NBC has been forced onto the defensive over its Olympics coverage after viewers complained over delayed footage and gaps in its opening ceremony broadcast.
In a series of tweets over the weekend, executive producer Jim Bell responded to gripes over the decision to only show key moments of the games on its TV network in an evening round-up – hours after the excitement had played out in real-time.
"You do know that all sports events are being streamed live, right?" he implored at one point, but the complaints over NBC's delayed televised coverage continued.
Meanwhile, after taking a online shellacking over perceived failings in its opening ceremony coverage, host Meredith Vieira belatedly mentioned on Saturday night's show a memorial segment it had failed to air live the previous night.
But it was the decision to not show some of the action live on TV that drew the apparent ire of online complainers:
But the network's executive producer defended the move, which had deprived TV viewers of watching live the highly anticipated first showdown between US swimmers Michael Phelps v Ryan Lochte:
Others complained that having managed to avoid the Phelps/Lochte result online, the network then gave away the result on its own news report – prior to the race being shown on tape-delay:
The debate over NBC's delayed shows looks set to run. But the network may not be overly concerned, given that a first glimpse at the ratings seems to suggest that it is working out quite nicely for them.
A record-setting 40.7 million people tuned in to watch the opening ceremony on Friday night, despite many of the event's big surprised already being known via tweets, reports and Facebook messages from across the Atlantic.
The figure topped the 39.8 million viewers who tuned in to watch the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.
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