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Every two years, a worldwide event takes place, known as the Olympic Games. This time around happens to be the Winter Games and is taking place 100 miles from Seattle (where I live) in Vancouver, BC. I have been eagerly waiting for the games (even though they are slightly inferior to the Summer Games).
Now, I can’t speak for everyone else, but my family has become a big fan of watching the Games on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). Their coverage is vastly superior to that of NBC for many reasons. CBC’s coverage is unbiased, broad, and, most importantly, live.
This year, CTV Television Network outbid CBC for the rights to the Games in Canada. This is bad news, all around. CBC is covered throughout most of the United States. CTV, on the other hand, is only available in a few far-northern United States Markets, and virtually no where in Washington State. I have no choice, but to watch the Games on NBC.
So, what does this mean for me? It means lots of athlete profile pieces. It means far less coverage of less popular sports. It means painfully sappy and overly wordy monologues by Bob Costas. And, worst of all, it means tape delays. That’s right. If the event happening 3 hours away from me takes place at 12pm, I have to wait until 8pm to watch it in prime time.
I have grown spoiled, being able to watch the events, as they happened. I’ve enjoyed not having to worry about accidentally seeing outcomes, simply by logging on to ESPN. I wish to remain spoiled and I’ll probably end up throwing more than one hissy fit, listening to Costas blather on, while there are actual sporting events happening right now.