At the halfway point of the XXIII Winter Olympics, things are certainly feeling a little chilly for both Team USA and NBC.
As last night’s primetime coverage displayed, even with the surprise silver in the short-track speedskating that John-Henry Krueger scored, both the medal count for America’s athletes and the ratings for the broadcaster are struggling to gain traction in the PyeongChang games.
Currently, Team USA is in sixth place with 10 overall medals, just behind the Russian competitors, and tied for third in gold medals with Canada’s haul of five. As for the Comcast-owned broadcaster, the 2018 Olympics needs a miracle on ice or two to escape being the lowest rated and least watched games ever.
Wow, who saw that coming?
On Sunday, we usually get together for lunch with a bunch of other couples. Naturally, we spoke about the Olympics and the games on TV.
I am not suggesting that this is a scientific survey but this is what I heard:
1) Why are U.S. athletes telling us about their politics? We don’t want to hear it. Shut up and do whatever you went to the Olympics to do. I see a huge backlash against Hollywood and professional athletes over the focus on politics.
2) No U.S. hockey team worth watching. Frankly, this is my reason for not watching. In prior games, the hockey was top notch. The U.S.-Canada game was superb the last few times. We miss NHL players although I understand why the owners did not want to interrupt the season.
3) Too much stuff that has nothing to do with sports. Too many background stories and the treatment of Kim’s little sister was just way over the top; and last but not least,
4) My 20-something sons told me last night that their generation is watching the games in other networks. I guess he means that you can watch the event live on their I-phones.
So best wishes to all but I am not watching. In the future, you may see the Olympics live and then a prime time summary of the day’s events. Or they may be broadcast by total sports channel, such as ESPN or Fox Sports. Sorry, but there is not enough material to justify all of that prime time TV time.
