J
Joseph_Gallant
Guest
Retro Olympics: CBS' And TNT's Broadcast Schedules For The 1998 Winter Games In Nagano
Although it was less that a decade ago, the 1998 Winter Games in Nagano were the last Olympics, either Winter or Summer, not to have been covered by NBC (CBS had the honors).
In addition to CBS' coverage, the TNT cable network also broadcast coverage from Nagano.
Below are the CBS and TNT broadcast schedules for the 1998 Winter Olympics as published in a special section in the February 7th-13th, 1998 issue of TV Guide. All times were Eastern.
Friday, February 6th, 1998:
CBS: 8-11 P.M. (Live Broadcast of Opening Ceremonies)
Saturday, February 7th:
CBS: 4-6 P.M., 8-11 P.M., 11:35 P.M.-12:35 A.M.
TNT: 6-7 P.M.
Sunday, February 8th:
CBS: 3-6 P.M., 8-11 P.M., 11:35 P.M.-12:35 A.M.
TNT: 7-8 P.M.
Monday, February 9th:
CBS: 7-9 A.M., 8-11 P.M., 12:35-1:35 A.M.
TNT: 1-6 P.M.
Tuesday, February 10th:
CBS: 7-9 A.M., 8-11:30 P.M., 1:05-2:05 A.M.
TNT: 1-6 P.M.
Wednesday, February 11th:
CBS: 7-9 A.M., 8-11 P.M., 12:35-1:35 A.M.
TNT: 1-6 P.M.
Thursday, February 12th:
CBS: 7-9 A.M., 8-11 P.M., 12:35-3 A.M.
TNT: 1-6 P.M.
Friday, February 13th:
CBS: 7-9 A.M., 8-11 P.M., 12:35-3 A.M.
TNT: 1-6 P.M.
Saturday, February 14th:
CBS: 2:30-6 P.M., 7-11 P.M., 11:35 P.M.-2 A.M.
TNT: 6-7 P.M.
Sunday, February 15th:
CBS: 4-6 P.M., 8-11 P.M., 11:35 P.M.-2 A.M.
TNT: 7-8 P.M.
Monday, February 16th:
CBS: 7-9 A.M., 1-6 P.M., 8-11:30 P.M., 1:05-2:05 A.M.
(there was no coverage on TNT that day)
Tuesday, February 17th:
CBS: 7-9 A.M., 8-11 P.M., 12:35-3 A.M.
TNT: 1-6 P.M.
Wednesday, February 18th:
CBS: 7-9 A.M., 8-11 P.M., 12:35-1:35 A.M.
TNT: 1-6 P.M.
Thursday, February 19th:
CBS: 7-9 A.M., 8-11 P.M., 12:35-3 A.M.
TNT: 1-6 P.M.
Friday, February 20th:
CBS: 7-9 A.M., 8-11:30 P.M., 1:05-3:30 A.M.
TNT: 1-6 P.M.
Saturday, February 21st:
CBS: 1-6 P.M., 7-11 P.M., 11:35 P.M.-2 A.M.
TNT: 6-7 P.M. (this concluded TNT's coverage from Nagano)
Sunday, February 22nd:
CBS: 12 Noon-1 P.M., 3:30-6 P.M., 8-11 P.M. (the 8-11 P.M. broadcast was a tape of the Closing Ceremonies) and 11:35 P.M.-12:35 A.M.
Notes:
* Although there was a fourteen-hour time difference between Nagano and New York, some events (the Opening Ceremonies, the men's and women's downhill; ski races, some ski jumping and men's hockey games in late-night) were broadcast live.
* You may remember primetime host Jim Nantz sat in a specially-built anchor studio with a picture window built next to a Shinto temple; when the network showed Nantz in the anchor studio, the temple was just outside the window behind him making for a beautiful panorama.
* With the exception of Tuesday, February 17th (when the first-ever championship game in women's hockey was edited-down to fit the two-hour timeslot), CBS' weekday morning broadcast did not feature any Olympic competition, just features, interviews, and non-Olympic news headlines.
* You'll note that on weeknights, the CBS late-night coverage did not begin until 12:35 A.M. EST so that the David Letterman show could be shown in its entirery.
* On some nights, the CBS late-night show was an hour long, and on others, almost two-and-a-half hours long. On nights when it was an hour long, it was a feature-laiden wrap-up of the day's events. On nights when it was (almost) two-and-a-half hours, it broadcast live coverage of a men's hockey game.
* While all the games of the U.S. men's hockey team (as well as a semifinal game, the consolation game and the championship game) were broadcast live by CBS, none of the women's hockey games (being contested for the first time) were broadcast live. A couple of games in the "round-robin" and the finals (as noted above) were shown on tape by CBS, while the other early-round U.S. women's hockey games were shown on tape by TNT.
* After considerable complaints from viewers about the "chopped-up" broadcast of the women's hockey championship, CBS eventually rebroadcast the game in full on the afternoon of February 22nd from 3:30-6 P.M. EST.
A number of major TV critics blasted CBS' coverage from Nagano, complaining there were too many "Up Close And Personal" features and not enough actual competition. In fact, during the Nagano Games, the Boston Globe timed one hour of CBS' prime-time coverage and found that there were only three minutes of actual competition. The rest of the hour was taken-up by commercial, "Up Close And Personal" features, and coverage of figure-skating practice!
Another bone of contention among TV critics was that CBS could have shown live, in prime-time, and not running over past 11 P.M. EST, the women's Super-G ski race in which America's Picabo Street won a gold medal. But instead, the network decided to air something else at the time and American viewers did not see Ms. Street's victory for almost 24 hours.
Although NBC's coverage of the 2002 Winter Olympics from Salt Lake City wasn't perfect, I thought overall, it was vastly superior to CBS' effort in Nagano.
Although it was less that a decade ago, the 1998 Winter Games in Nagano were the last Olympics, either Winter or Summer, not to have been covered by NBC (CBS had the honors).
In addition to CBS' coverage, the TNT cable network also broadcast coverage from Nagano.
Below are the CBS and TNT broadcast schedules for the 1998 Winter Olympics as published in a special section in the February 7th-13th, 1998 issue of TV Guide. All times were Eastern.
Friday, February 6th, 1998:
CBS: 8-11 P.M. (Live Broadcast of Opening Ceremonies)
Saturday, February 7th:
CBS: 4-6 P.M., 8-11 P.M., 11:35 P.M.-12:35 A.M.
TNT: 6-7 P.M.
Sunday, February 8th:
CBS: 3-6 P.M., 8-11 P.M., 11:35 P.M.-12:35 A.M.
TNT: 7-8 P.M.
Monday, February 9th:
CBS: 7-9 A.M., 8-11 P.M., 12:35-1:35 A.M.
TNT: 1-6 P.M.
Tuesday, February 10th:
CBS: 7-9 A.M., 8-11:30 P.M., 1:05-2:05 A.M.
TNT: 1-6 P.M.
Wednesday, February 11th:
CBS: 7-9 A.M., 8-11 P.M., 12:35-1:35 A.M.
TNT: 1-6 P.M.
Thursday, February 12th:
CBS: 7-9 A.M., 8-11 P.M., 12:35-3 A.M.
TNT: 1-6 P.M.
Friday, February 13th:
CBS: 7-9 A.M., 8-11 P.M., 12:35-3 A.M.
TNT: 1-6 P.M.
Saturday, February 14th:
CBS: 2:30-6 P.M., 7-11 P.M., 11:35 P.M.-2 A.M.
TNT: 6-7 P.M.
Sunday, February 15th:
CBS: 4-6 P.M., 8-11 P.M., 11:35 P.M.-2 A.M.
TNT: 7-8 P.M.
Monday, February 16th:
CBS: 7-9 A.M., 1-6 P.M., 8-11:30 P.M., 1:05-2:05 A.M.
(there was no coverage on TNT that day)
Tuesday, February 17th:
CBS: 7-9 A.M., 8-11 P.M., 12:35-3 A.M.
TNT: 1-6 P.M.
Wednesday, February 18th:
CBS: 7-9 A.M., 8-11 P.M., 12:35-1:35 A.M.
TNT: 1-6 P.M.
Thursday, February 19th:
CBS: 7-9 A.M., 8-11 P.M., 12:35-3 A.M.
TNT: 1-6 P.M.
Friday, February 20th:
CBS: 7-9 A.M., 8-11:30 P.M., 1:05-3:30 A.M.
TNT: 1-6 P.M.
Saturday, February 21st:
CBS: 1-6 P.M., 7-11 P.M., 11:35 P.M.-2 A.M.
TNT: 6-7 P.M. (this concluded TNT's coverage from Nagano)
Sunday, February 22nd:
CBS: 12 Noon-1 P.M., 3:30-6 P.M., 8-11 P.M. (the 8-11 P.M. broadcast was a tape of the Closing Ceremonies) and 11:35 P.M.-12:35 A.M.
Notes:
* Although there was a fourteen-hour time difference between Nagano and New York, some events (the Opening Ceremonies, the men's and women's downhill; ski races, some ski jumping and men's hockey games in late-night) were broadcast live.
* You may remember primetime host Jim Nantz sat in a specially-built anchor studio with a picture window built next to a Shinto temple; when the network showed Nantz in the anchor studio, the temple was just outside the window behind him making for a beautiful panorama.
* With the exception of Tuesday, February 17th (when the first-ever championship game in women's hockey was edited-down to fit the two-hour timeslot), CBS' weekday morning broadcast did not feature any Olympic competition, just features, interviews, and non-Olympic news headlines.
* You'll note that on weeknights, the CBS late-night coverage did not begin until 12:35 A.M. EST so that the David Letterman show could be shown in its entirery.
* On some nights, the CBS late-night show was an hour long, and on others, almost two-and-a-half hours long. On nights when it was an hour long, it was a feature-laiden wrap-up of the day's events. On nights when it was (almost) two-and-a-half hours, it broadcast live coverage of a men's hockey game.
* While all the games of the U.S. men's hockey team (as well as a semifinal game, the consolation game and the championship game) were broadcast live by CBS, none of the women's hockey games (being contested for the first time) were broadcast live. A couple of games in the "round-robin" and the finals (as noted above) were shown on tape by CBS, while the other early-round U.S. women's hockey games were shown on tape by TNT.
* After considerable complaints from viewers about the "chopped-up" broadcast of the women's hockey championship, CBS eventually rebroadcast the game in full on the afternoon of February 22nd from 3:30-6 P.M. EST.
A number of major TV critics blasted CBS' coverage from Nagano, complaining there were too many "Up Close And Personal" features and not enough actual competition. In fact, during the Nagano Games, the Boston Globe timed one hour of CBS' prime-time coverage and found that there were only three minutes of actual competition. The rest of the hour was taken-up by commercial, "Up Close And Personal" features, and coverage of figure-skating practice!
Another bone of contention among TV critics was that CBS could have shown live, in prime-time, and not running over past 11 P.M. EST, the women's Super-G ski race in which America's Picabo Street won a gold medal. But instead, the network decided to air something else at the time and American viewers did not see Ms. Street's victory for almost 24 hours.
Although NBC's coverage of the 2002 Winter Olympics from Salt Lake City wasn't perfect, I thought overall, it was vastly superior to CBS' effort in Nagano.
