Assignment Four: Broadcast Critique

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For my critique, I listened to the broadcast of the Russia vs. the Czech Republic Olympic ice hockey game on Sunday February 21, 2010 on NBC. The announcers were Eddie Olczyk and Mike Emrick.

At the beginning of the game, the two announcers did a fantastic job of establishing the players’ history, as many of them are from the NHL. Many people who watch the Olympics don’t necessarily watch hockey, so it was important to give the players’ teams and stats from that year. However, after a bit, the background information became overwhelming. It would have been much more effective if it had been spread out throughout the broadcast.

They also gave the background of the tournament so far, and which teams had played each other. This was helpful, but would have been more successful had they explained exactly how the tournament worked. The scoring system in the Olympics is different than in the NHL, and the average audience member can’t be expected to have a perfectly clear understanding of the scoring system or tournament layout.

The most concerning thing about the broadcast was whether it walked the thin line between educating non-hockey fans and not offending regular hockey fans. There were times when it seemed tricky; it was clear that the announcers wanted to explain certain things, but they tried not to explain every last play and penalty. In the end, they didn’t accomplish this delicate balance. As a hockey fan, it was difficult to concentrate on the game itself because their analysis and explanations were distracting. However, the game might have been more suitable for an audience member who rarely watches hockey and is unfamiliar with some of the rules. For example, when there was a scrum at the net and the location of the puck was uncertain, the announcers said, “It has to be all the way across the line.” Generally, fans of hockey are familiar with these basic rules.

In keeping up on reading in the Hockey Blogosphere, it is undeniable that NBC has a bad reputation for calling hockey games. Throughout the season, NBC broadcasts Sunday NHL games that they call the ‘Game of the Week.’ Many fans are disappointed with NBC’s coverage, announcing, and overall work. While some feel that this poor coverage has continued into the Olympics, it would be interesting to know the exact demographic that is watching.

If the audience is primarily non-hockey fans who are only watching because the game is part of the Olympics, the announcers did an okay job. However, if the majority of the audience is hockey fans, it is possible that they found the broadcast annoying or offensive. Also, it should be noted that this game was between Russia and the Czech Republic, so it is more likely that true hockey fans are tuning into this broadcast. A more explanatory broadcast might be acceptable for the USA vs. Canada game that aired later that same day, as the game likely drew more viewers because it was a highly anticipated matchup between two major contenders.

Some of the things that were really helpful to the broadcast were the most basic things. The announcers regularly shared statistics that positively enhanced their coverage. For example, when there was a five on three advantage during the game, they said that there had been five in the tournament already, that each was longer than 48 seconds, and that no teams had succeeded in scoring while on it yet. Also, during the intermissions, they would cut to a few analysts that didn’t help much, but when the broadcast returned to Emrick and Olczyk, they would briefly recap the previous period, bringing any new viewers directly into the game.

Overall, the coverage of the Russia vs. the Czech Republic game wasn’t overwhelmingly successful. While the announcers were obviously knowledgeable about the sport, the broadcast was likely targeted at the minority within the audience, instead of the majority. The broadcast would have been more effective had it done a better job at including hockey fans instead of possibly annoying them.