The eyes of the world are on Rio

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This article was published 13/08/2016 (3706 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

This one’s a bit of a no-brainer.

If the purpose of this sort-of-regular crossover between the Free Press’s Life & Arts and Sports departments is to discuss the way sports are covered on TV, there’s only one possible topic for this instalment: the Summer Olympics.

Despite all the controversies associated with Brazil’s preparations for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, as well as the numerous predictions pollution, corruption, doping scandals, construction shortfalls and crime were going to turn this latest version of the international sporting event into an unmitigated disaster, the Games have gone on. And as they reliably have been for every broadcaster that has shelled out millions and/or billions for the rights to carry them in the past few decades, the Olympics have once again been a ratings winner during the first week of competition.

The numbers are solid: south of the border, NBC’s prime-time Olympics coverage Wednesday drew more than 26-million viewers; the second-place U.S. network for the evening was CBS, which attracted 3.7 million with its combination of reality TV (Big Brother), scripted-series reruns (Criminal Minds) and summer fill-in drama (American Gothic). ABC’s lineup of sitcom reruns had two-million viewers, and Fox’s MasterChef doubleheader had less than 1.8 million.

Here in Canada, CBC’s Olympic numbers have been similarly strong, averaging around two-million viewers (anything more than a million is considered a big success by Canadian networks) during prime time. CTV’s bold counter-programming gambit — an uncut main-network airing of the first season of Game of Thrones — has only managed to divert about 700,000 viewers from the athletic frenzy in Rio.

The numbers don’t lie. The Olympics are big business for their rights-holding broadcasters. But what’s more interesting than how many people are watching the Games in Rio is how many different ways they can watch them in 2016. Of course, CBC’s coverage is not limited to the public broadcaster’s main network; coverage of the Olympics in the digital age means multiplexing content over numerous channels and multiple platforms.

For Canadian sports fans, that means the Rio Games are an anytime, anywhere kind of experience. In addition to watching on conventional TV (CBC and its satellite coverage partners, TSN, TSN2, Sportsnet and Sportsnet ONE), viewers can also watch live-streamed coverage of pretty much every event as it’s happening. The unprecedented access provides an Olympic experience that is both thorough and occasionally weird.

While the major-network coverage focuses on popular and ratings-friendly events with play-by-play and commentary provided by Canadian announcers and analysts, the live-streamed material accessible through CBC’s Rio 2016 app is decidedly different, offering either pool-media content featuring international announcers or, in many cases, no announcers at all.

A quick tour of the events being streamed online Thursday included early round coverage of golf, boxing and canoeing, and a non-medal-contention match in men’s sevens rugby, all of which were voiced by either British or Australian play-by-play announcers. Meanwhile, live-streamed coverage of windsurfing, rowing, tennis, badminton and dressage had no announcers at all — which, depending how you feel about the constant talk that is usually part of watching sports on TV, could either be received as confounding silence or a welcome relief.

From this viewer’s perspective, it’s mostly the former — without the context and informed commentary that’s part of the traditional TV package, watching a horse prance around in circles (dressage) or a bunch of windsurfers careening across the waves in generally the same direction can seem a bit pointless. You might not like everything Canadian TV’s announcers have to say, and you might not be able to decipher some of what the international broadcast crews are talking about, but it turns out silence and unfiltered, ambient-sound-only coverage is far from a gold-medal option.

CBC is also experimenting with a virtual-reality app, highlighting one sport per day with a VR-camera option that allows a full-motion, 360-degree view of the venue and competition. In limited sampling this week, this separate-app option seemed more gimmicky than useful in expanding the viewing experience.

When the closing ceremonies in Rio have finally come to an end, much more will be said about TV’s coverage of the Summer Olympics. But what definitely won’t be said is there wasn’t enough of it.

brad.oswald@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @BradOswald