http://www.infobeat.com/articles4/ent_tv_2_020602.html
NBC On A Slippery Slope in Utah NY Post Re: The Winter Olympics, which kick off Friday night. OK, NBC, think you can put on an Olympics telecast without screwing it up? Part of me remains ever hopeful, but another part of me seriously doubts it. There's already been frightening talk that you've stockpiled dozens upon dozens of those up-close-and-personal profiles that are loathed by everybody but you. It's just one viewer's opinion, I guess, but every time one of these things comes on in the middle of the Olympics, I want to throw a brick at my TV. Why? Because every minute spent telling me about the obstacles this or that ice skater encountered in clawing their way to the top of their sport is a minute taken away from the whole reason we're watching the Winter Olympics in the first place - the competition. And if only the problem was just a matter of mere minutes. Your average profile seems to be much longer than that - sometimes, if memory serves, taking up entire segments between commercial breaks, which themselves have been obscenely long in recent years. Now hear this, NBC: The game's the thing. I think we're all aware by now of the sacrifices made by all the skaters, skiers, lugers and biathletes who have been rising before dawn since they were four years-old for hour upon hour of impossibly rigorous workouts. I'm not cold-hearted; these people have my undying sympathy. I can only imagine how tough it must be to work that hard for so many years from so young an age. But as far as I know, no one put a gun to their heads to force them into this lifestyle (or, if somebody did, now that would be a story worth telling!). And anyway, the profiles often feel forced - like the producers who make them are bending over backwards to find some incident in the backstory of each athlete's life that will make their Olympic odyssey all the more meaningful. To which I say: What could be more meaningful than the games themselves? Here's some advice on the proliferation of profiles during Olympics telecasts: Put a cork in it. And while you're at it, NBC, why don't you put a gag on your commentators too? The other day, I caught an ice-skating exhibition on PBS that was notable for one amazing characteristic: Silence. Can you imagine? All you saw and heard were the skaters and their music. And you know what? Without some burbling jackass telling you what you were fully capable of seeing for yourself, the telecast was a pure pleasure. I wish I could say the same about recent Olympics telecasts. When you're not telling us how many children an Olympic athlete has, you're jamming so many commercials into the telecasts that it's become impossible to follow the actual events. Maybe the problem is that somewhere along the line, the Olympics became too unwieldy for network TV to present and viewers to digest. But the trend can be reversed, NBC, if you'll just keep your eye on the proverbial ball - or puck, in the case of the Winter Games. And leave the profiles to People magazine. Bob Bettwy Director - Program Control Washington Group SRS Technologies [EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> (703) 351-7266 FAX (703) 522-2891
