The French love the Olympics. They feel a proprietary interest in them. It was, after all, their own Baron de Coubertin who instigated the revival of the Games in 1896 and served as President of the International Olympic Committee from 1896 to 1925. France has hosted the Summer Olympics twice and the Winter Olympics three times.
Americans love the Olympics, too. The United States was one of the 14 countries present at the 1896 Games. They’ve hosted the Summer Games and the Winter Games four times each. And who can forget Avery Brundage, President of the IOC from 1952 to 1972?
I, also, love the Olympics. I acquired my first TV set in 1976 to watch the Innsbruck Winter Games. For years, every fourth February I spent as much time as I could in front of my French TV marvelling at the winter sportsmen and women. Every fourth August, I sat in front of my American TV for hours cheering on the athletes of the Summer Games.
That changed in 1996. I was so disappointed by the American Summer Olympic coverage that I made a vow never to watch the Games here again – a promise I kept until February 21st of this year. The dates of my Charlottesville trip meant that I would see half the Olympics in Paris and half in Charlottesville. At least I’d be able to compare. And compare I did.
In France, the Olympics is broadcast on public television. These channels have few commercials (and none, by law, after 8 p.m.) They are financed by a TV licence fee. The very idea of that makes many Americans gasp. But I am more than willing to pay the equivalent of 50 cents a day to have essentially commercial free TV.
Though much is made of French athletes and medal chances, French coverage --perhaps mindful of Baron de Coubertin -- never forgets that the Olympics are international. Knowledgeable and excited commentary about the strength of the Norwegian skiers, the elegance of the Chinese skaters, the daring of the American snowboarders might lead a distracted listener to believe that French athletes were winning all these events.
Sport itself provides all the drama. Favorites fall. Young athletes come out of nowhere to win their first medals. We see complete hockey games. (We also see 23 pairs of ice dancers doing very similar tangos to the same music for 2 hours and 50 ski jumpers trying to qualify for 40 places in the semi-finals of their event.) It’s just like being there – except you are warmer, more comfortable and can see better. And if you get too bored, you can do something else until the next event comes on. Since Vancouver is 9 hours earlier than Paris, many of the events took place in the middle of the night and lots of us had to rely on the two hour morning summary for our Olympic thrills.
American private television handles the games very differently. NBC paid $2 billion dollars to cover the Beijing and Vancouver Olympics and their goal is to earn all that money back and make a profit. Since many of the events took place when people were at work or school, NBC decided to do an “Olympics cabaret” every evening from 8 p.m. until midnight. By doing nothing live, they were able to weave sports highlights with filmed interviews and short documentaries on polar bears and husky dogs while breaking every four minutes for three minutes of commercials. (Yes, I counted.) Only on the final weekend, did they show three exciting live events. Do the American people like it this way? Some do; many don’t. But, as one of my friends said: “I watch it because otherwise I wouldn’t see anything.”
My comparison has been made and so has my decision. In 2012, it will be Baron de Coubertin’s Olympics for me.
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