Are you loving all the Olympic coverage? Do you want to scream every time you hear that bloody “I Believe” ditty?
A week in, people are starting to form opinions about the CTV-Rogers consortium as well as the NBC Winter Olympic Games coverage. Tons to say on this topic, much of it bashed into paragraphs here in this article I wrote today for The Canadian Press. They actually let me get the word “Degrassification” into print, bless ’em.
By now even the commercials are starting to either resonate or grate. I’d give the ad Gold Medal to that tender Canadian Tire commemorative coin spot with father and son on their way to their “first skate”—only to reveal that it is dad who is getting the lessons. Sweet.
Several Tin Medals can be awarded, especially to all those talking cars ads which are getting old fast. Worst placement of all was the Samsung mobile spot where somebody whispers “when we win…” When it aired hard on Team Canada’s failure to get it done in regulation time against Switzerland Thursday it had superstitious Canadians knocking wood everywhere.
Not crazy about much of CTV’s Olympic Morning coverage. Those MTV Canada kids Jessi Cruickshank (right) and Dan Levy (above) seem way too excited to meet themselves. They confounded the pair of snowboarder dudes who guested Friday. I’m gonna have to get my 17-year-old son to tell me if they are any good or not because, frankly, I just want to smack them.
Anything bugging you about the Games coverage? Something you’d single out for extra praise? Comments welcome.

7 Comments

  1. It’s downright pathetic watching Brian Williams begging people to go to the CTV website to buy the “I Believe” merchandise and download the song. He never had to do that when he was with the CBC. And it’s really alarming how many people don’t realize that the “I Believe” merchandise is not supporting athletes but is all CTV and a way for them to make money for themselves.

  2. After the Super Bowl “Believe” ad overkill, I vowed to skip the Olympics on CTV. While I haven’t been entirely successful, I’m certainly watching a lot less than usual.

    What I have seen is over-the-top announcing that is more like cheerleading. I’ve read that other countries are competing, but you wouldn’t know it from CTV’s coverage.

  3. EVERYBODY want to smack those MTV kids, they both are a total embarrassment. The guy basically got hired simply because he’s Eugene Levy’s kid and the girl seems like she could be on something. The morning program is by far the worst of all the Olympic coverage but it’s not the only unwatchable thing. Compared to what Keith Pelly, Ivan Fecan and the rest of the CTV blow hards promised, this has been a total disappointment. It’s even more irritating to know that they want $10/month more from us just to cover the $25 million or so they will lose on the games.

    And I learned early on to change the channel whenever I heard “there comes a moment” or else I would go insane.

  4. I’d like to see more than only the top six medals by country totals!
    I feel sorry for int’l visitors who either try to catch an update from our host broadcaster or then try to enjoy the Games live without drowning in a sea of CanWear.

  5. Thanks for sharing. We all watching movies in TV and theater hall. But are you watching the latest event of the world of entertainment? Yes , dear Winter Olympics in Vancouver. I am enjoying all the action in my Dish TV . US is in the top of medal table. Germany , norway, canada following U.S.In ice hockey U.S. beat Canada with 5-3. Hurreeeeeee……….

  6. I’ve discovered the joy of those extra channels on Bell TV (hockey isolation cams, live feeds WITHOUT MCGUIRE, or any other commentators for other sports. Great.

    Basically, any commentator who ever mentions the phrase “to get back to my story….” just isn’t getting it.

    I think the future may be having people pay for silence…

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