In the spirit of NBC’s coverage of the Summer Olympic Games, I am writing today’s blog in real time. You are actually reading it live. In other words, I promise not to write the next word until you read the current one.
Ok, that’s not true. I’m sorry.
But I think I can get it to pass as “plausibly live.” As you read this, I hope you have the sensation of reading it over my shoulder as I type.
The term “plausibly live” and international sporting events – particularly the Olympics – are synonymous. Olympic events that take place half way around the globe are recorded, then played back in “prime time” as if they are being shown in real time. Even the NBC studio hosts are trained to play along.
The other day, Today Show host Matt Lauer told those of us watching in America that the Opening Ceremonies would be happening later “tonight” when in fact they were in progress not far from where he was standing in Beijing.
My first “plausibly live” Olympic experience took place when I was a kid and it was traumatizing. Although it was 28 years ago, I can still vividly remember 9News sportscaster Ron Zappalo (now of Fox 31 News fame) opening the 5 p.m. newscast waving a small United States flag and informing me that the USA Hockey team had beaten the Russians.
“How could he know?” I wondered. The game wasn’t scheduled to begin on TV for another few hours. Miracle on Ice? It was “Miracle on the Set,” I thought, that he somehow already knew.
In July, NBC announced that it would be providing an average of 212 hours of Olympic coverage daily through 12 different sources including broadcast, cable and broadband offerings. When you add it up, it means 3,600 hours of coverage, more than all previous Summer Olympics combined.
NBC claims that 75 percent of its coverage will be live but who wants to watch Michael Phelps win gold medals and break world records on their cell phone as they wait in line for coffee?
In today’s internet, instant-gratification world, why not offer us a chance to watch the event live on TV? The Mountain Time Zone is 14 hours behind Beijing, but many of us would be willing to watch certain events on TV early in the morning rather than wait for a prime-time, pre-edited and pre-packaged version. At least give us the option. I don’t know about you, but knowing the score of a game or the result of a competition ahead of time (something that is hard to avoid in this day and age) kind of takes away the fun of watching it.
And speaking of live, how about the most recent zinger out of China: the little girl who performed “Ode to the Motherland” as China’s flag was paraded into the stadium during the opening ceremony was only lip-syncing. Chinese officials replaced the actual singer, 7-year-old Yang Peivi, because “she was deemed not cute enough.”
I saw Yang’s picture. Sure, she was missing a few front teeth and didn’t have gymnast sparkles in her hair, but she was still cute.
Plausibly cute at least.
Written by Jim Miller, Brand Iron's Director of Public Relations
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