Winter Olympics Facing Cool Reception

So, who's throwing the big Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony party? Anyone? Anyone?

As the Games get cranking from Vancouver (7:30 p.m. ET), it's harder to imagine any sporting event this side of the Pro Bowl being met with more indifference than these Olympics.

Actually, the apathy that seems to greet this year's Olympics isn't a new thing. Olympic ratings, like those for most shows, have been trending downward for years, except when something spectacular takes place (i.e. Michael Phelps).

Reasons? There are a few:

1. Once upon a time, the Olympics were as much a competition of political philosophies and ideologies as they were of athletics. Now, with the demise of Communism, American viewers have no nation to root against, or at least not in the Winter Games.

2. We're long past the days of only three broadcast networks and limited viewing choices. Indeed, popular shows like "American Idol" are likely to carve out a pretty large chunk of an available audience while the Games are in play.

3. Perhaps we've all gotten just a little tired of the storytelling model of Olympic presentation that we've been getting for close to 50 years. Thanks to reality TV and the courtroom shows, everybody knows everybody else's sob story, and don't need their athletic contests wrapped in tear-inducing five minute features embellished with soft music.

Maybe, just maybe, we just want competition.

There are others, to be sure, but you get the idea -- the Olympics, as a brand, aren't what they used to be.

In addition, the Winter Olympics present their own ratings challenges, in that they are a collection of sports and activities that most Americans never see or hear, save for every four years. After all, folks aren't breaking out into rousing discussion groups to break down the biathlon pools.

NBC, which paid a mammoth $820 million for the rights to the Vancouver Games, is already projecting a loss of $250 million on these telecasts, and appears to be hedging its bets.

For instance, while the corporate entity is touting a record number of hours of coverage, 835, to be precise, spread among five broadcast and cable channels, NBC won't be airing competition during weekday daytime hours until 3pm ET, save for Presidents' Day. And prime-time telecasts on NBC will begin most nights at 8pm, 30-60 minutes later than during other Olympic telecasts in recent years.

NBC's best shot at success appears tied to a strong United States team, laden with names that are familiar to Olympic viewers, like short track speed skater Apolo Anton Ohno, snowboarder Shaun White, speed skater Shani Davis and ailing downhill skier Lindsey Vonn. A procession of Americans to the medal stands could goose the ratings, but who knows?

Bob Costas will return to the prime-time anchor chair for the eighth time, while Al Michaels will host the daytime coverage each weekday and on Saturdays and Sundays. Mary Carillo will anchor late-night coverage on NBC, with Bill Patrick hosting hockey and Fred Roggin hosting curling.

Tracking Change

Rather than toss off last year's television ratings slump and attendance slide as anomalies, NASCAR officials made some alterations to the operating scheme designed to make the drivers and the public happy.

Specifically, NASCAR has replaced the wing mounted on the rear of the car with a spoiler, as well as eliminating bump-drafting at the superspeedways sicj as Talledega and Daytona, where Sunday's Sprint Cup race will kick off the season.



Those moves have the hearty endorsement of FOX analyst Darrell Waltrip.

"NASCAR heard all this stuff," Waltrip said on a conference call. "When TV ratings go down, and attendance goes down and there's drivers saying there's something wrong here and nobody's listening, I think they finally got a wake-up call at the end of last season."

"(NASCAR CEO and Chairman) Brian France, (NASCAR President) Mike Helton, that whole crowd, they said 'We need to listen to what the people are saying and we need to start moving in that direction.' I love what they've done."

Daytona 500 coverage begins Sunday at noon ET on FOX, with Waltrip, Jeff Hammond and Chris Myers hosting pre-race activities, before Mike Joy, Larry McReynolds and Waltrip call the race. Dick Berggren, Steve Byrnes, Krista Voda and Matt Yocum will report from the pits.

ESPN2 will launch its coverage of the Nationwide Series and the NASCAR debut of Danica Patrick Saturday at noon at Daytona with new race-caller Marty Reid, Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree in the booth, with Allen Bestwick, Rusty Wallace, Ray Evernham and Brad Daugherty working the pre-race.

Staying Consistent

It stood to reason that with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell adopting a hard line policy regarding player conduct that the NFL Network would do the same with its personnel given that the channel is owned and operated by the league.
Still, it was rather interesting that analyst Warren Sapp was yanked from the NFL Network's Super Bowl coverage following his arrest on domestic battery charges last week, since his case hasn't been adjudicated. A conviction, even on misdemeanor charges, would almost certainly mean the end of Sapp's tenure on both the NFL Network and on "Inside the NFL" from Showtime.

Meanwhile, Michael Irvin, who was accused of rape in a civil suit (which he responded to with a countersuit) remains on the channel, though he was dumped by ESPN Radio's Dallas affiliate, where he had co-hosted a talk show.

Weekend Watch

Whenever the NBA strikes its next television deal, it should reverse the mistake it made in taking its All-Star Game off broadcast television. It's not that TNT, which airs the game Sunday (8 p.m. ET) from the new Cowboys Stadium outside Dallas, doesn't do a fine job; it does.

It's just that by placing the game on a cable outlet, the league has lessened the marquee value of its biggest in-season event. Baseball's All-Star Game is a staple of FOX's midsummer lineup, while the aforementioned Pro Bowl rotates between the NFL's broadcast and cable outlets. Neither of those games is as entertaining as the NBA's showcase, where fun is at a premium and defense is just a rumor. Oh, and homecourt advantage in the Finals doesn't ride on the outcome (hello, baseball).

At any rate, TNT has just about all of All-Star Weekend covered, starting with Friday's Rookie Challenge game (9 p.m. ET) with Dwyane Wade and Dwight Howard providing commentary. Saturday's roster includes HORSE, the Shooting Stars game, the guard skills competition, the three-point shootout and the slam dunk contest, commencing at 7 p.m. ET.

Finally, ESPN2 will gear up for next month's NCAA women's basketball tournament with six regional games Sunday airing at 3 and 5:30 p.m. ET, and a pair of games on ESPNU at 1 and 6 p.m ET. ESPN2 will also air a doubleheader Monday starting at 7 p.m ET. All the contests will include appeals to viewers to contribute to the Kay Yow/Women's Basketball Coaches Association Cancer Research Fund, named in honor of the late North Carolina State Hall of Fame coach who died of breast cancer one year ago.