NBC’s Games coverage has been under attack since the Opening Ceremony when the networks commentators were lambasted for appearing ignorant, at one point saying of Tim Berners Lee, the inventor of the Internet: “We don’t know who he is either, Google him.”
Particularly odd seems the choice to cut the The Who, whose performance provided the climax of the show.
Ray Davies’ rendition of his Kinks classic, Waterloo Sunset, was hailed as one of the better moments by viewers across social media, in a ceremony that split opinions in the UK, but that too didn’t make NBC’s edit.
Muse, who have a big following stateside, were also cut, whilst Jessie J had all four of her appearances screened in full.
“Yeah, they dropped The Who so they could show 4 songs by Jessie J, and One Republic, and Taio Cruz. And these are the people who have the USA’s exclusive broadcast rights to the Olympics through 2020,” said one American viewer on Gawker (where you can see the cut performances).
Another pointed out that NBC even edited out the men’s marathon medal ceremony, a traditional part of the Closing Ceremony. The race was won by Uganda’s Stephen Kiprotich claiming Uganda’s first medal since 1972.
NBC have done little stem the tide of complaints from angry viewers, who have criticised its decision not to screen many events live, instead showing them at prime time, in order, supposedly, to recoup more money from advertising.
The Twitter hashtag NBCfail was coined on the first day of the Games, and has chronicled the various perceived mistakes viewers believe the broadcaster has made.
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