GeneralBarry Horn's media report In todayıs live TV age, NBC banking on tape 09/13/2000 By Barry Horn / The Dallas Morning News 
NBC is billing its coverage from Sydney as, "The Complete Olympics." The network and its cable siblings -- CNBC and MSNBC -- are planning to beam back 441 1/2 hours from Australia. That's 270 hours more than the 171 1/2 hours NBC, with no cable help, fed America from Atlanta.
If NBC wanted, it could also call its coverage of the Games of the XXVIIth Olympiad, "The Completely Taped Olympics." Not a single second of competition will be televised live by NBC, CNBC or MSNBC.
True, that has something to do with the fact that the Olympics will be played 16 times zones away, but NBC, which is paying $705 million in rights fees, has the clout to "request" events be scheduled in Australia for its live prime-time convenience in the United States. Thatıs what the network did in 1988 when the Summer Games were held in Seoul, South Korea.
But those Games were a ratings disaster as NBC scrambled from event to event without the luxury of introducing viewers to the athletes and events they were about to see.
NBC believes those introductions -- "storytelling" as it likes to refer to the buildup it lavishes on athletes' events _ are the key to attracting and keeping an audience that extends beyond typical viewers of sports fare.
"We never even considered going live for a minute of competition," says Dick Ebersol, the chairman of NBC Sports. "To do so would have been sheer folly."
In an information age geared more and more to providing instant results, instant audio and video on demand, the NBC approach is different.
This then will be editorsı Olympics. It will be up to an army of thousands of experienced and gifted broadcasters, producers, directors, editors and their support personnel to package programming which NBC is confident will keep America mesmerized.
NBC is confident it can deliver.
To that end, the network is predicting a nightly prime-time rating between 17.5 and 18.5. That translates into between 18 million to 19 million homes a night. Thatıs not quite up to Atlantaıs prime-time average of 21.6 in 1996, but it has been traditionally tougher to generate the same enthusiasm for Olympics held abroad as it is for U.S. home Games.
NBCıs prime-time coverage, which will air for 16 consecutive nights, will focus heavily on selected sports its research shows has the broadest appeal - swimming and diving, track and field, and gymnastics.
The bulk of cable coverage will be on MSNBC. The network will carry 218 hours over 18 days. Coverage, in fact, begins two days before the Sept. 15 opening ceremonies with a U.S. menıs soccer game. On Sept. 14, the defending gold medal winning U.S. womenıs soccer team begins its competition.
MSNBC will be the home of team sports, such as soccer, basketball, baseball, softball and volleyball. Its prime time will be from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
CNBC will air 65 hours of programming, beginning Sept. 16. It will focus primarily on individual sports, with boxing consuming most of its time.
Both MSNBC and CNBC will provide "long-form" programming. It is an approach that should be more familiar to sports fans 9 lots of straight coverage of the competition without a lot of the feature storytelling build-up.
JIM LAMPLEY
MSNBC host
He began working the Olympics for ABC at the 1976 Winter Games in Innsbruck, Austria. Over the years, he has worked the Olympics for ABC, CBS and NBC. Most recently, he was the Turner Sports host at the 1998 Winter Games in Nagano, Japan.
This will be his third consecutive Summer Games for NBC. He co-hosted the late night shift with Hannah Storm at the last two.
Over the years, he has hosted ABCıs college football studio show, NBCıs Notre Dame Saturday and HBOıs boxing coverage among his many assignments.
PAT OıBRIEN
CNBC host
This will be his Summer Olympics debut. He is not your typical sports broadcaster. OıBrienıs steady job these days is as co-anchor of Access Hollywood, a syndicated entertainment news magazine.
He does have Olympic experience, having worked the CBS late night studio for the 1992 and 1994 Winter Games.
In addition, he anchored Super Bowl, Final Four, World Series and NBA coverage at CBS.
BOB COSTAS
Prime time and late night host
NBCıs signature host returns to the networkıs No.1 Olympic seat for the third consecutive Summer Games.
Costas will be viewersı primary tour guide in Sydney.
Since starting at NBC in 1980, his assignments have included Major League Baseball, the NFL, NBA and college basketball.
He has been honored as Sportscaster of the Year by the National Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association a record seven times, and has was won 11 Sports Emmy Awards for his play-by-play, studio work and commentary.
HANNAH STORM
Daytime host
She worked the late-night shift with Jim Lampley at the Barcelona and Atlanta Summer Games.
Storm joined NBC in 1992 after three years at CNN where she was an anchor on Sports Tonight. She got her television start in Houston.
In 1997, she became the first woman to anchor a pro sports network studio show when she replaced Costas on NBA Showtime, the networkıs NBA pregame show.
Joe Magrane, Baseball
Pitched 10 seasons in the major leagues and posted a National League-best 2.18 ERA for St. Louis in 1988. Now works in the Tampa Bay Devil Raysı booth.
Doug Collins, Menıs Basketball
NBCıs lead NBA analyst was a member of the 1972 U.S. Olympic basketball team that was robbed of a gold medal. Like his teammates, he never picked up his silver medal.
Ann Meyers Drysdale, Womenıs Basketball
Led the U.S. team to a silver medal at the 1976 Summer Games in Montreal. Sheıs a member of both the Basketball Hall of Fame and the Womenıs Sports Hall of Fame.
Mike Dodd, Beach Volleyball
Won a silver medal in Atlanta, but age and a bad rotator cuff have forced him to the sidelines.
Teddy Atlas, Boxing
One of professional boxingıs most astute trainers, he has been honest to a fault in the corner and behind the mike.
Jon Lugbill, Canoe-Kayak
Five-time world champion and a member of the 1992 U.S. Olympic team.
Cynthia Potter, Diving
Member of three U.S. Olympic teams, bronze medalist in 1976, a 28-time national champion and World Diver of the Year three times.
Melanie Smith Taylor, Equestrian
Won a gold medal in Los Angeles and retired to a life of designing courses, training, judging and commentating.
Tim Daggett, Gymnastics
His perfect 10 on the horizontal bar in 1984 clinched a gold medal for the U.S. team in Los Angeles.
Elfi Schlegel, Gymnastics
A rarity for NBC 9 she competed internationally for Canada. She was too young for the 1976 Olympics, forced to miss the 1980 Games because of the boycott, and too old by 1984.
Yasmin Farooq, Rowing
Was the coxswain of the U.S. womenıs eight for a record eight years, appeared in two Olympics and captained the team in Atlanta.
Gary Jobson, Sailing
Has won many sailing championships in one-design classes, including the Americaıs Cup with Ted Turner in 1977.
Alexi Lalas, Menıs Soccer
Played every minute in Atlanta. Scored three goals in two Olympics. Talking proof that NBC has no ban on facial hair for commentators.
Amy Allmann, Womenıs Soccer
Was the goalkeeper on the U.S. national team from 1987 to 1991.
Rowdy Gaines, Swimming
Texas-ex who won three gold medals at the 1984 Games in Los Angeles. Also qualified for the 1980 U.S. team that boycotted the Moscow Olympics.
Tracie Ruiz-Conforto, Synchronized Swimming
Won a gold medal in 1984 and a silver medal four years later. This will be her third Games for NBC.
Mary Carillo, Tennis
Won the 1977 French Open mixed doubles, but has earned greater fame as a tennis analyst.
Bud Collins, Tennis
Has been covering the game for newspapers and TV for four decades. This will be his fourth Olympiad for NBC.
Carol Lewis, Track & Field
Ranked among Americaıs top long jumpers for more than a decade, she won NCAA titles at the University of Houston and earned a spot on three Olympic teams.
Marty Liquori, Track & Field
Will be working his seventh Olympics in the booth after finishing 12th in the 1500 meters in Mexico City Ranked No. 1 in the world in 1969 and 1971.
Dwight Stones, Track & Field
Owned 10 world records in the high jump and two Olympic medals. Heıll concentrate on field events.
Mark Allen, Triathlon
Lost at six Ironman Triathlon Championships before winning six of the next seven.
Chris Marlowe, Volleyball
Captain of the U.S. team that won the Olympic gold medal in 1984.
Jim Kruse, Water Polo
U.S. national team captain in 1977 and 1978, will be working his fifth pool-side Olympics.
Sam Maxwell, Weightlifting
A member of the U.S. World team in 1989, he has been a morning radio personality in Seattle and a financial commentator.
Jeff Blatnick, Wrestling
Is one of only two U.S. Greco-Roman wrestlers to win an Olympic gold medal. He won his in 1984.
Tracy Warren, Softball
A two-time academic All-America softball player at the College of New Jersey, she has called the Womenıs College World Series for more than a decade. |
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Track star 
1996
swimming gold medalist Ryan Berube 
