Stay classy NBC

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So when it came time in the opening ceremony for something that has been widely interpreted as a tribute to the 52 victims of terrorist attacks in London in 2005, it’s not shocking NBC didn’t see lingering on that as helping its overall marketing effort. When asked why NBC didn’t show the memorial, NBC spokesman Greg Hughes on Saturday said only that “our programming is tailored for the U.S. audience. It’s a tribute to (opening ceremony producer) Danny Boyle that it required so little editing.”


  • http://twitter.com/jimchristian Jim Christian 

    With that attitude in mind, I’m surprised they broadcast any other country other than the USA entering the Olympic park.

    Appalling.

  • Peter Cohen

    It’s such a patently absurd statement. By that measure, NBC shouldn’t have shown any of the opening ceremony prior to the parade of athletes.

  • Crabbit_git

    NBC got exactly the same media pack as I did. NBC initially said they did not know that that segment was in part dedicated to the victims of 7/7.

    That is an outright lie.

  • Wythrol

    That segment directly remembers the victims and volunteers of the London bombing of 7/7/2005.

    The announcement that London had secured the 2012 Olympics was made on 6/7/2005.

    It was a direct tribute, and for NBC to ignore it for a puff interview?

    Next time USA mentions 9/11 perhaps I’ll ask for the 10′s of thousands of dollars back that I and my company donated.

    I am actually genuinely insulted by NBC action.

  • Dr.No

    There is so many #NBCFail that just shows what kind of ignorance cloud the american people are under that they got record ratings. So only people with means actually know these things.

    but I did see them trying to portray the Chinese gymnasts as the Enemy with scary sounding music and menacing looking chinese athletes.

    It it wasn’t for the propaganda value the games would be pay per view.

    At least more americans will know be able to get BBC with proxy DNS. If you want to look for some good news. only if CTV would have stronger signal more americans would be able to see it near the border without paying for it.

  • Rocketpilot

    Well, we’ve now discovered the exact cut-off date when it’s OK to not give a damn about another nation’s terrorist tragedy.

  • nbcFail

    NBC brought out old Tom Brokaw to rehabilitate Mitt Romney and call the Brits wrong to criticize him. That was the opening shot of the ceremony.

    Costas basically made fun of all dictators that US put in power. Mention Iraq civil war without mentioning American Invasion. Bad mouth North Korea, Iran, Pakistan. Didn’t mention the protest in Yemen, Bahrain, UAE, Saudi Arabia.

    Today show anchors didn’t know who TBL was and didn’t care. They said look up in google.

    The whole program is being produced by The Today Show not NBC Sports.

  • http://www.scottearle.com/ Scott Earle

    I downloaded the whole four hours of what the BBC broadcast. The commentary was sane, level-headed and fair. The BBC focused on the positive side of things (such as how it was a good thing that the first female athletes were allowed to compete from several countries such as Saudi Arabia and Brunei Darussalam) instead of being negative about anything.

    I thought the whole show was extremely well-produced, and cannot understand why a broadcasting company from a nation founded on the ideal of ‘freedom of speech’ would think that the ceremony needed ‘editing’ at all.

    And the US is only now concerned with terrorist attacks that occur on it’s own soil? I seem to remember that on 2001-09-11 the then UK prime minister Tony Blair stood up and said an attack on one was an attack on all, and pledged himself and the resources of the UK to assist the US wherever and whenever it could (for better or for worse, as it turned out) in the future. But now eleven years later a US broadcaster edits out the memorial to those who died on 2005-07-07 in the center of London, the day after London had been awarded the 2012 Olympic Summer Games?

    For shame.

  • http://twitter.com/greatbigdaddy Phil Lyons

    So they didn’t show the memorial. Who cares? The Olympics are about the spirit of competition. It’s not about rehashing the past. The tragedy in London was horrible. So was 9/11 and so many other awful acts of terror. This the Olympics. Chill out.

    • No

      It is NBC and Comcast not doing their public mandate. American citizen should care, it is their air waves.

      • http://twitter.com/greatbigdaddy Phil Lyons

        Public mandate? Come on.