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“Gloom, despair, and agony on me! (Whoa!)
Deep dark depression, excessive misery (Whoa!)
If it weren’t for bad luck, I’d have no luck at all (Whoaaaaa!)
Gloom, despair, and agony on me…Wahhhh”
That funny little ditty from the 60’s hit TV show “Hee Haw” is quite accurate when describing NBC’s television ratings for this year’s Summer Olympic Games from Tokyo.
Very sad, indeed!
NBC’s television coverage of the 2020 (yes, that’s what they’re calling) Olympics is about as bad as anyone could have ever imagined. The ratings are about 50% lower than the 2016 Summer Olympics from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The television ratings debacle has very little to do with the current host city of Tokyo, Japan. Sure, the city has been in a virtual COVID lockdown for the entirety of the games. Cheering crowds have not been admitted into Olympic venues to lend support to athletes from around the world.
Thanks for NOTHING, COVID!
A rather creative twist for television at these Summer Games has shown many Olympians getting a few seconds of solo “face time” as they are being introduced via a special entrance into the track and field stadium. Yes, this is definitely NOT your father’s Olympic games.
The ratings crash also has very little to do with how many nights that US gold medal-collecting gymnast Simone Biles sat out due to personal reasons.
What about the pre-Olympics media-induced uproar concerning a questionable weightlifter from New Zealand? In the end, that person went home empty handed, so all the hoopla on the much-hyped subject didn’t materialize.
This year’s television ratings should not have been significantly lower due to the fact that the games are being played a half-day ahead of us in Japan, either.
A nightly highlights show is put together by NBC. If anything, having hours of time to edit and put together a nightly “Best of” show should have helped retain more viewers by capturing the most interesting happenings from each day’s competition. Let’s face it, most Americans aren’t going to run to the internet to find out who won today’s Olympic skeet shooting event (yes, it’s now an Olympic sport).
Just how bad have this year’s television ratings been?
In previous years and decades, at least 30 million people per night have found the time to check out at least an hour of the Summer Olympics. In 2021 (for these 2020 Summer Games), the Peacock Network is averaging about half of the nightly audience that the Rio Games had just five years ago. That also includes a dismal showing for the Opening Ceremonies, too.
Sunday’s NBC audience of 13 million was down 51% from the 26.7 million who watched the corresponding night in Rio. Most nights are down 50 to 60% from prior Summer Olympic Games.
Trying to make the best out of a bad situation, NBC’s head honcho laughably put the following spin on this year’s Summer Games:
“We’ve had some bad luck,” said NBC Universal chief executive Jeff Shell last week. “There was a drumbeat of negativity … and that has resulted in linear ratings being probably less than we expected.”
What? Let me help you, Jeff.
When large numbers of Olympic athletes tell the American people that they plan to symbolically protest their country at the Summer Olympics, it is considered an insult to a large percentage of the American public. We don’t care to hear about it or see it any longer. Telling the world just how bad of a country that America is while taking advantage of all of the freedoms (at least for now) that most of the other countries do not have is quite hard to swallow for a growing number of us, too.
Whether it is coming from purple-haired female soccer players, male and female professional basketball players, track and field stars or even gymnasts, the majority of Americans simply don’t buy how terrible conditions are here in the United States while, at the same time, many of the same outspoken athletes/whiners earn a better living than the vast majority of American workers.
To put it another way, do you think that the Chinese or Russian athletes would be allowed to openly protest any current or historical atrocities (and there are many) within their countries at the podium during the Olympic Games? Of course not.
Many Americans (apparently 50% of the former viewing audience) are now so put-off with the bellyaching coming from a small segment of athletes that we have chosen other things to do rather than support them any longer. No one is telling our Olympic athletes that they must continue living in such a despicable and evil place as the United States of America (if that’s what they truly believe).
Love it or leave it, indeed.
If you are NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, you are probably (for the first time) sweating a few bullets in watching this play out. To date, the National Football League has lost the smallest percentage of long-time television viewers (compared to basketball and baseball) after it embraced many of the social and political causes which many of their players feel strongly about.
That very well could change soon as the league plans to play both the National Anthem and a song called “Lift Every Voice and Sing” which is now being touted as the Black National Anthem before every NFL football game this fall.
For some reason, I lived my entire life thinking that all Americans had just one single national anthem, and it was to represent all Americans. I don’t remember there being a separate Army, Navy, Marine, Coast Guard, and Air Force who served and fought for this country under separate flags, do you?
If the NFL thinks that playing this new song before every football game this fall will add new viewers to their weekly telecasts and more fans in the stands, they should immediately consult with NBC Sports and see how much money they have lost in this year’s Summer Olympics.
Division in America simply isn’t working.
A growing number of our citizens (regardless of race or political interest) want to heal and grow together as one big “sometimes happy/sometimes less so” family. For those of us who went through desegregation at our schools during the 1960’s and 1970’s to help build unity among the races, we are feeling rather betrayed to learn that, in 2021, the concept of “separate but equal” has (sadly) been making a comeback in America of late.
By playing two anthems at NFL games, America’s premier professional football league is committing a similar mistake as the Summer Olympics did. A large portion of the public feels uncomfortable with this new policy.
We vote with our feet (or, in this case, our remote controls).
Speaking for myself, I tune in to be entertained by watching a sporting event being played between two teams of exceptionally talented athletes. The competition draws fans to watch the games. The NFL has served as a weekly escape from the pressures of modern life for many of us.
It’s the “Secret Sauce” which keeps sports fans together. Injecting politics and social messaging into the games can only cause a decline in interest.
Isn’t that what these Summer OlympicGames have just proved? Every four years, Americans (including non-sports fans) would band and bond together to root for our country’s finest athletes to compete against the rest of the world.
It is so special to see one of our athletes win a gold medal and then crying with joy on the Olympic podium as the American national anthem is played. How many times have you mustered-up a tear watching those ceremonies?
The threat (even if it never materialized) that some of our Olympic athletes were so ashamed to live in this country that they would protest our great country while wearing the “USA” on their uniform during a medal ceremony this summer is the true reason why the television ratings tanked this summer.
The public has spoken. Loudly.
The NFL thinks it’s too big and powerful for this to happen to them, though. The NFL remains quite arrogant and is convinced that America’s addiction to professional football is so strong that their customers always seem to return – no matter what.
We’ll find out soon.
If the NFL were a stock, it might be time to sell right now before this season gets underway.
As for me, I plan to play a lot more golf this fall than in past years. How about you?