Seven Olympic channels, and nothing worthwhile on.(Sports)(TV & Radio)

0 Comments | Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, IL), August, 2004

Byline: Ted Cox On the first full day of Olympic coverage, NBC left Athens at 5 p.m. Saturday to clear the way for the local news on WMAQ Channel 5. At that point, Olympic fans were left with the choice of boxing on MSNBC, field hockey on Bravo or soccer (in Spanish) on Telemundo's WSNS Channel 44.

Cable USA was running "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade," CNBC was running an infomercial and, most disappointing of all, Channel 5's high-definition feed was a rerun of the previous night's opening ceremony - when it wasn't some tape loop of Grecian tourist vistas. To paraphrase Bruce Springsteen, there were seven channels devoted to the Olympics and nothing on. Too much of a good thing? The 2004 Summer Games weren't 24 hours old, and NBC couldn't find...