up zealous patriotism with that approach.

Next to that. Great Olympics and a great boon for Vancouver! I honestly have that sad feeling of coming back from a great extended vacation.

Oh and this is probably just me again but I just couldn't stand the "I believe" song after awhile....
     
     
  #44  
Old Posted Mar 2, 2010, 1:23 AM
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Originally Posted by deagleman View Post
I'm probably the odd man out but I thought the CTV coverage was sub par. This is the first time ever that I had to actually tune into NBC to see some decent coverage of athletes, though nowhere near CBC level, that were not form Canada or the US. What irked me the most was how CTV generally cheapened many accomplishments, especially in women's figure skating, of other athletes.
This is very true. NBC's coverage was much more universal and international than CTV's, which focused almost entirely on Canadian athletes and Canadian accomplishments.

For example, during its afternoon coverage, NBC focused on the nordic events of ski jumping, biathalon, and cross-country skiing. Since those events are dominated by Europeans and Scandinavians, NBC did an excellent job of showcasing and telling the stories of these incredible foreign athletes in dramatic fashion. I never knew that cross-country skiing was so exciting and that it had so many colourful characters.
     
     
  #45  
Old Posted Mar 2, 2010, 1:23 AM
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NBC gets an A+ for production value, camera work and storytelling.

However, most of us like our Olympics live and comprehensive (show the events from beginning to end), and for that, CTV wins. Also, Brian Williams in the CTV studio rocked.

Overall, I felt both did a great job. I missed CBC for the first few days, but I eventually got used to the CTV family of broadcasters. For "personalities", mind you, it would be hard to top Matt Lauer and his Today Show crew at Grouse Mountain. They were awesome, and the guests they brought up at 4 in the morning was unreal. Plus, they dubbed the new word "Vancougar" (one of their hosts was having some fun in the city apparently).
     
     
  #46  
Old Posted Mar 2, 2010, 1:25 AM
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What ?

CTV's coverage has been spectacular. Decent commentaries combined with comprehensive real time coverage of ALL the sporting events make me a VERY HAPPY person. Plus, their website with comprehensive streaming make this the best coverage ever. I was able to watch just about EVERY events in real time, which is what I care most about. CBC couldn't even touch the amount of live coverage CTV did with their previous work at Beijing 2008. Remember, there are 3 separate channels completely dedicated to this Olympics, so there is no way they have not been comprehensive. I have viewed many alpine skiing and cross country events on one of those channels that have absolutely no Canadian medal favourite. Plus, their online streaming ensures that you can most definitely watch every single event online.

NBC may have gotten some nice stories, shots and high production value coverage of the city and the athletes, but their tape delays make it a horrible coverage for any sport fans. All of my American friends complain about that because they couldn't watch their Lindsay Vonn, for example, ski her epic gold-medal event. How sad is that for our American brothers and sisters ?
     
     
  #47  
Old Posted Mar 2, 2010, 1:33 AM
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Originally Posted by Rusty Gull View Post
NBC gets an A+ for production value, camera work and storytelling.

However, most of us like our Olympics live and comprehensive (show the events from beginning to end), and for that, CTV wins.
That is why the perfect viewing experience was watching both networks. Since I was sick at home during the entire Games, I had the luxury of doing just that. If I missed anything from one network, I would just watch the re-broadcast during late night. For 17 days, I think I watched every broadcast minute of both channels. For more than two weeks, I lived in an Olympic bubble, and it feels strange now that it is all over.

Speaking of NBC and late night, Jay Leno will be having all the American stars (Shaun White, Lindsey Vonn, Bodi Miller, etc.) on his show tonight and during the week. It will be interesting to hear them recount their stories and impressions of the Games in Vancouver.
     
     
  #48  
Old Posted Mar 2, 2010, 1:35 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Prometheus View Post
This is very true. NBC's coverage was much more universal and international than CTV's, which focused almost entirely on Canadian athletes and Canadian accomplishments.

For example, during its afternoon coverage, NBC focused on the nordic events of ski jumping, biathalon, and cross-country skiing. Since those events are dominated by Europeans and Scandinavians, NBC did an excellent job of showcasing and telling the stories of these incredible foreign athletes in dramatic fashion. I never knew that cross-country skiing was so exciting and that it had so many colourful characters.
These were a home games, they were simply broadcasted much differently than normal. I'd expect CTV to be more "balanced" with its London coverage.
     
     
  #49  
Old Posted Mar 2, 2010, 1:39 AM
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Originally Posted by mr.x View Post
These were a home games, they were simply broadcasted much differently than normal. I'd expect CTV to be more "balanced" with its London coverage.
I know. It was a special moment in Canadian history. I do not fault them at all.
     
     
  #50  
Old Posted Mar 2, 2010, 2:35 AM
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One thing I don't understand is why CTV had the "Five Sails" behind the news anchor?

Why not a shot of the glorious north shore?

Could we not pay the $$ to get the good spot?
     
     
  #51  
Old Posted Mar 2, 2010, 2:37 AM
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Both CTV and NBC in my opinion had great broadcasts. I was pleased, but not surprised at the graciousness and endearing coverage of the Canadian athletes and Canada as a whole.

A lot of people for some reason don't like Brian Williams (the Canadian one haha)
but I thought he did a great job.

The only downside about NBC is watching sports on tape-delay sucks and is absurd. Thank god I could watch the events live. That's what makes sport what it is. The greatest, original, form of reality television.
     
     
  #52  
Old Posted Mar 2, 2010, 2:56 AM
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The only downside about NBC is watching sports on tape-delay sucks and is absurd. Thank god I could watch the events live. That's what makes sport what it is. The greatest, original, form of reality television.
Tape-delay is a negative. But it is also a positive. You lose out on the spontaneousness and comprehensiveness of live broadcast. But you also gain a perfectly crafted narrative without the boring or uneventful parts. There is nothing more boring than watching the last 30 inferior downhill skiers finish more than 10 seconds behind the lead time with no hope of winning. Who needs to see that? NBC eliminates all of that and presents the day's events in a neat little package for you when you get home from work. There are multiple, overlapping, multi-hour events taking place everyday. How can the normal person who has to work watch all of it? It is impossible. NBC makes digesting the day's events practical as well as exciting.

Besides, NBC did show live coverage of the nordic events and some of the qualifying rounds at Cypress during its afternoon coverage.
     
     
  #53  
Old Posted Mar 2, 2010, 2:59 AM
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Originally Posted by ryanmaccdn View Post
One thing I don't understand is why CTV had the "Five Sails" behind the news anchor?

Why not a shot of the glorious north shore?

Could we not pay the $$ to get the good spot?
The Canada Place sails are an iconic landmark...it reminds me of CBC's set for Sydney 2000. They had a panoramic window backdrop of the Sydney Opera House.


Keep in mind that there were three main channels broadcasting the Games: CTV, Sportsnet, and TSN. CTV and TSN had sails while Sportsnet had the rings and the inlet/mountains.
     
     
  #54  
Old Posted Mar 2, 2010, 3:01 AM
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Originally Posted by Prometheus View Post
Tape-delay is a negative. But it is also a positive. You lose out on the spontaneousness and comprehensiveness of live broadcast. But you also gain a perfectly crafted narrative without the boring or uneventful parts. There is nothing more boring than watching the last 30 inferior downhill skiers come in more than 10 seconds off of the lead time. NBC eliminates all of that and presents the day's events in a neat little package for you when you get home from work. There are multiple, overlapping, multi-hour events taking place everyday. How can the normal person who has to work watch all of it? It is impossible.

Besides, NBC did show live coverage of the nordic events and some of the qualifying rounds at Cypress during its afternoon coverage.
I don't get it. You first said NBC's coverage is more international/global, then say you love the fact that they will only show the better athletes while ignoring the lesser ones ? I wanted to cheer for my home country before I immigrated here and they only brought one athlete here. I was able to catch his performance, even though he was not expected to medal, on CTV streaming only.
     
     
  #55  
Old Posted Mar 2, 2010, 3:06 AM
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Originally Posted by ryanmaccdn View Post
One thing I don't understand is why CTV had the "Five Sails" behind the news anchor?

Why not a shot of the glorious north shore?

Could we not pay the $$ to get the good spot?
CTV actually had the best spot. right on north/east corner. problem is they decided to cover the view with that giant TV screen which was a shame. you only got the good view when they moved over to the couch.

sidenote to CTV. the fake TV fireplace was really cheesy. if your going to do that, at least go for a high-res HD version of a flame. not the low-res pixelated version we saw on TV..
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  #56  
Old Posted Mar 2, 2010, 3:07 AM
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Originally Posted by ryanmaccdn View Post
One thing I don't understand is why CTV had the "Five Sails" behind the news anchor?

Why not a shot of the glorious north shore?

Could we not pay the $$ to get the good spot?
CTV did have the good spot. They had two sets: the one that you are referring to and a totally amazing one which showed all of Coal Harbour, Stanley Park and the North Shore Mountains.

Last edited by Prometheus; Mar 2, 2010 at 3:21 AM.
     
     
  #57  
Old Posted Mar 2, 2010, 3:14 AM
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I don't get it. You first said NBC's coverage is more international/global, then say you love the fact that they will only show the better athletes while ignoring the lesser ones?
There is no contradiction in that. By "international" I most certainly did not mean that they focused on every competitor regardless of ability. By "international" I meant that they focused on great competition and accomplishment regardless of nationality.
     
     
  #58  
Old Posted Mar 2, 2010, 3:25 AM
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Originally Posted by Delirium View Post
CTV actually had the best spot. right on north/east corner. problem is they decided to cover the view with that giant TV screen which was a shame. you only got the good view when they moved over to the couch.

sidenote to CTV. the fake TV fireplace was really cheesy. if your going to do that, at least go for a high-res HD version of a flame. not the low-res pixelated version we saw on TV..

I usually got off work at 3am most nights, so I only really saw replays of night stuff.... but good to hear they used the mountains in the day shots.

God these Visa commercials made my eyes water up.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4O1dpO8uKB8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQl2FIbP6I4
     
     
  #59  
Old Posted Mar 2, 2010, 4:56 AM
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Originally Posted by Prometheus View Post
Tape-delay is a negative. But it is also a positive. You lose out on the spontaneousness and comprehensiveness of live broadcast. But you also gain a perfectly crafted narrative without the boring or uneventful parts. There is nothing more boring than watching the last 30 inferior downhill skiers finish more than 10 seconds behind the lead time with no hope of winning. Who needs to see that? NBC eliminates all of that and presents the day's events in a neat little package for you when you get home from work. There are multiple, overlapping, multi-hour events taking place everyday. How can the normal person who has to work watch all of it? It is impossible. NBC makes digesting the day's events practical as well as exciting.

Besides, NBC did show live coverage of the nordic events and some of the qualifying rounds at Cypress during its afternoon coverage.
The biggest problem I have with tape delayed. Is that there is nothing on the screen to tell you that what you are watching is tape delayed or live. They need to inform the viewer that what the viewer is seeing is happening right then or has already happened.

But them make a tape delayed event look live which is wrong.
     
     
  #60  
Old Posted Mar 2, 2010, 5:04 AM
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Originally Posted by cabotp View Post
The biggest problem I have with tape delayed. Is that there is nothing on the screen to tell you that what you are watching is tape delayed or live. They need to inform the viewer that what the viewer is seeing is happening right then or has already happened.

But them make a tape delayed event look live which is wrong.
For NBC, the convention is to have "LIVE" in the upper right-hand corner of the screen if the coverage is live. A significant portion of NBC's coverage was in fact live: many of the nordic events during their afternoon coverage and much of the short-track speed skating and figure skating during the evening primetime coverage was live.

Also, if you pay attention, NBC does not pretend that their tape-delayed coverage is live coverage.

Last edited by Prometheus; Mar 2, 2010 at 5:14 AM.
     
     
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