Monday, July 30, 2012

I am a grumpy old man


I’ve been watching the Olympics, well, NBC presents the Olympics because this is more about the network and the presentation than it is about the games.

In three hours there have been 6 – 8 floor exercises, half a dozen vaults, not quite as many uneven bar routines, a couple gymnasts on the balance beam and maybe 6 swimming events.  That comes to about an hour for the competition and time in between, maybe a little more.

A typical hour of programming has 18 minutes of commercials.

Also, there was only 1 woman gymnast not from the US shown.

What happened to the other countries and the other hour?

I miss the experience I had as a kid.  There were fewer commercials, which was true of all types of TV, but they really seem to pack them in now.  It seems to me that the Olympics I watched back then were shown live.  I’m sure some of it was taped, but even then I don’t remember the extensive editing.  I don’t think that started until the 80s and for me it ruins the experience. 

I feel like I’m watching a reality show and not a live sporting event.

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