Serve and Volley

Re: NBC: TV tennis coverage: beating a dead horse again and again...

vinko — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 11:52:02 GMT

The NBC broadcast specializes in repeating the obvious. They reported over and over again that Venus and Serena are sisters. Do they think nobody knew that? With three talking heads in the booth they fought for airtime leaving a babble of voices. They must have set a world record for spouting cliches and wait til we get the men's match. John will retell the story of his tiebreak with Borg yet again. The cameras will show Bjorn in his seat and its off to the races for Johny Mac. Tiebreak here we come.

Re: NBC: TV tennis coverage: beating a dead horse again and again...

Dobey — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 03:47:40 GMT

NBC still acts as if it is 1972 and there is no internet, no IM, no Apple iphone apps and no text messaging. According to NBC, people still use rotary phones. Incredibly, the clowns at NBC sports actually thought they could get away with a taped delay broadcast of the Murray-Roderick match and that nobody would know that NBC was selling us a used car. During the broadcast, the NBC crew led by Ted Robinson never told us that they are doing a taped delay. They just pretended that somehow, nobody would notice. How could the NBC people be so stupid that they thought tennis fans could not look to the Wimbledon.org web site or ESPN and get the actual live score that NBC would not give us. I think that the NBC suits should apologize for deceptive advertising. And once they actually showed us the match, there was the awful broadcast itself. Robinson, McEnroe and Mary Carillo vied for air time so that they could spout off meaningless cliches. Even at a mens match, Mary Carillo talks about womens tennis. As for Johnny Mac, he has to simply top talking about the 1980 and 1981 title matches with Borg. People simply do not share John's interest in John.

Overall grade for NBC: D-.

Re: NBC: TV tennis coverage: beating a dead horse again and again...

vinko — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 22:51:44 GMT

NBC has no justification for making tennis a tape delay sport. They say they can not disrupt the all important Today show. It's laughable. The Today show is nothing more than two hours of happy talk. A rotund weatherman tells old jokes and acts cheerful. People wave to the camera and shout out their hometowns, and sitcom actors tout their NBC sitcoms. The NFL does not tolerate this. If the network ever told the Masters that it would show the Masters a few hours after it was completed the Masters would tell them to drop dead. Tennis accepts being treated like a second class citizen and says thank you sir, may I have another.

Re: NBC: TV tennis coverage: beating a dead horse again and again...

hairload — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 12:47:39 GMT

I think yesterday NBC handled the broadcast as best they could..The Fed match finished after 10 am East Coast time,So all you had to do was avoid the internet or ESPN for about 90 minutes. It being a nice day, I took a walk by the beach, listened to a great Pink Floyd show from 1977(Neither Roger Waters or David Gilmour screamed out the scores) got back home, kicked back and watched the Roddick/Murray match. They had a 5 hour window for their broadcast, so they didnt cut up the match, they didnt even do the commercials on even games, which is a dead giveway that the match didnt go long.During the third and fourt sets, you cant tell me that you knew how long the match was going, there was still lots of room in their coverage window.

I can understand someone like RP having to watch it in real time on the web, having to update this website, but anybody else could have avoided the score for 90 freaking minutes unless you had plans.

They definitely dont respect the French Open to do a similar broadcast and screw up mens semi day, no doubt about that.

Why would you watch ESPN First Talk in the first place. It's almost as bad as Mike and Mike in the morning. They tease an item, then get to it 45 minutes later, making you sit through the same freaking highlights over and ove again

Re: NBC: TV tennis coverage: beating a dead horse again and again...

Delta — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 04:06:17 GMT

TSN in Canada showed highlights of last year's Wimbledon final, as opposed to showing live coverage of the Roddick-Murray semifinal. To amuse myself, I went to the ATP website and watched the live coverage online.

Only one word comes to mind: Idiocy.

Re: NBC: TV tennis coverage: beating a dead horse again and again...

vinko — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 03:41:28 GMT

NBC was just awful today. Roddick and Murray on tape delay. What a disgrace. The whole NBC network is a sham. They say they can not show live tennis because they must show the Today show. Yes, it is vitally important that we see yet another episode of cooking tips, sun screen tips, people waving into the window at Rock Center, sitcom actors promoting their sitcoms, or another look at the gates of Neverland. The Today show has nothing of value but they prefer it to live tennis.

Re: NBC: TV tennis coverage: beating a dead horse again and again...

DMan1 — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 01:04:28 GMT

Peggye1:
My email to NBC about coverage was returned to me as unknown when I have emailed them in the past. Drowning in complaints most likely.

Most likely Peggy. Or another way for them to avoid the obvious.

I still think everyone ought to complain, complain, complain to NBC!! email, phone calls, faxes, blog posts, handwritten letters, whatever.

Money still controls sports. And TV. So if enough people tune in to NBC to garner ratings, which will in turn satisfy the companies that pay for TV advertising, then things will continue as they are. But imagine if all fans didn't tune into NBC, and instead went online and found a way to watch *live* tennis via the web. No talking heads. No Sham Wow or Maxiderm commercials. NBC would have no ratings, and they'd be forced to give up tennis (Yay! Please!!!!!!!!) Or figure out a way to deliver *live* tennis to the fans!

Re: NBC: TV tennis coverage: beating a dead horse again and again...

Peggye1 — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 19:52:49 GMT

My email to NBC about coverage was returned to me as unknown when I have emailed them in the past. Drowning in complaints most likely.

Re: NBC: TV tennis coverage: beating a dead horse again and again...

LendlFan1 — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:16:01 GMT

The problem is bigger than NBC. It is the entire communications industry that controls the information we get and the govnmnt that "regulates," it. The technology is readily available with the internet to show any sport event live. A good example is the last two years of US Open golf which had to go to a Monday 18 hole playoff. The last two years somehow NBC is able to broadcast that Monday playoff live online!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Amazing how that happens isn't it? They know all of us potatoe eaters are at work unable to access the usual overpriced cable hookups in our home but will have access to our work space internet connection.

The technology is available it is just that the pie hasn't been divied up yet to allow Of The People, By The People, and For The People to watch it. Is this being a bit cynical just before the 4th, or is this just being realistic?

Friday am I can see all of my HD channels perfectly well Except ESPN2 which is carrying tennis. So I can watch the lousy feed of the best women's match of the year but not in HD. I have never had any trouble getting a great feed and great pics during NFL games.

Track and Field is treated much worse than tennis in the US.

We have five major media corp. that control content. That is maybe 2 more than communist Russia had. It is not a free and open market which promotes choice and opprotunity for growth. It is 5 media giants shoving Sham Wow commercials and Johnny Depp down our throats.

Re: NBC: TV tennis coverage: beating a dead horse again and again...

vinko — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:19:33 GMT

NBC shows tape and pretends it is live. Their commentators speak as if they are doing a live broadcast. Do they think nobody can find out that the match has been already played? NBC executives say they can not show live morning tennis because it would prempt the Today show. The Today show features an endless cycle of NBC sitcom actors promoting their NBC sitcoms and a jolly weatherman telling us that it might be hot on July 4 in south Texas. The sooner we can be rid of NBC the better.

Re: NBC: TV tennis coverage: beating a dead horse again and again...

MikeTV — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 03:30:51 GMT

If I am watching matches live on ESPN and know they won't show me the next match which NBC is showing, I still watch the second match live on the internet through channelsurfing.net or some other website when I can. If I tape matches and know the match will be shown elsewhere before or after, I skip NBC's coverage whenever I can and watch whoever else I can get it from just as a protest of their disrespectful treatment of tennis.

Re: NBC: TV tennis coverage: beating a dead horse again and again...MOREOVER...

vinko — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 03:20:20 GMT

Richard Sandomir, the sports media reporter at the NY Times had an article this morning about the horrible NBC tennis coverage. NBC even has the right to keep its taped matches out of internet viewing. NBC is just horrific. Wimbledon's organizers better rethink giving NBC such clout when NBC's message to tennis is drop dead.

Re: NBC: TV tennis coverage: beating a dead horse again and again...MOREOVER...

skeptic — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 02:20:49 GMT

Moreover, if one happens to watch, for example, FIRST TAKE or SPORTCENTER on ESPN and ESPN2 and other cable channels like CNN, you'll discover that they announce results incessantly. They take glee in knowing that someone who is about to watch a match on NBC will be bummed out by learning the result or score in advance; and hopefully, the "rival" network will lose a viewer.

Re: NBC: TV tennis coverage: beating a dead horse again and again...

skeptic — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 02:16:17 GMT

Do you have a contact number for NBC?

Re: NBC: TV tennis coverage: beating a dead horse again and again...

DMan1 — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 01:52:26 GMT

I'd recommend everyone complain to NBC. They really need to hear it, again and again and again!

As I already said, their ratings are likely to be good. Both Willilams sisters in the semis, I think still alive in the doubles. And Andy Roddick in the men's semis, plus Federer going for history and Murray mania.

It's a total sham, a real terrible shame they can't either broadcast the semis live in all time zones. Or just skip covering the event other than the weekend.

And terribly ironic that during the taped broadcasts of tennis, Ted Robibnson is exhorting everyone to go online to nbcsports.com to check out the tournament! I mean, do they know what they're doing? Psst....live scores and results of the matches you're seeing on taped delay!!