Remember the last time we voluntarily exposed ourselves to the frost-bitten sound bites of NBC’s Winter Olympics coverage from Sochi, Russia?
Bob Costas and his pink eye was giving the stink eye to Vladimir Putin, Al Michaels took Cris Collinworth out to comb over the hockey arenas with an eye out for pending miracles, and Matt Lauer was apparently eyeing more than just how he could make the Opening Ceremonies sound more sexy.
And it was all jammed into a taped-delayed wonderland.
For those just now shaking off a four-year hibernation, all of the above has been eliminated from the competition. Here “Today,” gone tomorrow. And somehow, Al Roker weathers the ice storm.
It’s a new media world order that we filter of Pyeongchang, South Korea through our TVs, phones, computer screens and late-night text buddies.
Diversity and dexterity in the name of demilitarized diplomacy have noticeably and triumphantly replaced status quo and plausibly live, both among the competitors and those describing it. As viewers, we should give it a warm embrace.
That old chill is gone.
Now, this 17-hour time lapse will surely mess with our wait-loss and weight-gain prime-time experience as NBC’s pledge to go live as much as possible means we have to be ready to go by 5 p.m. each weeknight (picking up the East Coast feed, finally).
But the time that matters most to NBC and its $1 billion-range investment in these Winter Games, as part of a $7.65 billion deal it has to keep the five-ring circus going through L.A. in 2028 and into the unknown parts of 2032, is how it keeps up with the times, not just technically, but politically correctly and sponsor friendly.
It starts with prime-time host Mike Tirico. It flows through it’s-about-time figure skating analyst Johnny Weir. More women are in a timely place of importance.
And while it won’t ultimately explain why Winter Olympic TV ratings continue to erode like a mini Nielsen avalanche, it certainly will come up in the discussion about why the coverage couldn’t have been more skewed to those curling fans in Wind Chill, Wisc., instead the Inclusiveness, Calif.
But look at what’s showing up already in the national ratings – not so much in numbers that are eclipsing previous Winter Games. But the top eight markets that registered the best ratings for Friday’s Opening Ceremony: Salt Lake City (first at 29.6 rating/55 share), Denver, San Diego, Seattle, Sacramento, Portland, San Francisco and then Los Angeles (eighth at 20.9/41 share).
That says enough about where the target audience sits.
MORE MULTIFORMITY ON STAGE
While the 51-year-old Tirico doesn’t quite have the resume yet of a Costas – someone who couldn’t even keep his job on last week’s NBC Super Bowl pregame show – this is a moment in Sports TV History when you can actually see a torch as it’s more-than-metaphorically being passed.
“I’m not replacing him; I’m following him,” Tirico recently told the Washington Post. “I think trying to be Bob would be stupid. And that was one of his bits of advice: Be yourself. So I’m going to try to do that.”
Stupidity defines anyone who these days aspires to be a Costas-type know-it-all, a position he carved out for himself after many years of pontification, comfortable enough in his position and bank statements to be critical of the NFL about all its player-health issues and still liable to go sideways when it comes to questioning the sanity of some of the new Olympic sports events coming onto the schedule, as he was four years ago with the slopestyle snowboarding community.
Costas cost us, and others, enough furrowed eyebrow wrinkles. Time to move on. Tirico, aside from the obvious, checks off many boxes in how a network would want to stay as current and wide-appealing as possible. His sense and sensibilities have already been vetted through recent major event coverage. The bosses have nothing to worry about.
And just to make sure the audience understands, Tirico was cordial enough to make it clear at the closing of Thursday night’s broadcast, noting that Costas’ “a year ago chose to end his incredible run in this (host) role. … He brought to the assignment his special mix of grace and greatness which elevated the work of the entire NBC Olympics family. So tonight, we say thank you… for making our Olympic viewing even more memorable. Now, we hope you get to experience that same joy on the other side of this camera.”
Enough said.
Weir, meanwhile, has seen a rise in TV fame more than just the flamboyant arm candy for BFF Tara Lipinski. The openly gay former two-time Olympic skater has effectively sent fan favorite Scott Hamilton off to become a “special correspondent” for NBC after he was the main figure skating analyst going back to 2002. And Weir wasn’t giving Hamilton any great kiss offs with on-air commentary.
Weir will end up as the network diva when this two-week-plus soap opera concludes, based only on how he came out hot before the torch was lit in Friday’s Opening Ceremony. Weir ignited social media with his critiques of the team skating competition. First off, sizing up the performance of U.S. men’s skating favorite Nathan Chen:
Prior to Chen’s program, Weir said: “His skating is sublime. The artistry, the moxie, the swagger, it’s all there.”
And afterward: “That’s the worst short program I’ve ever seen from Nathan Chen…disastrous…now the bronze for Team USA is in jeopardy (in the team event).”
Weir later tweeted out: “I’m a commentator, not a ‘complimentor.’
I’m a commentator, not a “complimentator.” Explaining falls and rough skates is hard because I have been that skater, and truth can hurt. But I would never be able to do my job without telling the truth about every aspect of figure skating and the performances you’ll see.
— Johnny Weir (@JohnnyGWeir) February 10, 2018
Comedian Daniel Tosh was already all over it, tweeting out:
“One way to fix the NFL next year would be to have @johnnygweir and @taralipinski call all games!”
one way to fix the nfl next year would be to have @johnnygweir and @taralipinski call all games!
— daniel tosh (@danieltosh) February 9, 2018
Listen, if you can get Glamour and People magazines following the Winter Games based on Weir’s GPS, you’ve reached audiences that others couldn’t possibly have figured out.
A TONE ALREADY SET
One thing to keep in mind: The U.S. Olympic Committee is also behind this ethnic mosaic narrative. It had continually pointed out to the media covering these Games that this American squad of 243 athletes have the most African Americans (10) and Asian Americans (10) than any recent team, as well as two openly gay men.
Along with figure skater Chen, short-track speed skater Maame Biney and hockey player Jordan Greenway, the first black in his sport for the U.S. team, are already getting NBC’s attention. Repeat skating medalist Shani Davis, snubbed in the U.S. flag bearer decision, has made his presence felt as well before even competing.
“We’ve just been trying to find ways to make sure our team looks like America,” Jason Thompson, the USOC’s director of diversity and inclusion, told the Washington Post.
John Moody, the executive editor and vice president of Fox News, felt that was enough of a chilling effect, so he wrote an op-ed piece on the company’s site lamenting the U.S. team’s diversity mantra.
It has since been deleted.
MEASURING MEDIA MAYHEM
WHAT SMOKES
= Despite having eye surgery last month to prevent a detached retina, former Dodgers play-by-play man Ross Porter, who turned 79 last November, says he recovered enough to start his third season calling a selection of Cal State Northridge home baseball contests, starting with the season opener Friday against BYU. The 25 broadcasts are available at GoMatadors.com.
= An ESPN special called “Dear Black Athlete,” taped last week in front of a live audience at the Sixth Avenue Baptist Church in Birmingham, Ala., airs Sunday at 5 p.m., presented by TheUndefeated.com. The focus of athletes and community leaders discussing their roles in society and social justice includes The Undefeated’s Jason Reid and Jemele Hill as well as collection of speakers. One of them is former L.A. Rams Pro Bowl quarterback James Harris, the first black to start at quarterback in the NFL with Buffalo in 1971.
= Fox’s coverage of the NHRA Winternationals finals from Pomona on Sunday (2-to-5 p.m., FS1) returns with Dave Rieff and Tony Pedregon in the booth joined by racer/reporter Bruno Massel.
WHAT CHOKES
= Already in an era of publication where fewer issues are focused on quality journalism, Sports Illustrated finds itself even more in a defensive position trying to justify the latest Swimsuit Issue that comes out this week. A piece in Vanity Fair calls this first “Swimsuit Issue of the #MeToo Era” and includes editor MJ Day saying: “It’s about allowing women to exist in the world without being harassed or judged regardless of how they like to present themselves. That’s an underlying thread that exists throughout the Swimsuit Issue. You have Harvard graduates, you have billion-dollar moguls, you have philanthropists, you have teachers, you have mothers—you have a full range of women represented in the alumnus of this magazine, and not one of them failed because they wore a bikini.” That’s one convenient way of spinning it.