Yep, it's only one day after the opening ceremonies of the 2012 Olympics and already NBC has a major gaffe. Specifically not airing the finals of the men's 400 meter individual medley live. On a weekend afternoon. On the first full day of the Olympiad. Really.
I fully understand that NBC wants to protect its primetime coverage. But airing one of the most anticipated aquatic races live would have had minimal effect on viewership. Many that were available to view it live, streamed it, as I did.
We don't live in the 70's or 80's or even the 90's when a network could control what you saw and when. Or control the dispersement of results. In the age of Twitter and facebook, I knew well before the race began that NBC would not be airing it live. I made alternative arrangements, as I'm sure many others did.
There is definitely a place for primetime coverage of an event of this magnitude, but let's not pretend that the content can be manipulated. And yes, it should be much, much more than just a highlight show, as there are many people who were not available to view an event live and want to see all the buildup and subsequent interviews following a major race/performance. But don't do this at the expense of those who are able to view the event live.
NBC, if this was your beta test, it failed miserably.
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