RSSDon’t Watch MSNBC Olympic Update
August 14th, 2008 | View Comments
Shut up, Tiki Barber and Jenna Wolfe.
I have cable TV for the first time in four years, just in time for me to absorb as much Olympics coverage as I can handle.
Someone should have warned me about the dreck that is MSNBC Olympic Update, particularly the massive incompetence of Tiki Barber and Jenna Wolfe.
Their banter is horribly stilted, neither can read off a teleprompter smoothly, and they can’t even pronounce the athletes’ names correctly!
Coughlin is COG-lin, not COFF-lin.
Liukin is LYOO-kin, not loo-EE-kin.
And right now Jenna Wolfe is wearing a horrible baseball cap that’s obscuring half her face. Shut up, Jenna’s hat.
And while I’m ranting on terrible Olympics coverage, will someone please gag Al Trautwig and leave him tied to the vaulting table? I have yet to meet anyone who likes his godawful overdramatic pronouncements, no matter what sport he’s been assigned to destroy the viewing experience of cover.
Yvonne posted this on August 14th, 2008 @ 5:28pm in Sports/Fitness, TV Shows | Permalink to "Don’t Watch MSNBC Olympic Update"
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2. Fred B » August 15th, 2008 at 12:40 pm
I think you are in the minority regarding this show.
http://www.mediabistro.com/...
(link fixed by moderator so it doesn’t spill over the margin)
The reviews aside, the ratings for Olympic Update have been stellar. The NYTimes’ Bill Carter, writes the show “increased its audience on Monday night 252% compared with the previous Monday. The network’s prime-time lineup, which followed, was up 30%.” And through Wednesday, MSNBC has won the 5pm hour in Total Viewers and the 5-7pm time period in the A25-54 demo among the cable news networks.
The Scoreboard: Wednesday, August 13
25-54 demographic: (L +SD)
Total day: FNC: 252 | CNN: 175 | MSNBC: 267 | HLN: 143
Prime: FNC: 475 | CNN: 234 | MSNBC: 235 | HLN: 335
5p: 6p: 7p: 8p: 9p: 10p: 11p:
FNC ElectionHQ: Hume: Shep.: O’Reilly: H&C: Greta: O’Reilly:
174 284 305 585 460 380 283
CNN Blitzer: Blitzer: Dobbs: Brown: King: Cooper: Cooper:
240 247 231 185 256 261 223
MSNBC OlyUpdate: OlyUpdate: Hardball: Countdown: Abrams: Countdown: Investig.:
619 445 374 377 169 161 142
HLN Prime: Prime: Beck: Grace: Beck: Grace: Showbiz:
155 112 191 481 193 342 157
Data by Nielsen Media Research. Live and same day (DVR) data.
3. Yvonne » August 15th, 2008 at 12:59 pm
It doesn’t surprise me that Olympic Update is winning its slot, given that the alternatives are things like:
Local news
Boxing coverage (sorry, but: blegh)
Rachael Ray
Reruns
And given that the premiere events aren’t even airing until after the normal primetime hour (women’s gymnastics started at 11pm eastern last night), people are probably watching the Update to see how things shook out the night before.
But you’d think that pronouncing the names of big name American athletes would be, y’know, Olympics Broadcasting 101.
It’s not like they had to say Arkady Vyatchanin (which Costas butchered last night), for heaven’s sake.
4. Fred B. » August 15th, 2008 at 9:51 pm
Not quite with the alternatives
FNC Election hQ and Hume
CNN Wolf Blitzer
HLN Prime
5. Yvonne » August 15th, 2008 at 10:05 pm
I don’t see what you’re getting at. Coverage of a major sporting event is bound to be vastly more popular than any news or political show in the US.
And I really hope you’re not arguing that by virtue of ratings, Jenna Wolfe is better than Wolf Blitzer.
6. lil » August 18th, 2008 at 5:35 pm
get tiki and jenna off the air. they make it so difficult to
watch msmbc. please, stop payment on their checks.
7. Sal » August 18th, 2008 at 5:39 pm
I definitely agree that Jenna Wolfe’s comments about Ara Abrahamian’s behavior during the medal ceremony was very unprofessional. She called it “classless” and said something to the effect that he wasn’t going to be able to “breathe” w/in the Olympic Community. Did she forget that he said he retired immediately after that match? Also, who is she to say who’s classless? Like she said “these athletes train their entire lives for this”, so why should the Olympic Committee be God over their life’s work?
8. Barry » August 18th, 2008 at 6:05 pm
These two are the worlds worst! It’s incredible to me how MSNBC could put them on the air. Of course with NBC breaking Olympic viewership records and considering the mindless crap they compete with, they’ll probably get their own show in primetime in the fall
9. caitie » August 19th, 2008 at 1:59 pm
okay, all of you close-minded, uptight, bush-loving, xtreme conservatives need to loosen up and appreciate that these three are trying to add a humorous perspective to most olympic events. seriously, stop clenching your asses on your yard - sale bought couches and laugh a little. i’d like to see you entertain people on live tv. and come on people, believe it or not, this is coming from a thirteen year old. and they say knowledge is to come with age…
10. Yvonne » August 19th, 2008 at 2:03 pm
Oh I believe you’re thirteen, don’t worry.
11. JEFO » August 20th, 2008 at 5:35 pm
I think Jenna looks hot, its hard to believe she’s 34, she looks 24. I hope Tiki is tapping that booty.
12. Suse » August 21st, 2008 at 5:54 pm
If Jenna wasn’t so immature and attention-hungry, I might be able to tolerate it. She interrupts Tiki at every opportunity and says things that are totally inappropriate.
I watch the show b/c there’s nothing better on at the time and when Tiki and Jenna aren’t on, it’s not that bad. They’ve had some interesting interviews and go into more detail some of the obscure competitions that other shows don’t.
13. Elenita » August 22nd, 2008 at 1:29 pm
Better late than never: You Think NBC is Bad? You Haven’t Seen CCTV.
Not that one channel’s stupidities cancel out another, but you know what I mean…
14. regina » August 22nd, 2008 at 9:42 pm
Jenna is awful! How did she get a job on NBC? She is rude and obnoxious. I’ve stopped watching NBC sunday morning show as she reminds me of rosie o’donnell. On a side note, i depise Bush and liberal 13 yr olds!
15. Yvonne » August 23rd, 2008 at 12:43 am
You seem to have mistaken my indulgence of caitie’s need to self-humiliate as a sign that you should emulate her.
I don’t delete anything posted here, unless it’s spam. But I do ban people who can’t behave themselves. Just to give you fair warning.
16. Why There’s No Election Reax » Thought Bubbles » November 12th, 2008 at 1:53 pm
[…] mean, I ranted about something as inane as MSNBC Olympic Update, and I wind up with a couple of geniuses in the comment trail using “liberal” and […]
1. Johan Beyer » August 14th, 2008 at 8:48 pm
The Olympic Update by Jenna Wolfe and Tiki Barber has to be one of the worst television coverages of the Games. How can you have these incompetent (and in terms of Jenna, totally obnoxious) people working for you? Tiki should have kept playing football and Jenna should work in a soup kitchen. Her comments today regarding Ara Abrahamian’s wrestling match and award ceremony were unprofessional and unfounded! Get her off the set. I will not watch your coverage any longer and from the looks of comments on this website, others agree with me!