The distribution of men’s and women’s sports was almost equal on NBC’s primetime Olympic television broadcast Friday, February 16, 2018.
On the men’s side, most of the coverage was dedicated to figure skating with men’s cross country being the only other men’s sport to receive more than one minute of airtime. On the women’s side, alpine skiing, slopestyle skiing and aerial skiing drove the coverage. All other women’s sports generated less than a minute each. Pairs events were briefly shown in a montage at the end of the broadcast celebrating the first week of the Games, with glimpses of pairs figure skating and mixed doubles curling.
The distribution of NBC’s Olympic coverage on Friday night was 50.53% for men’s events, 49.43% for women’s events, and 0.04% of mixed pair events.
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When mixed pair events are excluded, the percentages were 50.55% for men’s events and 49.55% for women’s events.
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These figures will be updated to include a running total of percentages for men’s and women’s events soon.
Regular updates about NBC’s coverage of men and women athletes will be posted throughout the 2018 Winter Games on FiveRingTV.com. A mid-Olympic report, with complete sport-by-sport coverage breakdowns, will be issued on February 18.
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* The percentage of primetime devoted to men’s, women’s and mixed sex sports was calculated by a single researcher, utilizing a stopwatch and DVD time codes, measuring (to the millisecond) the total amount of time devoted to each event. Any time spent at the actual athletic site, on a profile about an athlete, promos about a specific athlete or sport, and host commentary about a specific sport or athlete was recorded. Split screens combining commercials and live coverage are included in the calculation, but commercial breaks are not included. The NBC broadcast network East Coast feed was used for this calculation. Olympic coverage on cable networks and live streaming was not included. Network overruns beyond 11:00pm up to the break for local news are included within this calculation.
Olympic Television: Broadcasting the Biggest Show on Earth contains a detailed 20-year examination of how male and female athletes have been covered within primetime Olympic broadcasts. The book also has analyses of how race/ethnicity and nationality impact Olympic coverage, interviews with NBC personnel about the content and production of Olympic broadcasts, and an overview of Olympic television history. Published by Routledge, it is available in hardcover, paperback and ebook formats at Amazon.com, the Routledge website, The Bookstore Plus, and other outlets.
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