HAH! I just sent my own rant. Here's what I emailed:
I just wanted to let you know that you have managed to ruin the Winter Olympics for me, my family, and a good number of my friends, judging by reactions to the Olympics coverage up to now. By tape-delaying the events until prime time for viewers on the west coast, you've made it impossible for us to watch with any degree of suspense or anticipation. The results are available on the internet within moments of the conclusion of the event, so by the time we can actually watch the competition it's already stale.
Tape delay almost – ALMOST – makes sense when the Olympics are happening halfway around the world. Not many people will be up in the middle of the night to watch the major events. But delaying coverage in the SAME TIME ZONE as the actual Olympics? During daytime hours? And even worse, on a holiday weekend, when the majority of Americans have time off? It's blatantly money-driven, it's rude and dismissive of a quarter of the country, and it's counterproductive because you're actually taking away the desire of many to even bother watching. Why should we, when the events are long over before we have a chance to watch? Why not just catch the highlights on the Internet?
You still have time to make this right. Please do the right thing and show the Olympics in real time, especially for those of us who live in the same time zone. It only makes sense.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2010-02-16 07:50 am (UTC)I just wanted to let you know that you have managed to ruin the Winter Olympics for me, my family, and a good number of my friends, judging by reactions to the Olympics coverage up to now. By tape-delaying the events until prime time for viewers on the west coast, you've made it impossible for us to watch with any degree of suspense or anticipation. The results are available on the internet within moments of the conclusion of the event, so by the time we can actually watch the competition it's already stale.
Tape delay almost – ALMOST – makes sense when the Olympics are happening halfway around the world. Not many people will be up in the middle of the night to watch the major events. But delaying coverage in the SAME TIME ZONE as the actual Olympics? During daytime hours? And even worse, on a holiday weekend, when the majority of Americans have time off? It's blatantly money-driven, it's rude and dismissive of a quarter of the country, and it's counterproductive because you're actually taking away the desire of many to even bother watching. Why should we, when the events are long over before we have a chance to watch? Why not just catch the highlights on the Internet?
You still have time to make this right. Please do the right thing and show the Olympics in real time, especially for those of us who live in the same time zone. It only makes sense.