Olympic Spoils

Another NBC network news anchor gave us some Olympic results, but preceded it with a “spoiler alert,” meaning, if you wanted to wait for NBC’s delayed Olympic broadcast to see who won what, you would have to step away from the TV.

When I was in radio news in Southern California, I had to deliver the Wimbledon tennis results every summer, and because of the U.K.’s day starting eight hours ahead of ours, some finals would be in before the end of “morning drive.” I had to preface the report with a warning that those who didn’t want to know who won the matches before the nightly TV broadcast should turn down their volume.

But that was then. In those days, of course, there were relatively few information outlets, so those disseminating it could allow themselves the illusion of actually controlling its release.

I hate to be a spoiler, but the 21st century did in fact arrive, despite the efforts of some media to hold it back. They don’t begin to control the information, and in this interconnected world, people will talk.

It is not a media responsibility to warn consumers that they might actually hear some news if they continue to watch or listen. The Olympics are a lot more than a simple vehicle for entertainment. The mission of the athletes is to win – there’s nothing that requires them to preserve a dramatic impact for the folks at home, side benefit though that may be.

I’ve had enough of media that want it both ways – they want consumers to think them “considerate” by warning you to leave your TV or radio for just a minute. They’re desperately afraid that if you face being deprived of your nightly drama, you won’t come back. Sorry, but if you’re one of those people, Jack Nicholson was right – you can’t handle the truth.