Were you annoyed by NBC’s delay of the Olympics broadcast? How about all those commercials that made the entire ceremony five hours long? GIFs of Gisele strutting down the catwalk hit Twitter before the footage hit the U.S. airwaves, as did chatter about Pita Taufatofua’s oily pecs altruism and athletic prowess. Seriously, though! The Olympics are a global event that we should all be able to enjoy together. What’s the deal, NBC?
According to John Miller, NBC Olympics chief marketing officer, “The people who watch the Olympics are not particularly sports fans. More women watch the Games than men, and for the women, they’re less interested in the result and more interested in the journey. It’s sort of like the ultimate reality show and mini-series wrapped into one. And to tell the truth, it has been the complaint of a few sports writers. It has not been the complaint of the vast viewing public.”
Tell that to the viewing public, which took to social media to complain about the delays and endless commercials. Even the female viewers!