Events Merely Sideshows in NBC Circus

Give NBC credit. It has somehow managed to fit a little athletic competition into its Olympic coverage.

But mostly it has been “world-premiere” music videos, studio chatter, athlete profiles, “Where Are They Now?” pieces, overdone analyses, studio interviews, journalistic pieces and, of course, tons of commercials and promos.

If they gave a gold medal for clutter, NBC would win going away.

Sometimes you tune in and wonder if you’ve gotten MTV. Other times, it’s more like “60 Minutes.”

The journalistic pieces have been good, no question. But they are often intrusive, interrupting the natural flow of athletic competition.

Do we really need all that contrived drama?

On Tuesday night, NBC devoted all of one minute to Cuba’s baseball victory over the United States, then later spent an hour on a 20-year-old story, the murder of 11 Israeli athletes by terrorists at Munich.

Sure, the piece, a worthwhile project, was well researched and well done. It’s probably a lock for an Emmy.

But this was something you turn into a prime-time special and promote with a concerted effort, not simply throw into the Olympic mix at 11 p.m.

When it came on, a lot of viewers probably thought, “Here we go again,” and went to bed. If they did, they missed what was as thorough a reporting job as you’ll see on television.

It is probably no coincidence that on the night the poorly promoted Munich feature was shown, the national rating was a 15.4, the lowest prime-time number for a Summer Olympics in at least 20 years.

NBC blamed the low rating on no track and field, gymnastics or swimming that night.

Another factor might have been the Cincinnati-Atlanta baseball game on TBS. The Braves’ 7-5 comeback victory got a 3.8 national cable rating, the Braves’ best for the season by half a rating point.

The Olympics got a 9.4 rating in Atlanta, site of the 1996 Games. The Braves, meanwhile, got a 26.3.

NBC had another low rating Wednesday night, a 15.8, and for the first 11 nights of events at Barcelona is averaging 18.2, the same as for the first 11 nights at Seoul.

The problem is, the ratings for Barcelona are dropping. At Seoul, they increased during the second week.

NBC, in an effort to make its Barcelona ratings look better, points out that television use overall is 12% lower in the summer than in September, when the Seoul Olympics were held. But there are several things NBC is not saying:

--The Seoul Olympics faced stiffer competition--original programming on weeknights and NFL football on weekends.

--Prime time for the Seoul Olympics, which were mostly live, began at 4:30 p.m. in the West instead of 7:30.

--The ratings for the 1992 Winter Olympics were 10% higher than for the ’88 Winter Games, indicating an upward trend.

NBC continues playing games with its “plausibly live” format, stretching out some events, shortening others, pretending events are live when they are not, and doing obvious voice-overs.

NBC had a live event Wednesday morning, at least live in the East, when it showed the Commonwealth of Independent States’ upset of the U.S. women’s basketball team. But the network messed it up.

Right before the end of the game, NBC went to a news break. Finally, after some unnecessary byplay between morning hosts Dick Enberg and Katie Couric, the end of the game was shown--on tape delay.

Technically, Bob Costas has been nearly flawless in his role as prime-time host. He is well prepared and very smooth. But there’s a certain smugness to Costas that is a turnoff. It’s as if he is saying, “Look at me, aren’t I great?” Generally, he lacks the warmth of a Jim McKay.

Enberg might have been a better choice.

Jim Lampley, who served in several Olympic host roles during his days at ABC, has been solid, as usual, on the late-night show. But that snap-on smile on partner Hannah Storm is irritating. And it’s always there.

NBC played a dirty trick on Oscar De La Hoya on the late show Wednesday. Even though it already had shown an emotional piece on the East Los Angeles boxer and the relationship with his mother, who died of cancer 21 months ago, NBC played it again for De La Hoya’s benefit.

NBC got the desired effect: When it came back to De La Hoya, he was crying.

At least Lampley had the presence of mind to apologize for putting De La Hoya in an uncomfortable position.

You just never know which Charles Barkley is going to show up. The one who was interviewed by Costas on Wednesday night was Barkley the jerk.

Said Barkley: “We’re not here to make friends, we’re here to win basketball games.”

He also said the only reason NBA players are in Barcelona is to make basketball more popular worldwide so the sport can make more money.

“You might say that’s sort of a mercenary outlook,” Costas said.

No kidding.

In contrast, it was nice-guy Carl Lewis who was on with Lampley and Storm on Tuesday night.

Asked if he was disappointed because he wasn’t in the 100, Lewis said, “No, I don’t feel sorry for myself at all. There are more important things to worry about, such as the injury to my good friend Mark Witherspoon (who was unable to compete in the final because of an Achilles’ tendon injury).”

Have you noticed the charade going on at Channel 4? On its news program leading into NBC’s prime-time coverage, the station has newsman John Beard delivering a report about what is “coming up” at the Olympics, when actually the events already have taken place.

It’s one thing not to give results to avoid spoiling the suspense, but it’s another to actually lie to viewers--particularly in the context of a news program.

TV-Radio Notes

Dwight Stones might be the announcing star of these Olympic Games. His work on track and field has been tremendous. Besides his NBC duties, he also has been doing a lot of volunteer work for the TripleCast. Stones’ only flaw is that he often talks too fast. . . . NBC’s Craig Masback also has done well on track. Masback was a miler of some note at Princeton in the late 1970s and later at Oxford. He ran a best of 3:52.02 in 1979. But he is primarily on the NBC team because of his track expertise, not his marquee value.

The TripleCast has ben rather informal. No telling who you might hear. Willie Banks has become a regular and Danny Everett, who failed to make the final because of an Achilles’ tendon injury, helped out on the 400-meter final Wednesday. Everett was outstanding, offering insight and even a touch of humor. Asked what it feels like running down the home stretch, Everett said, “You feel like you’re going to explode. You just try to put one foot in front of the other and hope you don’t fall on your face.”

Psychologist David Viscott will be the featured guest on “Up Close” today on ESPN. One of his topics will be Charles Barkley. Rob Dibble and Bob Knight also will be analyzed. Steve Edwards is filling in for Roy Firestone, who is taking a few days off. . . . Gold-medal diver Mark Lenzi will be a guest of Jay Leno on “The Tonight Show” on Monday night. . . . An excellent, two-part profile of Vin Scully will be shown on Prime Ticket’s “Press Box” on Monday and Tuesday. In the first part, discussing his style, Scully says he has a rule about what he does when something special happens. “I shut up and let the crowd react,” Scully says. Some of the NBC people at Barcelona could use that advice, particularly diving commentator Michele Mitchell. She seems to know her sport, but she comes across as a know-it-all who won’t shut up.

Mystery: Randi Hall told her Prime Ticket colleagues she was off to Barcelona to work the Olympics for NBC, but she has yet to be seen. She was supposed to be a reporter at the gymnastics, but Beth Ruyak, former co-host of ABC’s morning program, “The Home Show,” filled that role. . . . Hall is known for breaking Laker stories, but even with Hall MIA, “Press Box” came up with a Laker scoop this week--Terry Teagle going to Italy. Credit producer Mark Houska for that one.

Prime Ticket will use John Robinson as a commentator on several of its USC telecasts this season. Paul McDonald will return to work the games Robinson doesn’t. . . . Channel 9 will televise live at 5 p.m. Saturday the Raiders’ exhibition game against the San Francisco 49ers. Channel 9’s Tom Murray, filling in for Joel Meyers, who is in Barcelona, will handle the play-by-play. Raider executive Al LoCasale, as usual, will be the commentator. The telecast will be replayed on Prime Ticket on Sunday at 9 a.m. . . . The final three days of the Volvo/Los Angeles tennis tournament will be televised live by Prime Ticket, today and Saturday at 7:30 p.m., Sunday at 4 p.m. The announcers are Barry MacKay and Tim Mayotte.