It’s been a nice habit recently to get up early and watch Wimbledon tennis before work. So it was frustrating this morning to find that the Sharapova-Lisicki match was nowhere to be found. I finally figured out why. NBC is saving this match to show it at noon in each time zone.
This is part of a horrible habit on the part of broadcast networks, to delay sports until they have a bigger audience. It represents a view that sports is like any other drama, whereas I find that part of the drama of sports is that it is happening as you watch, and that the intensity of the experience is heightened by the realization that you and everyone else in the world has no idea what will happen next. I can’t help but think of tape delayed sports as somewhat fake, in the same category as scripted dramas. Sure I enjoy watching McEnroe-Borg final from the 70s, but I would rather watch Andy Roddick live on court 4 anytime.
The networks have decided that women don’t care if sports are live or not, which is why they delayed the Sharapova match, and why the Olympics are delayed and scripted for women. The delays were most ridiculous during the Vancouver winter olympics, when the evening events could have been broadcast live on the West Coast, where they were happening, but instead they delayed them for the East Coast and instead we saw the events 24 hours late.
Which is why I was happy to see that NBC has announced they will broadcast the 2014 Olympics live. Finally, the Olympics will be real sports again.