By "packaging" the Olympics, NBC insults viewers, and the athletes themselves

NBC has been advancing this paperback romance novel approach for many years now, tape-delaying and heavily packaging the Olympics with soft-focus stories, often very successfully. To be fair, there are some very nice, smart execs at the network, and many of the packaged pieces are terrific, as is the live coverage, when it happens. And it’s not inherently sexist for them to say that women have some different viewing habits and interests than men. Women behave very differently as consumers: They read more than men, for example, and are more likely to buy fiction.

But the overnight rating for NBC’s hour-delayed telecast of the Opening Ceremonies in Rio was a 16.5, the lowest for a Summer Games since 1992. The reasons for this aren’t entirely clear yet, but it’s a good guess that the network patronized and frustrated a huge segment of its audience, men and women alike, and that begs for closer examination.

If we’re lucky, the Rio Games finally will persuade NBC execs their Harlequin strategy is outdated. One major problem with the NBC approach is that it’s based on viewer “studies,” and it’s more than a little self-selecting: If you produce a variety show, you’re going to attract variety show viewers. If you produce a sports telecast, you’ll attract sports viewers.

This is where NBC’s real offense lies. It’s not so much that it insults the audience — but it sure does insult Olympic athletes, especially female athletes.