Olympics taped; NBC has a plan

By ERNEST HOOPER

© St. Petersburg Times, published June 30, 2000

Olympic fans may want to check with the local equine shop and start pricing blinders.

Or get a head start and let your friends know now you do not want to discuss anything they saw on the Internet about Michael Johnson, Marion Jones or Maurice Greene during the 2000 Olympics. Or maybe you should wear earplugs until NBC begins its prime-time coverage, some 12 to 13 hours after the main events from Sydney have occurred.

In detailing their broadcast plans for the Games, which begin in prime time Sept. 15 with the Opening Ceremony, network officials made it clear this week all events will be on tape. We're not even talking "plausibly live," the oft-criticized approach used during the Atlanta Games in which some events were broadcast as if they were live, but were recorded that day.

NBC Sports chairman Dick Ebersol said because of the 15-hour time difference between Australia and the East Coast, the presentation will be taped and the network will make it clear it's showing tape during the first three days of the broadcast.

"It was really important for us to come 100 percent clean and say what we were going to do," Ebersol said.

Though this eliminates the chance to wake up at 4 a.m. to see Johnson and Greene battle for gold in the 200 meters, it's not all bad. Ebersol is convinced the approach is right because the vast majority of newspapers won't have the results, and NBC's rights agreement will prevent other outlets from airing highlights until after NBC has aired the coverage.

The Internet will be the most immediate salvation for those who have to know.

It was a similar situation when CBS aired the 1998 Winter Games from Nagano, Japan, but Ebersol said the Sydney experience is more advantageous because NBC won't have the awkward approach of broadcasting event results one night, then airing the events the next.

"One of the differences from the Nagano Winter Games is the fact that the Olympics in the summer basically unfold in the evening, and so the results will not be known the night before," Ebersol explained. "Time and time again with Nagano you probably noticed they would be going off the air, and at the same time they would be giving you the results from the next night.

"That won't happen with these Games."

An all-taped Olympics will allow for a much tighter presentation. Weather postponements and other delays can be filled with indoor events, and the network also can avoid the frustrating practice of showing only portions of events.

Of course, restricting the events to prime time also will bolster the profit line. Ebersol said the network has sold more than $800-million in advertising and expects to surpass $900-million by September.

NBC will have 162 1/2 hours of coverage, and an additional 279 hours will be on MSNBC or CNBC. The network coverage will be aimed at families and will be similar to past Olympic broadcasts with major sports -- track and field, gymnastics, basketball and swimming -- blended with compelling features.

The cable coverage will be event-oriented with a concentration on soccer, baseball, boxing, softball and equestrian. On many days, events will be carried in their entirety, a departure from the look-in approach of past Olympiads.

"When I tell my friends and neighbors what we're going to be doing on MSNBC, what we will doing on CNBC ... they literally drop that jaw because that's so odd to their past experiences of consuming the Olympics," said Jim Lampley, who will host coverage on MSNBC.

The extended coverage also may include events not involving the United States. Molly Solomon, coordinating producer of NBC's Olympic cable coverage, said a hotly contested match, such as the '96 triple-overtime basketball game between Lithuania and Croatia, could be shown because the number of programming hours has doubled.

FINE TUNING: Fox Sports Net has tabbed Keith Lebowitz to co-anchor its Regional Sports Report, which debuts July 17. Lebowitz and Ned Smith will anchor from Dallas, but the show will have Florida-based reporters and concentrate on state pro and college teams. ... Sunshine Network's Florida Sports Profiles debuts at 7 p.m. Tuesday. Don Shula will be the subject. ... ESPN's Jeremy Schaap may ask for hazard pay. Last week, he covered the Mike Tyson fight in Scotland. This weekend he handles the Mets-Braves/John Rocker baseball series.

© St. Petersburg Times. All rights reserved.

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