An NBC executive explained the reasoning behind airing the Olympics Opening Ceremony on tape-delay and it was super sexist and stupid
One of the things that really ruffled people’s feathers from the Rio 2016 Olympics Opening Ceremony wasn’t any of the dancing, singing, or even the fact that it wasn’t Pele being able to light the Olympic flame. No, instead it was the fact that NBC made the odd decision to air the Opening Ceremony on a one-hour tape-delay with coverage in the United States starting at 8 p.m. ET despite the festivities beginning at 7 p.m. ET.
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NBC took a sizable ratings hit in comparison to previous Opening Ceremonies because of that decision and other reasons. But what’s more troubling than that is the reasoning behind the decision to air the Opening Ceremony on tape-delay according to one NBC executive.
John Miller, NBC’s Chief Marketing Officer, offered up his explanation for the tape-delay and got super sexist in the process. Talking to Philly.com, Miller said that more women than men watch the Olympics after stating that those who watch the Games “aren’t particularly sports fans.” He then put the icing on the cake by calling the Opening Ceremony and the Olympic Games the “ultimate reality show and mini series wrapped into one.”
There are a billion semi-logical reasons as to why you would tape-delay the Opening Ceremony, but Miller chose to go with “women don’t necessarily like sports, but like reality shows—so we want to make this like the start of a reality show.” Unbelievable.
For what was already going to be a tumultuous time in Rio for the Olympics given all of the health concerns, conditions, and so forth, NBC is now only exacerbating the problem with comments like this.