OlympicGmes on Canadian TV ? ( in states ) ? 08-08-08

[lionanimal]

Olympic Games on Canadian TV ? ( in states ) ? 08-08-08

Am rather allergic to domestic NBC Olympic Games "coverage" due to rampent "homers" that disrespect the hard-work and life-long commitment of the overwhelming majority of the athletes (from all nations). From what I've seen of prior Canadian coverage from past Olympic games that I viewed via cable in Vermont, S.E. MIchigan, Montana and Washington (state), the Canadians are a bit more collaborative.

Is that perception still true that Canadian TV coverage of the Olympic Games is considerably more sporting and fun?

So the heart of the matter is that since I'm less than 200 Km south of the border of "The Great White North", is it worth the while to locate a broker and obtain Star*hoice and which sub-channels ?

The folks at Future**op don't like my accent and desire to self-instal. Is the PVR decent from Star*hoice ?

Thank you,

P.S. Any advice on Futbol / soccer coverage ? NHL coverage ?

 

[Derwin0]

Is that perception still true that Canadian TV coverage of the Olympic Games is considerably more sporting and fun?

I don't think so. Canadian coverage gets pretty pro-Canadian in sports they are traditionally strong in, ie Hockey. The U.S. tends to be more dominate in a lot more sports than Canada, so is able to more focus on the American aspects of the sports they cover. But in the few areas that the Canadians are dominate in, they will cover to the same extent as NBC would for American dominated sports.

The big difference is really in the sports they cover. IMO NBC focuses far too much attention on gymnastics, and not real sports. CBC on the other hand would show a greater variety of sports. Plus CBC doesn't time delay everything for prime time.

 

[Mr Tony]

So the heart of the matter is that since I'm less than 200 Km south of the border of "The Great White North", is it worth the while to locate a broker and obtain Star*hoice and which sub-channels ?

unless you have a friend in Canada that you can use their address, you would need a broker

The folks at Future**op don't like my accent and desire to self-instal. Is the PVR decent from Star*hoice ?

reason is the big box stores (FS, BB, Source) they only stock the receiver. The installer brings the dish. Since you are in the US all you could do is either order the whole system from someone like kusat.com or just buy the box at the big box store and get a 30" dish from someone like Sadoun or SatelliteAV (both sponsers at the top of the page). If you don't want HD, any 30" dish would work

 

[icstephen]

I am an olympic nut and I do prefer the canadian version of the games, they are more Canadiancentric (which is to be expected), but during the last games I watched about 10% on NBC and 90% on CBC (CBC did have way too much curling on though...sorry not a fan but thats me). I still think NBC does a poor job of the Olympics although it has gotten better now that they split the games across all their networks. Does anyone remember when the Olympics where on PPV? they had 3 channels all the time and no commercials...boy I miss that.

 

[lionanimal]

Thank you to the three individuals who contributed their opinions and factual observations in response to my question (quest) for "better" un-biased coverage of the Olympic Games. Yes, I do remember PPV (Seoul 1988 ?) and multi-casting of Barcelona (1992). I especially remember Munich 1972 and especially 1968 (Marc Spitz's six gold medlas and the twin silent raised fists of victors in supression). I remember Jim McKay and domestic US ABC TV coverage. NBC was decent with winter Olympics in Saporro, Japan.

But anyway, back to the thread ... especially thanks for the info about the physical dish.

Was watching CCTV-9 from Mainland P.R.C. (aka Communist China) a few moments ago. Half the motorized vehicles are prohibited from travel along the coast in an effort to reduce smog from July 19 to September 2008 ... to enhance air quality for the Olympic athletes. Remarkable.

I'll take a look at FTA and motorized systems ... but I only comprehend English language so my choices are limited.

I do presently enjoy the FTA from Galaxy 25 and Free "Globe#cast Worl#TV" aka, Telstar 10 via a stationary ellptical dish.

Too bad Al-Jazeera doesn't have a sports network.

Best regards,

 

[bayguy]

In addition to CBC dont forget SRC which is their French TV. They carry slightley different Olympics programs so its good to check them too. For example I think they carry more equestrien (sp?--horse) events. Even if you dont understand French (I don't!) it can be fun to watch. Also I hope BEV will do what they usually do and duplicate all the Olympics channels right next to each other and also have a screen that shows little pictures of all the channels so you can decide what to watch.

 

[bwaldron]

I don't think so. Canadian coverage gets pretty pro-Canadian in sports they are traditionally strong in, ie Hockey. The U.S. tends to be more dominate in a lot more sports than Canada, so is able to more focus on the American aspects of the sports they cover. But in the few areas that the Canadians are dominate in, they will cover to the same extent as NBC would for American dominated sports.

The big difference is really in the sports they cover. IMO NBC focuses far too much attention on gymnastics, and not real sports. CBC on the other hand would show a greater variety of sports. Plus CBC doesn't time delay everything for prime time.

In the past I found the Canadian coverage superior. Nowadays, less so. As noted, they are about as country-centric as the U.S. coverage. That doesn't bother me. They don't have a lot less "fluff" either, but still a little better. The key for me is that we have a lot more coverage via the NBC family of networks, so that we have (live) coverage of many more sports -- for the last winter Olympics, for example, we had more complete hockey coverage on Universal HD than did our friends up north.

Still, it is good to have both.