CTV not yet prime-time ready

CTV is a rookie to Olympic coverage, albeit a highly touted and expensive one. It paid a record $90 million U.S. for the Vancouver rights.

The CBC, on the other hand, is the veteran. It aired Olympic telecasts from 1996 to 2008, and could be back as the Canadian TV rights-holder for Sochi in 2014.

Let’s compare the two.

After a wobbly start, CTV’s coverage of the Vancouver Games is improving. And in some areas it has bettered the CBC’s work in previous Olympics.

I’ll take CTV prime-time host Brian Williams, despite his shaky start, over his CBC counterpart, Ron MacLean, because Williams is a better interviewer.

CTV’s features are also superior to the CBC presentations of the past, although there has been little coverage of athletes outside of Canada.

Still, CTV’s inexperience has shown in many areas. The telecasts have been sloppy. Announcers and reporters have misidentified athletes or mangled their names.

At Whistler, Jennifer Hedger referred to Canadian downhiller Manny Obsorne-Paradis as Manny Osborne. At the luge, Farhan Lalji made a complete mess of the Georgian luger’s name, Nodar Kumaritashvili.

Anchors have failed to give viewers updates and basic information. Williams didn’t even tell us, amid the hype for Canadian freestyle skier Jennifer Heil, that there were two other Canadians competing in the race.

There have been technical errors, big and small, in the broadcasts, the worst of which was cutting to a commercial before Canadian Robbie Dixon’s run in the men’s downhill.

The telecast was late getting back, and it had to wind back the tape to catch Dixon’s start. The TV screen went blank and you could hear the rewind machine grinding away.

Despite the enormous opportunities that its multiple platforms offer, CTV has been hit and miss in keeping viewers apprised of the programming available on the other channels. That’s improving; Chris Cuthbert told viewers during the first period of the Canada-Switzerland hockey game that women’s curling on TSN, Canada-Germany, had gone into extra ends.

Where CTV’s inexperience has stuck out most is in the biased commentary by a few of the broadcasters. It’s called cheerleading – when a broadcaster disregards objectivity and roots for the home side.

Before the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Games, Dick Ebersol, the chairman of NBC Sports and Olympics, met with his announcers and commentators to deliver a message: No cheerleading. Yes, the Games are in the United States, he said, but showing a bias is unprofessional, and it diminishes the broadcast. By all means be enthusiastic and get excited, but don’t cheer.

I wonder if anybody told that to CTV figure skating analyst Liz Manley, who said on Thursday night that she was hoping and praying that Canadian Patrick Chan would skate a clean program. Or if announcer Jamie Campbell understood the concept when, speaking of snowboarder (and eventual gold medal winner) Maelle Ricker's reported habit of putting a piece of ice in her mouth before each run, he said, “Let’s hope it works for her, Canada!”

He had no reason to hope it worked for her. If he had said, “Canadians will be hoping it works for her,” that would have been fine.

Some of CTV’s venue analysts have been weak, but some always are. They’re reluctant to give a direct appraisal of their former teammates and feel more comfortable coddling them. When Canadian snowboarder Mike Robertson lost his race in the final, blowing a big lead, analyst Tara Teigen, a former snowboarder, either couldn’t or wouldn’t explain what went wrong. And reporter Mark Torlay, also a former snowboarder, didn’t even ask him the basic question: “How did you lose your lead?”

And then there was Campbell’s over-the-top call, “What a performance by Mike Robertson . . . . Stand up and clap your hands!”

Robertson won his silver medal by losing the gold medal. He finished second, and allowed a huge advantage to slip away. And Campbell was telling viewers to stand up and clap.

CTV’s coverage outstrips NBC’s, mainly because CTV goes live with everything, while the U.S. network continues to tape delay the big events until prime time to maximize audiences. When American Alpine star Lindsey Vonn was attempting to win her second gold medal on Thursday, NBC viewers were watching the afternoon soap opera "Days Of Our Lives."

But choosing to deny viewers live coverage is archaic and self-defeating. As the Los Angeles Times noted a few days ago, it has been shown that live online coverage will actually increase audiences for a prime-time show.

Still, NBC’s content is good. Colleen Jones, who’s on loan from the CBC to cover curling, has been giving tough, candid assessments of the U.S. curling team. In hockey, analysts Mike Milbury and Jeremy Roenick dusted it up, in an entertaining way, over who is the best hockey player, Alex Ovechkin or Sidney Crosby. Anchor Bob Costas’s work in prime time is always first rate.

After seven days of coverage, here’s my assessment of CTV’s broadcasters:

Gold medal

Rod Smith, long-track speedskating. CTV’s best announcer. Excellent calls, strong and incisive.

Rod Black, figure skating. Lets the analysts do most of the talking, but gives a direct analysis of the performances.

Katherine Dolan, freestyle skiing. Asks good questions, doesn’t gush. Her interview with Canada’s first gold medal winner, Alexandre Bilodeau, was excellent.

James Cybulski, long track. Solid reporting, most notably on the ice-cleaning-machine problems earlier in the week.

Jamie Salé and David Pelletier, figure skating. Opinionated, interesting, entertaining.

Gerry Dobson, Alpine skiing. Handicapped by working with a weak analyst (Brian Stemmle), but his calls have been excellent.

R.J. Broadhead and analyst Daniel Lefebvre, biathlon. Well prepared and informative.

Silver medal

Catriona Le May Doan, long track. Improved as the week went on. Gave a great analysis of Christine Nesbitt’s gold medal race Thursday, noting her German competitor was fading even though she still held the lead.

Kevin Quinn, women’s hockey. Good play-by-play, plenty of energy.

Brian Williams, prime time. His interview with beleaguered VANOC head John Furlong was his best.

James Duthie, Lisa LaFlamme, afternoon hosts. Pleasant, efficient, good interviews.

Sara Orlesky, figure skating. Straightforward, no gushy stuff.

Rob Faulds, sliding sports. Well prepared, calling good races.

Susan Auch, short track. The former long-track skater’s analysis and presentation is solid.

Bronze medal

Jennifer Hedger, Whistler host. Seemed uncomfortable early, has improved.

Veronica Brenner, freestyle analyst. Made a big deal of American Hannah Kearney being a supposed choker. Kearney won the event.

Cassie Campbell-Pascall, analyst for women’s hockey. Flat voice, kind of dull, but the former captain of the Canadian Olympic team knows the game.

Off the podium

Tara Teigen, analyst, snowboard and ski cross. Basically useless, doesn’t explain why things happen.

Mark Torlay, reporter, snowboard and ski cross. Worse than useless. Take the first flight home. Please.

Brian Stemmle, Alpine ski analyst. Lazy commentator, doesn’t tell us what’s going wrong or right, uses jargon.

Cary Mullen, Alpine ski analyst. See Stemmle, Brian.

Jamie Campbell, announcer, freestyle skiing, snowboarding. Just doesn’t get it about cheerleading.

Darren Dutchyshen, TSN prime-time host. Thought it was really cool to show up on the CTV set with a bottle of champagne for the Bilodeau family after Alexandre Bilodeau’s victory in men’s moguls. Brian Williams wasn’t amused, and the family doesn’t drink.

Liz Manley, figure skating analyst. Liz, on your way home, pray all you want for Patrick Chan.

Karen Percy Lowe, Alpine ski analyst. Doesn’t say much or contribute much to the telecast.