TMC
01-28-2005, 12:19 AM
When NBC broadcasted their big special for their 75th anniversary, I
was very curious about the sports segment. Basically, Bob Costas,
NBC's star sportscaster for many years, started off by saying that NBC
has covered many sporting events like the World Series, Super Bowl, NBA
Finals, Wimbeldon, Ryder Cup, Triple Crown, Daytona 500, etc. The
entire segment ultimately was an excuse for NBC to pat itself on the
back for its much herald Olympic coverage.
I was very offended because NBC was pretty much prentending that much
of there sporting history didn't exist. NBC has only been covering the
Olympics since the 1988 Seoul Games (ABC was previously known as the
"Official Olympic Television Network"). What's especially sad is that
Bob Costas, who is known for his passion for baseball (dating back to
the days where he called the Saturday "Game of the Week" with Tony
Kubek in the 1980s), pretty much reduced as a useless talking-head.
Personally, if NBC Sports hadn't focused most of the resources on the
Olympics, then they would probably would still have enough fiancial
leverage to continue covering other major sports (i.e. the NFL, Major
League Baseball, and NBA). Frankly, I'm afraid that NBC is so arrogant
about their entertainment division, that they now a days could care
less about actual sports coverage.
I could go on forever about why I'm so upset with NBC's outlook on
sports in recent years but in the meantime, I'm presenting a brand new
Yahoo! club of mine:
http://tv.groups.yahoo.com/group/NBC_Hates_Sports/
NBC, which in the past few years has backed out of bidding for National
Football League games, major league baseball and, most recently, the
National Basketball Association, is better off without them, NBC
Entertainment President Jeff Zucker told the critics.
Conventional TV industry wisdom has it that professional sports
coverage, even if it loses money, is a good investment because it gives
a network a strong "platform" for promoting the rest of its
programming. Zucker disagreed.
General Electric Co.-owned NBC walked away from the NFL in 1998, when
the league hammered out its current deals with ABC, CBS and Fox. That
company's position hasn't changed much.
"We would love to have football, but we are not going to make a deal
that doesn't make sense economically," Zucker Friday. "We will not make
a stupid deal."
NBC made a four-year, $1.3 billion bid in the spring of 2002 to renew
its NBA coverage, but the league instead made six-year deals worth $4.6
billion with ESPN, ABC and TNT. Zucker expressed no regrets.
"We lost football two years ago, and we stayed a strong No. 1," said
Zucker. "We lost baseball, and we stayed a strong No. 1. Now we're
about to lose basketball, and I believe we'll stay a strong No. 1. The
fact is, it's had no an impact on our prime-time strength."
Without professional hoops on Sundays, he said, "NBC can now program
all of Sunday nights without going around basketball. I think that's a
huge advantage for us. We haven't been able for the last several years
to put a program at 8 o'clock because we've had the NBA."
Now, Zucker said, NBC can air its new Sunday drama series "American
Dreams" for "the entire season at 8 o'clock."
was very curious about the sports segment. Basically, Bob Costas,
NBC's star sportscaster for many years, started off by saying that NBC
has covered many sporting events like the World Series, Super Bowl, NBA
Finals, Wimbeldon, Ryder Cup, Triple Crown, Daytona 500, etc. The
entire segment ultimately was an excuse for NBC to pat itself on the
back for its much herald Olympic coverage.
I was very offended because NBC was pretty much prentending that much
of there sporting history didn't exist. NBC has only been covering the
Olympics since the 1988 Seoul Games (ABC was previously known as the
"Official Olympic Television Network"). What's especially sad is that
Bob Costas, who is known for his passion for baseball (dating back to
the days where he called the Saturday "Game of the Week" with Tony
Kubek in the 1980s), pretty much reduced as a useless talking-head.
Personally, if NBC Sports hadn't focused most of the resources on the
Olympics, then they would probably would still have enough fiancial
leverage to continue covering other major sports (i.e. the NFL, Major
League Baseball, and NBA). Frankly, I'm afraid that NBC is so arrogant
about their entertainment division, that they now a days could care
less about actual sports coverage.
I could go on forever about why I'm so upset with NBC's outlook on
sports in recent years but in the meantime, I'm presenting a brand new
Yahoo! club of mine:
http://tv.groups.yahoo.com/group/NBC_Hates_Sports/
NBC, which in the past few years has backed out of bidding for National
Football League games, major league baseball and, most recently, the
National Basketball Association, is better off without them, NBC
Entertainment President Jeff Zucker told the critics.
Conventional TV industry wisdom has it that professional sports
coverage, even if it loses money, is a good investment because it gives
a network a strong "platform" for promoting the rest of its
programming. Zucker disagreed.
General Electric Co.-owned NBC walked away from the NFL in 1998, when
the league hammered out its current deals with ABC, CBS and Fox. That
company's position hasn't changed much.
"We would love to have football, but we are not going to make a deal
that doesn't make sense economically," Zucker Friday. "We will not make
a stupid deal."
NBC made a four-year, $1.3 billion bid in the spring of 2002 to renew
its NBA coverage, but the league instead made six-year deals worth $4.6
billion with ESPN, ABC and TNT. Zucker expressed no regrets.
"We lost football two years ago, and we stayed a strong No. 1," said
Zucker. "We lost baseball, and we stayed a strong No. 1. Now we're
about to lose basketball, and I believe we'll stay a strong No. 1. The
fact is, it's had no an impact on our prime-time strength."
Without professional hoops on Sundays, he said, "NBC can now program
all of Sunday nights without going around basketball. I think that's a
huge advantage for us. We haven't been able for the last several years
to put a program at 8 o'clock because we've had the NBA."
Now, Zucker said, NBC can air its new Sunday drama series "American
Dreams" for "the entire season at 8 o'clock."