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This revolution won't be televised either
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The birth of the Internet means you can no longer dictate what is news, when news happens and what is appropriate for viewers.
We get to make all those decisions for ourselves, thank you.
So, to be quite honest, I'm not all that upset with NBC's "plausibly live" coverage of the Olympics. And I've been in Los Angeles since Sunday watching NBC's "implausibly tape-delayed" version of the Beijing Olympics, an edition that airs three hours behind NBC's eastern- and central-time-zone Beijing reports.
I'm not mad because I know how this story ends. Progress is going to steamroll the television industry the same way it has newspapers. By the time the 2012 Olympics roll around, no one on the West Coast will learn of Michael Phelps' eighth gold medal by listening to the race on the radio.
Yeah, that's what it came to in Los Angeles — a friend resorted to radio play-by-play of swimming.
When Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt eclipsed Michael Johnson's record in the 200-meter dash a friend sent me a text message minutes after Bolt crossed the finish line. By 9:30 a.m. in Los Angeles, the same friend had e-mailed me a link to video footage of Bolt's amazing run.
Twelve hours later, while sitting in a bar, I got to watch NBC's "plausibly live" version of Bolt's dash. It was no more exciting watching Bolt run on NBC at night than on YouTube in the morning. It's hard to screw up 19 seconds, and I don't really need a color commentator to break down Bolt's form.
Arrogance is America's No. 1 disease, its most plentiful natural resource. No American industry is more arrogant than the media, particularly the television wing of the media. Cursed with good looks, the ability to enunciate most words and access to the best parties and sociably acceptable drugs, TV people really believe they're smarter than everyone else and essential to maintaining the myth of a true democracy.
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Ten years ago you could say the exact same thing about print journalists except for the good looks and access to parties. But we've been humbled. Bloggers have proven that we're not that smart. In fact, we're really rather stupid and stale.
No one counts on us to break reliable news anymore. They sure as hell don't expect us to be creative. We've been exposed. People read newspapers because they used to be the only place to find out what was coming on television and how many hits Pete Rose had on a Tuesday night.
Now that there are other, more convenient sources for that kind of information, people under age 60 have little trouble avoiding the newspaper. All you need is a remote control to find out what's on the tube. You can find an updated baseball boxscore on a pitch-by-pitch basis on the Net.
I watch NBA games with a laptop in my lap. I take my laptop to bed with me. My friends all surf the web religiously on their phones.
For the most part, newspapers were never special. They were all we had. I would compare a newspaper to travelling by covered wagon, but a horse and carriage is superior because at least it was environmentally safe.
Well, the same way the Internet and bloggers have exposed the newspaper industry, they're going to do the same thing to all of television.
TV sucks. Most of it anyway. No one should be all that surprised that NBC would arrogantly tape delay damn near the whole thing so that it could be properly packaged for ratings impact.
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| Suprised we didn't see this in tape-delayed primetime. (Photo Illustration / FOXSports.com) |
American Idol is the standard. That's what you're witnessing — the American Idol-ization of the Olympics. You can't rush that. It takes time to turn a sporting event into a reality talent show, and reality TV works best in primetime. Hell, I'm surprised that NBC didn't talk Usain Bolt into wearing a giant, Flavor Flav-size clock around his neck for the 200-meter final.
The executives running NBC know what you want much more than you do, don't they?
You don't want the events live. You don't care that you already know the outcome to the events you're watching. You read a spoiler about the season finale of Lost and watched anyway. It's no different from watching Michael Phelps swim.
Television's arrogance is opening opportunities for the same people who exposed newspaper executives. NBC should've broadcast key Olympic events live on the Internet.
It's the new millennium. People's habits have changed. We get up at 3 a.m. just to check our e-mail and take a quick glance at the news to make sure President Bush hasn't brought peace and freedom to another country with bombs and destruction.
Our expectations have changed. We expect to see sports reality as it happens. We know the Real World isn't real because it's been chopped, screwed and tape delayed. We don't want the Sports World turned into the Real World. The drugs, showboating and fights over money are hard enough to stomach.
TV is going to learn to give us what we want or it's going to be replaced by something more real and organic. Citizen journalists are eventually going to start doing their own web newscasts. Camcorders are relatively inexpensive. The guy sitting at home can ambush the mayor and ask questions just as stupid as his local news reporter.
Trust me, this is the last Olympics we will suffer through in tape delay.
This column will be available to East Coast readers in 12 hours.
Member Comments
I loved the Olympics as a kid. I like it now. Last Olympics I stayed up late to watch events like volley ball. This time by 11:00 pm EST I was worn out.<br /><br />I would love an all olympic web site or chanel. I don't like women's gymnastics and had to flip the channel back and forth a million times to avoid it for more than half of the olympics.<br /><br />Hurry up children, figure out a way to make money and let me watch all equestrian, syncronized swimming and water polo matches I want. Seriously. I wanted to watch the US Women's Softball matches, all of them and the women's and men's volley ball matches, all of them. But only got a few glimses and news from this web site. I was not happy watching this year.
Mom0nuts8/26/2008 10:31:00 AM(Report inappropriate content)
F'k Whitlock! he's still an Uncle Tom all day!
cboyspurslonghorn18/25/2008 13:48:00 PM(Report inappropriate content)
Some of us have REAL jobs and can't (or for that matter, simply don't want to) spend the day at a computer watching inferior quality video or watch events on a tiny phone screen when we can go home, grab a brew and watch the Olympics on a 50-inch, hi-def TV with surround sound. I prefer to use the technology so prominently mentioned here for things I NEED to know, and that certainly doesn't include someone setting a world record in the hundred. That being said, thank you DirecTV for DVRs and lining up the Olympic channels contiguously!
Noam_Sayin8/25/2008 8:40:00 AM(Report inappropriate content)
Very good Jason....who cares to stay up until 12AM (which is what the mtn time zone did) if you wanted to watch a TAPE DELAY of an important event which took place the previous day. By the way Kirsty Coventry should be poised to win all events in 2012 - if you listened to Rowdy Gaines in the way he fawned all over her...though she didn't actually WIN a gold did she?
dpshane8/25/2008 8:04:00 AM(Report inappropriate content)
Shamefully gratuitous Bush bash aside, this article represents the "tell it like it is" reporting that journalism should ideally aspire to. Perhaps if the media hadn't long ago sold out to ratings-chasing and left-slanted politicking, internet blogging would now be a news-access alternative instead of a news-access replacement. <br /><br />Kudos, Whitlock, for putting the "watch" back into "watchdog of the people," if only for a moment. For far too long, the media has been making, controlling and modifying the news, rather than simply reporting it. The lack of any shame or social conscience with which the media has done so, has put it beyond the reach of any sort of redemption or correction, so its obsolescence is all but assured. Unfortunately, the only true watchdog of the people has turned out to be the people themselves, <br /><br />The news needs to be reported when it happens; not when it is most convenient for inflating network ratings. Shame on you, NBC; we won't miss you when you're gone. Hell, we won't even KNOW when you're gone since your self-reported demise will probably be on time delay.
29th_Candidate8/24/2008 2:59:00 AM(Report inappropriate content)
Testing, 1... 2... Testing. Is this thing on?
29th_Candidate8/24/2008 2:48:00 AM(Report inappropriate content)
Shamefully gratuitous Bush bash aside, this article represents the "tell it like it is" reporting that journalism should ideally aspire to. Perhaps if the media hadn't long ago sold out to ratings-chasing and left-slanted politicking, internet blogging would now be a news-access alternative instead of a news-access replacement.
29th_Candidate8/24/2008 2:47:00 AM(Report inappropriate content)
Whitlock is right on. Sadly those of us in the west could have watched Phelps live if NBC had only given us a live feed and saving yesterday's taped events for later each evening. But no...while Phelps was creating history we were supposed to be watching day-old beach volley ball and the women's marathon. Not me. I followed the races online by refreshing the results website. I taped the races and watched them later, fast-forwarding through all the commercials and never saw one of them. NBC's sponsors paid billions and I never saw one of their commercials. BTW my nominees for most inane NBC commentator: (1) Tim Daggett and Al Trautwig for gymnastics (a tie).
azguy128/23/2008 18:44:00 PM(Report inappropriate content)
Excellent article. My biggest frustration with the Olympic coverage the past two, in fact, is that they try too hard to push through all the live events, so that you never get to see all of anything. <br /><br />I remember watching all the gymnastics and all the swimming in two separate broadcasts before. Now, they jump all over the place and it is difficult to know what you're watching half the time. If they just streamed all the events online, live, we could all go and choose what we want to see and watch only that.
MDMiller8/23/2008 14:02:00 PM(Report inappropriate content)
This is only the 2nd article that Whitlock's written that didn't include race. <br />Jason, you're also saying that you're obsolete as a newspaper reporter.<br /><br />We can all watch the same feed and form our own opinions.<br />That's why threre's a Fox Sports community of bloggers.<br /><br />Show the games live. There are plenty of channels available.<br /><br />It's so rude of the International Olympic Committee to choose a host location that's inconvenient to U.S. eastern time zone viewers and Jason.
slshusker8/23/2008 11:17:00 AM(Report inappropriate content)
Right on, Whit! I hope some media people read this, but I bet they won't.
tonygster8/23/2008 8:45:00 AM(Report inappropriate content)
Excellent! Totally right on and perfectly stated. I can't believe some of the ridiculous comments you've received, but I'm delighted by what you expressed. You are so right. Keep it comin'!
CharlieMC8/22/2008 23:41:00 PM(Report inappropriate content)
whitlock is spot on. nbc sucks and hopefully no one will care come 2012 cus we'll all be able to catch things live thru the net. american arrogance at it's best. how embarrassing. and to think we are the only ones who consider 'overall medal' count to justify our first place in the standings while the rest of the world goes by total gold medals. 'we' need to change.
by20048/22/2008 23:35:00 PM(Report inappropriate content)
This is the funniest and most accurate "ON TIME" article I have ever read Whitlock provide. Normally I can't stand most of what Whitlock says but man this was spot on!!
mcnatey8/22/2008 21:52:00 PM(Report inappropriate content)
I loved this article. Soon enough, we'll all walk around watching live cable TV on our phones, all day long, as if it was a portable TV set.<br /><br />I love technology. I can just jump online, and the entire world is at my fingertips. <br /><br />My local sports section of the newspaper, meanwhile, is basically cut-and-paste from news services. I only now read it in the morning out of habit. Just because it's on the breakfast table.
sox2rox8/22/2008 18:35:00 PM(Report inappropriate content)
I would like them to show the tape delay the USA mens basketball team games I haven't seen one game. Instead they have speed walking or something really lame.
corndog20068/22/2008 17:41:00 PM(Report inappropriate content)
I just want to say that Whitlock is spot on.<br />I don't always agree with the man, but this isn't the first time either...I just want to thank Jason Whitlock for what really is something I've not considered before, and food for thought.<br />You don't get that often from a sports writer.
IndySteelerfan8/22/2008 16:13:00 PM(Report inappropriate content)
Hey rdoc <br /><br />Good point about working during the day. My favorite is when you said "I actually have something productive to do during the day." Hmmm when is your post 10 till 11 AM on a weekday. Looks like your being real productive reading articles and posting comments. <br /><br />CBS shows the NCAA tournament live on weekdays every year, but NBC can't show the olympics live once every 4 years, give me a break. <br /><br />My favorite is that at 7 pm on the west coast instead of watching olympics live I get to watch access hollwood and wheel of fortune, what a joke and NBC's a joke
iggyksu8/22/2008 15:16:00 PM(Report inappropriate content)
I beleive you'r eright on this Jason. I couldn't beleive I was watching Tape delay Olympics in this day & AGE. And I did watch one of the Womens Softball games on my PC. They paid 7 cjarged all these MILLIONS & can't afford 24 hr. coverage. People & Sponsors here would have paid for live coverage. Americans love their SPORTS but we want to see CHINA get it's A S S kikked too!<br /> I'm still old fashion about reading a morning paper. hve to take it to my personal Library.<br /> Some things never change!!
Gerry568/22/2008 14:49:00 PM(Report inappropriate content)
I think a lot of people miss the point of the article. Five year ago newpapers where were people went to read the most up to date news. Now if you want to know what has happened you go to the Internet. Unless television changes it to will become an after though as new technology surpasses it.
gtieddie8/22/2008 14:19:00 PM(Report inappropriate content)
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