Did NBC Alter the Olympics' Opening Ceremony? 499
techmuse writes "Viewing the 2008 Olympics opening ceremony online at NBC's Olympics website, you can see that the order in which the countries were presented was very different from the actual order of the countries in the ceremony, as listed at Wikipedia. NBC skipped roughly 100 countries ahead, then jumped back and forth, apparently delaying the appearance of the United States in its home market until later in the broadcast. (In fact, the US team was shown on the infield before they were shown marching!) NBC did not acknowledge this in its broadcast. Is NBC altering the reality of the broadcast to boost ratings? Was this true only online, or also in the live broadcast?"
Re:not a real issue (Score:1, Interesting)
Traditionally the Olympic teams are introduced in the alphabetical order of their name in the language of the host country, with the host team moved to last. Chinese has the problem of not having an order to follow, so they had to make something up.
Re:dilemma (Score:5, Interesting)
In fact, I think you are right. I can probably find a separate reason to boycott each day of the Games even now. Doping, commercialization, the new swimsuit controversy, human rights, Tibet, Avery Brundage reaction to Munich attacks, bribes deciding who will host the games, Moscow and L.A. "half-games"... and of course also the Berlin propaganda games (remember, you broke the law first ;)
who got sick of the constant zooming on each scene (Score:3, Interesting)
There was some incredible scenes to see but NBC camera people must have been told to zoom every camera and it diminished the quality IMO. The designers didn't create the imagery for moving viewers or moving cameras/lenses.
It really became an annoyance and a disappointment.
LoB
NBC is the WORST network for sports (Score:3, Interesting)
Dick Ebersole, who runs NBC Sports, is on record as saying that it is his goal to get better ratings, no matter what. That's why NBC doesn't post the running score of a football game, because they want you to stay and wait for it.
It's why they show all those personal profiles instead of sporting events. It's why they edited the opening games. It's why we can't see live events in the US.
Re:This just in... (Score:5, Interesting)
What major network television outfit publicly linked the American Antrax attacks falsely to Iraq back in 2001 and waited until 2006 to very quiet acknowledge (but not explain the source of) its deceit?
Can boosting ratings, by feeding the American people false propaganda, be a treasonous offense?
Re:I'm sure I'm the only one on the planet, but... (Score:5, Interesting)
This is more than a bunch of athletes my friend. Go back and watch the opening ceremonies, and tell me that country does not scare the fuck out of you. The level of discipline demonstrated by the performers, the sheer precision of it all... it all far exceeds anything the West could possibly pull off. And that's DAMNED scary.
China is living proof that, if not bound by troublesome concepts like fairness, freedom, and morality, you can achieve great things. That scares the bejesus out of me. The entire Olympic exercise, for China at least, is one of intimidation. Here's them flexing their muscle, showing the world that, at a moment's notice, they can throw away billions, not feel the pinch, mobilize hundreds of thousands of people without any messy bureaucracy, and completely transform the entire city nearly overnight (well, 6 years, that's damned short).
Re:What is more outrageous... (Score:1, Interesting)
... is that I have to actually subscribe to some local TV provider like AT&T, even if I don't own a TV, just so I could watch the NBC Olympics. There is no option for saying I don't have a TV service and to pay the sum they would receive from the local cable company directly to NBC.
That is seriously outrageous.
... is that I have to actually subscribe to some local TV provider like AT&T, even if I don't own a TV, just so I could watch the NBC Olympics. There is no option for saying I don't have a TV service and to pay the sum they would receive from the local cable company directly to NBC.
That is seriously outrageous.
I just told them that I have comcast. They did not check.
Re:I'm sure I'm the only one on the planet, but... (Score:5, Interesting)
One thing that really hit me was how quickly they were able to expand their airport to accommodate for the Olympics. They now have the world's largest airport terminal, built up in almost no time at all. My home town (Vancouver, Canada) took nearly 20 years to build a single runway, between budget cutbacks, protests by residents, regulatory red tape, etc etc. Meanwhile here's a country that can completely rebuild an airport, make it into the world's largest, and still have time to make it an architectural masterpiece, all in 6 years. It's breathtaking and scary.
who regards the west as...savages.
Not really, they regard the West as hypocrites. The state media likes to play up images like Abu Ghraib and the various things going on at Gitmo. It's not entirely baseless, and that's the sad part.
Remember Atlanta? (Score:2, Interesting)
I noticed the IOC threw an absolute fit over the use of Army Rangers for some portions of the opening ceremonies in Atlanta in 1996. (They pleaded for the Rangers to not perform their contribution in uniform. They didn't.)
But I don't think the guys who raised the Olympic flag while GOOSE-STEPPING in China were members of the local Beijing Boy Scout troop.
Fucking IOC Hypocrites.
They ALTERED the CROWD NOISE too. (Score:3, Interesting)
According to friends in Europe, who watched the ceremonies live NBC totally used FAKE CROWD noise.
Apparently Vladimir Putin from Russia got the biggest crowd applause all night when they showed him on the big screen, and the Iraq athletes were given loud BOO's.
And all we heard all night long were the exact same levels of 'monotone cheering' on the NBC broadcast.
Don't believe ANYTHING you see on TV, especially if they had 12 hours to make changes,edits,lies.
Re:This just in... (Score:2, Interesting)
Wait -- that was ABC, who kept screaming at the top of their lungs [salon.com] about how the anthrax was linked to Iraq, had bentonite traced to Iraq, and how three or four highly credible sources had confirmed that it was produced in Iraq labs.
And, to the best of my knowledge, they have never changed or recanted those allegations, even now that they're (along with everyone else) claiming that a single US-based scientist was actually the person who managed to produce, on his own, without access to the necessary equipment, weaponized anthrax that several FBI labs couldn't replicate given several years of effort.
Re:Not news. (Score:4, Interesting)
CBC (Canada's approved Olympic broadcaster) not only showed it live, they also did an encore presentation starting at 6 pm.
They replayed the whole thing--all 4+ hours, no editing that I noticed. The only thing different in the encore were occasional live programming notes, and abbreviated (10-minute) news broadcasts at 6 and 10.
Why did NBC feel the need to so obviously edit their repeat?
Re:kids today... (Score:1, Interesting)
I'm sorry. During the opening of the Super Bowl do they re-order the introduction of the players?
Re:Not the most disrespectful behaviour. (Score:1, Interesting)
Re:kids today... (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Not news. (Score:4, Interesting)
This is blatantly obvious to us Canadians when we have the choice of watching CBC or a US station... We watch the CBC live (whenever it happens to be...) and with 'low level editing' - and just sort of laugh at the US version which is in prime time and so altered it is just awful. The CBC primetime event is an exact copy of the live event. (Probably because it's cheaper just to hit play and not to edit...)
Re:This just in... (Score:2, Interesting)
"in a democracy they are different lies."
Democracy? Nowadays democracy I'm afraid isnt working as it should be and it's all because of the media. It's turned more towards demagogy. People vote based on opinions formed by tv and the media. They dont even bother to see the candidates' plan.
Re:What is more outrageous... (Score:3, Interesting)
That was modded insightful, but I hoped it was meant to be funny, till I read your response.
What is it with people today that believe they should be able to receive anything they want in any form they want it without taking into account economic realities? I would imagine NBC has little desire at the moment to provide micro-managed services to each little joe and dick when they can sell in bulk directly to a few large providers instead.
Perhaps in the future that infrastructure will exist; maybe you can even make some money pitching the idea to NBC. But to bitch that something you want doesn't exist is just asinine.
Re:This just in... (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Not news. (Score:5, Interesting)
Sadly, American sports commentators have been told that "dead air" is absolutely the worst possible thing that could happen during a telecast. I don't really know why this has become the norm in the US. Dead air was obviously anathema to radio, but with television it makes little sense. Other countries' networks seem perfectly happy simply to show the events unfold on screen with an occasional comment from the announcers. I have to assume the American practice shows how little regard the producers have for their viewers, since the producers appear to believe we cannot fathom what we see on screen without the comments of some retired athlete to guide us.
Re:Not news. (Score:3, Interesting)
This isn't even really an "American practice", as the "American Broadcasting Company" (ABC) didn't have nearly so much commentary when they were the "host network" of the Olympics prior to NBC's coverage.
Some of the "color" commentary is IMHO acceptable during actual sporting events, but not for the opening and closing ceremonies. I usually just scream at my television trying to tell the stupid "hosts" to shut up so I can listen to what is being said during the ceremony itself.... knowing that all that does is piss off my wife.
I think some of this also has to do with the outrageous salaries that some of these commentators are earning during the Olympics, and that NBC is hoping to get these "anchors" to earn their money. Top anchors like Bob Costas get several million dollars just to be there.
Re:This just in... (Score:4, Interesting)
It is not even displayed in correct order when it's hosted in the USA.
In Canada it was displayed in the correct order: Greece first, followed by the countries in the order they would appear in a Chinese dictionary. You can't really talk about alphabetical order since Mandarin use ideograms, not letters, thus the order is based on the rule of strokes.
Re:I'm sure I'm the only one on the planet, but... (Score:3, Interesting)
As others have pointed out, all of this is really just a matter of national priority.
As a taxpayer I'd hate to have my national government pay billions of dollars to put on an athletic competition. I can see how providing standard police services and such are within the scope of a government, but throwing a huge party and entertainment show isn't.
Look, humans are humans. There is nothing saying that the Europeans couldn't have landed on the moon if they wanted to spend that kind of money. The Chinese could have as well. Granted, at any given time particular nations have economies that are in various levels of repair - Europe or China probably couldn't have landed on the moon in the 60s even with a massively dedicated effort. However, either could probably do it today just fine.
Ditto for throwing an entertainment event. It isn't like Chinese acrobats are any better than Mexican acrobats. Just look at the Soviet Chess program - it had huge state sponsorship and unsurprisingly they turned out far better chess players than nations in which people played chess for fun almost entirely without compensation. Today the program is a shadow of its former self - and it isn't becuase Russians are being born dumber.
What all of this really demonstrates is the power of authoritarian governments to mobilize their entire nations around goals that are decided upon by a handful of those in power. A country with the economy of North Korea can mobilize more artillery tubes pointed at its rival than any nation in Europe. It isn't like the French don't know how to fashion a rifled cannon (gee, they've only been doing that for a century or so) - they just see the value in having millions of them pointed at Belgium. Likewise, I'm sure Germany could throw a 20 billion euro party if it wanted to, but I suspect the locals would rather see that money going into healthcare or maybe just into their own pockets.
Granted, democratic nations do bread-and-circuses too (aka Iraq), but they at least need to convince their populations to go along with it - without the benefit of highly self-censored media (although clueless media helps with slight self-censorship).
Faked footage (Score:1, Interesting)
The giant firework footprints were faked too, already at the source. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/olympics/2534499/Beijing-Olympic-2008-opening-ceremony-giant-firework-footprints-faked.html [telegraph.co.uk]
Re:Not news. (Score:3, Interesting)
The fact that almost all comedies have laugh tracks didn't give this away?