NBC's Olympics broadcast was the most watched Olympics ever through its first three days, the Washington Post reported.
The network has garnered some criticism for its decision to hold the broadcast of popular events until primetime, the newspaper reported. The tape delay decision has at times caused conflict between the media reporting results when they happen and those who want to wait for the Olympics broadcast to find out who won.
Patch, for example, sent out a breaking news email alert when Lake Forest's Matt Grevers won gold in the 100-meter backstroke and set an Olympic record. Patch received complaints from some readers that the alert ruined the upcoming Olympics broadcast.
The Patch sites in the north Chicago suburbs decided to still send out breaking news alerts, but to do so with spoiler alert type headlines. However, even with the media providing spoiler free headlines, the news still travels fast via Twitter and Facebook.
NBC itself offers live streaming of almost every event, the Washington Post reported. If NBC were to broadcast all events live, many would take place between 3 a.m. and 5 a.m. East Coast time.
Unfortunately, NBC has been accused of going a bit further than simply creating convienant times to watch the Olympics. For example, NBC left out the key fall of Russian gymnast Ksenia Afanaseva, the Daily Mail reported.
Essentially, the U.S. women's gymnastics team ran away with the gold medal, yet some accused NBC of trying to manufacture suspense, the newspaper reported. The fall also was a dramatic moment U.S. viewers did not get to see and sealed the Russian team's fate, the Daily Mail reported.
NBC itself spoiled the gold medal win of Missy Franklin – the network ran a Today show promotion that featured Franklin holding her gold medal before the race had actually been aired, the Chicago Tribune reported.