2008 Olympics: NBC's dirty pool

It sure was exciting to watch Phelps win his eighth gold medal watch Phelps win his record breaking medal in the 4 X 100 meter medley relay live on NBC, right?

That was a trick question, just like NBC tricked you if you thought you were watching it live. Approximately an hour before NBC's 'live' coverage to the Mountain and Pacific time zones, ESPN and espn.com had already reported that Phelps had won the race and consequently his eighth medal.


It said 'live' for the entire time in the top right corner of the screen. There was no verbal or animated 'recorded earlier' message. It also said 'live' because to the central and eastern time zones it apparently was broadcast i NBC just wanted to pretend like they did not have the technology to let the Mountain and Pacific time zone viewers know that it was not live. Or will they blame it on an oversight or a technical glitch? In any event, who is really going to believe such excuses?

I cannot account for why the race was not actually broadcast live or why NBC claimed it was live when it was not live. But almost certainly NBC wanted to keep it's ratings and conversely their revenues up. They did so at the cost of much credibility. For one of our major national networks to claim a race was live when it clearly was not is inexcusable.


All 2008 Olympics Shots Heard Coverage

2008 Olympics: Opening Ceremony goes well and with a hitch
2008 Olympics: The Amazing Race
2008 Olympics: The Amazing Finish
2008 Olympics: NBC's dirty pool
2008 Olympics: Lucky Eight for Phelps
2008 Olympics: Down goes Franco! Down goes Franco!
2008 Olympics: Usain Bolt - A bolt of lightning or steroids in a syringe?
2008 Olympics: Final Thoughts