NBC Striking Gold at Seoul; KNBC Striking Out

So far, about a 9.7.

That’s the mark that NBC has earned for its fine early coverage of the Seoul Summer Olympics that began with Friday’s spectacular opening ceremony.

So far, about .7.

That’s the mark that KNBC-TV Channel 4 has earned for its Laurel and Hardy act at the XXIV Olympiad. Anchorman John Beard boasted on the air Saturday night about Channel 4’s live newscasts from Seoul: “No other television station has ever done what we’re doing. . . .”

Thank God.

More about Channel 4 shortly.

It seemed strange to watch the Opening Ceremony and not hear the droning of ABC’s veteran Olympics voice Jim McKay, who never met a sports event he couldn’t talk over.

What a difference four years and a network make. Fault NBC for undermining the impact of Friday’s traditional parade of nations--potentially the most electrifying element of the opening--by repeatedly pulling away for commercials.

Otherwise, Friday’s coverage was exemplary, and the Opening Ceremony a rich extravaganza that played well even on the small screen. Two moments especially stood out: The visually awesome Olympic-rings formation in midair by sky divers, and 76-year-old Korean Sohn Kee Chung, a 1936 gold medal winner under the flag of Occupying Japan, skipping and leaping joyfully as he participated in Seoul’s torch relay, this time under the banner of his true homeland.

NBC has assembled an able group of studio anchors led by host Bryant Gumble, whose “Today” program and sportscasting experience are an ideal pedigree for fronting the telecast of an event that is traditionally as political as it is sporting. The smooth and efficient Gumbel has come through so far, even though on Friday he engaged in one bit of specious dialogue with Tom Brokaw, who is anchoring the “NBC Nightly News” from Seoul.

“Thanks for being part of our party here today,” Gumbel said.

“Thanks for inviting me,” Brokaw replied.

Inviting him? Oh please! Brokaw is in Seoul primarily for promotional reasons, just as NBC is using the Games to advertise its new prime-time series, and Channel 4 to promote its local newscasters and syndicated shows.

The early NBC stars are Steve McFarland, platform diving commentator, and Bart Conner, men’s gymnastics commentator.

Working with dependable Charlie Jones, McFarland is one of those rare analysts who brings clarity and meaning to technical elements of a sport whose intricacies are beyond most viewers.

Conner has done excellent work with Dick Enberg, one of TV’s elite and most versatile sportscasters. A 1984 gold medalist, Conner is meticulously descriptive without being overwhelming, enthusiastic without being gushy.

In its coverage of the diving and gymnastic competitions, moreover, NBC has put in an overhead camera that gives exciting new dimension to both sports.

NBC has also injected a little humor into the Olympics--very little, it turns out--apparently to compensate for the absence of Johnny Carson, David Letterman and “Saturday Night Live” due to Games coverage.

On Saturday night, for example, NBC showed late-night anchor Bob Costas and Amhad Rashad meeting and frolicking with U.S. troops serving at the DMZ. But who needed a half-serious, half-smart-alecky piece that seemed almost to trivialize the troops it sought to celebrate?

That was another reminder on NBC of how this Olympics cannot be separated from its volatile political environment. Magnificent opening ceremonies are merely shows--thin bandages on global problems. That was evident from Frank Deford’s moving Sunday morning testament to Israeli victims of the terrorist massacre at the 1972 Munich Olympics.

And some of the coverage is a show too.

They’re handing out 734 gold medals at the Olympics, but Channel 4 won’t get any.

Credit Channel 4 with the biggest untruth in advertising by virtue of its Friday full-page newspaper ad promising the Olympics “Opening Ceremony” at 5 p.m. What viewers got was not the Opening Ceremony (that came three hours later on tape-delay) but a Beard feature on the white doves that were to be part of the ceremony.

That was preceded in the 4 p.m. newscast by Linda Alvarez’s giddy advance report on the games.

There’s no evidence yet to suggest that Channel 4 had any motive beyond self-promotion in jetting its major anchors to Seoul.

For one thing, it’s disorienting to see someone announce winning lotto numbers from Seoul (“In Sacramento tonight. . . .”) For another, the Channel 4 newscasts look like they’ve been hit by Hurricane Gilbert.

There have been technical disasters. At one point, Fritz Coleman did half a weather forecast with a dead mike. At another point, Kelly Lange did a voice-over for a tape piece in which someone was talking. During another story, her mike was left open and you could hear her laughing.

Meanwhile, there have been the other usual laughs too, with Coleman finding a Swiss-style restaurant with Korean yodelers and Fred Roggin getting athletes to sing their various national anthems on camera.

What a pity he didn’t locate some of the Haiti contingent. He could have asked them about the Saturday night military coup in Haiti that was reported on other Los Angeles stations that night but wasn’t mentioned on Channel 4--probably because its Merry Old Seouls were having too much fun to notice.