Why nbc is failing

People rushed home, had watch parties, talked about these amazing athletes the next day. Tokyo Olympics: News and results from 29th Summer Games. This has meant figuring out, as has been mentioned, the various broadcast and livestream schedules — all while running on very little sleep. Softball kicked off its preliminary rounds even before the opening ceremony, so I got an early start in trying to adjust to the time difference. I stay on top of the events I know I want to experience unspoiled and prioritize watching those live whenever possible.

All that is to say, I very much had mixed feelings in the lead-up to the Games, with the reality of the surging pandemic and the people of Tokyo and Japan calling for the event to be canceled. And I still have moments of playing mental gymnastics when I think about the bigger Olympics picture.

But I love sports stories — even when I have no idea what the rules are sometimes — so as soon as the events got started I got sucked in despite how hard NBC, and the real world, have made it. Why press-averse Naomi Osaka agreed to let Netflix make a docuseries about her life.

Ultimately, my disappointment is not in the competition itself, but in the sense that the Olympic television I grew up on has not grown up with me. Matt Brennan joined the Los Angeles Times as television editor in He currently is a staff writer covering television for the Calendar section, and has also written extensively about trends and cultural issues in the entertainment field.

Tracy Brown is a digital editor and writer working in entertainment for the Los Angeles Times. She helps provide digital content for the Arts and Entertainment sections and has also written for the Travel, Books and Image sections. Adult Swim Fest thrives by blurring the line between virtual and reality. But somewhere along the way, something got lost in the shuffle. And what we ended up with instead is a complicated system that made streaming an even bigger headache than it already is.

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Watch highlights from the world's biggest sporting spectacle. Allyson Felix reflects on her legacy ahead of Tokyo Larissa Iapichino on the Olympics and matching her mother's athletic prowess.

After being delayed a year because of the pandemic, NBC hopes pent-up demand will drive sports fans to their TVs, laptops and phones to tune in. But traditional TV viewership of this year's games faces a set of challenges that could land the Tokyo Olympics in a ratings hole. The good news for NBC is it doesn't need to rely exclusively on old-fashioned TV ratings to make money on the Olympics.

Streaming and digital platforms provide viewers with more ways to watch the Olympics than ever — live events, highlights, interviews, stories and other shareable clips.

That's why this Olympics could see its viewership fall to a record low in the traditional TV sense yet still reach more eyeballs than ever. Read More. Bad news: TV ratings are down. Will ratings for the Olympics go down? That's the big question for NBC.