NBC Sucks, What Else is New?

It’s a sad day when NBC, which used to be the gold standard in tennis broadcasting, now chops up the greatest event in tennis so that it is unrecognizable and unenjoyable to tennis fans and causal fans alike. This network pioneered Breakfast at Wimbledon, but as I’ve discussed before in this space, Dick Ebersol hates tennis. Despite worldwide evidence to the contrary, the man went on Sirius radio and trashed tennis as dead. Today’s fiasco was broadcasting the Roddick/Murray match on tape delay, while the two were still playing. Why on earth were we watching the first set when the players were about to start the third?  Staci Kramer wrote about the bizarre decision to broadcast Wimbledon in waves, so not only is the match on tape-delay, it also varies by time zone. It’s ludicrous. Adding insult to injury, NBC wouldn’t dare chop up golf (*rolls eyes*)

NBC/Universal head Jeff Zucker has destroyed NBC in ways that are outside the bounds of a tennis column. But to review in brief:  Zucker took over NBC and his programming decisions ran the former #1 network into the ground. He started out with shows like Fear Factor. He has been unable to develop any hits in scripted shows. He destroyed NBC daytime. He’s ruining NBC Sports. He ruined the Olympics. Oh sure, the ratings were huge because of Michael Phelps, but it’s unfathomable that in this day and age Americans are still unable to watch Olympic events live.

NBC is now the 4th rated network. Zucker’s response? Ratings don’t matter. He announced to the press that NBC would never be #1 again. He gutted the primetime schedule to put the supremely untalented and unfunny Jay Leno on five nights a week at 10:00 p.m. What a bore. All told, the network has committed well over $100 million to Leno/Conan/Fallon. (And none of them are funny) The other networks must be laughing all the way to the bank.

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