NBC: Two Hours Too Late

This editorial is tape-delayed, just like next winter’s Olympics on NBC for West Coast viewers. Because we live in the Pacific time zone we’re not good enough to watch the Games live, like the rest of the country or world. According to NBC’s 23 West Coast affiliates, which made this decision, it is a kindness being thoughtfully extended to geographically isolated Western residents based on community service concerns and the specter of commuters missing the first hour or two of competition.

Does anyone recall watching the Super Bowl two hours late? The World Series? NBA finals? Even the XFL? If West Coast residents can mentally comprehend football or hockey at brunch, why is it too much to handle Olympic competitions at dinner? By the way, did NBC affiliates notice Olympic ratings last summer on tape delay? Worst in over a generation. A main attraction for sports-watching is the immediacy.

The cause of this bungle? Greed with our public airwaves. Broadcasting the Salt Lake City Olympic competitions at 5:30 Pacific time would preempt lucrative local evening news during a sweeps period. That means we’d be watching the world’s finest athletes two states away and miss local reports on breast augmentation and killer dogs stalking strippers.

Why can’t at least some Western stations opt for live Olympics? Even NBC’s Olympics chairman, Dick Ebersol, opposes his own affiliates’ decision.

In the 1880s, Standard time was invented by Sir Sanford Fleming, an engineer who also invented inline skates, and was pushed by large railroads desiring uniform times and regional zones for coherent national schedules. Until then, it didn’t matter if two nearby towns had sundials showing 12:05 and 12:14 at the same moment. Now, we have large corporations using a single time zone as an excuse to usurp the public’s airwaves for their benefit. That deserves an Emmy for chutzpah, a gold medal for arrogance and a timely protest.

KNBC-TV’s Comment Line says viewer opinions are very important and read daily by the general manager. Call (818) 840-6010 or e-mail knbc.complaint@nbc.com.