NEW YORK (AP) — A former journalist turned college professor, Kelly Whiteside is watching NBC's prime-time Olympics coverage this month for the first time in 16 years. She's surprised at what she's found — not because the programs have changed so much, but because they haven't.
"It's almost like a time capsule for me," said Whiteside, who covered several Olympics for USA Today.
Much of what NBC does at other times is markedly different from what she remembers; the Olympics are spread around nearly a dozen different cable networks and every competition is streamed live online. Yet NBC's prime-time, the Olympics point of entry for the vast majority of viewers, has remained an island unto itself by sticking to a time-honored formula.