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Skating coverage experiences slip-up

The network known for its Thursday prime-time programming earned its highest rating for that night in four years for the women's figure skating free skate.

NBC's rating was 26.8 with a 41 share, the best of any network for a Thursday since Seinfeld's final episode in 1998.

Which means just as many viewers probably went to bed as confused by the final scenes as they were when Jerry, George, Elaine and Kramer ended the long-running series in jail.

The wacky world of figure skating took another hairpin turn Thursday, and this time, NBC's broadcasters did a surprisingly poor job of navigating viewers through it.

The network's coverage of the pairs skating scandal was outstanding thanks in part to news reporter Kelly O'Donnell adding information to the analysis of Scott Hamilton and Sandra Bezic.

Unfortunately, O'Donnell wasn't around to break down the facts behind Sarah Hughes' unlikely journey from fourth place to the gold medal.

It took 11/2 minutes after the final marks were announced for an NBC graphic to reveal Michelle Kwan had won bronze, not silver as it seemed had happened.

And neither Hamilton, Bezic nor announcer Tom Hammond explained how that could be, what the "three-way tie" in the free skate meant or even how Hughes had beaten Kwan at all given its own graphic had Kwan leading Hughes before Irina Slutskaya's skate.

Bezic did say once the only way Hughes could win was if she won the free skate and another skater beat Kwan in the free skate -- which is what happened. But she didn't explain why.

Informed viewers might know the free skate counts for two-thirds of the final total, but with so many casual fans tuning in, a more thorough explanation was needed.

And given NBC stayed on the air uninterrupted for 31 minutes for the final three skaters, there was plenty of time.

(In short, Hughes was fourth in the short program and first in the free while Slutskaya was second in both. So they finished tied. The tiebreaker goes to whomever finishes higher in the free skate. Kwan's third place in the free skate counted for two-thirds of her total and left her third overall.)

Instead of analysis, the coverage devolved into Must-Scream TV.

The astounded reactions of Hughes and her coach from backstage when the final marks were announced made for a powerful visual, but NBC overused the clip and spent too much time searching Kwan and Slutskaya's faces for tears that weren't there.

As it often has been accused of in past Olympics, the network sacrificed information for emotion.

Which is too bad because while NBC hasn't been perfect during these Games, its performance on that front had improved.

MORE RATINGS: To put the 26.8 rating in perspective, consider the Nancy Kerrigan-Tonya Harding saga at Lillehammer in 1994 drew ratings/shares of 48.5/64 and 44.1/64, respectively. One ratings point equals 1 percent of U.S. homes with a television (a little more than 1-million). Share is the percentage of viewers watching television who tuned in.

Viewing for Thursday's free skate peaked from 11 to 11:30 p.m. with a 32.5 rating and 53 share.

HISTORY LESSON: Dateline NBC will air NBC's Olympic film Peggy & Dorothy at 7 p.m. Sunday before coverage of the Closing Ceremony begins at 8.

The film will look at how Peggy Fleming and Dorothy Hamill resurrected the U.S. figure skating team after every member died in a plane crash on the way to the World Championships in Prague in 1961.

Many believed the U.S. team would not recover for decades, yet Fleming won gold in 1968 and Hamill won gold in 1976.

The film was made in case poor weather interrupted the Games, but with the forecast clear through the rest of the Olympics, NBC found another place for it.

-- Information from other news organizations was used in this report.

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