CTV vs. NBC: Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony Showdown

Live-switching can be a high-stress occupation. Multicamera production poses a challenge to even the best multitaskers. I should know; I just completed my own live-switching event, producing the Canadian Governor General’s Olympic Youth Dialogue for VANOC, the Vancouver Olympic Committee, the day before the 2010 Olympic opening ceremonies.

My event was much smaller than the Olympic opening ceremonies, but with 4 camera operators, 3 video roll inputs, 3 language options, and 2 video mixers—one for the inhouse video feed and the other for the live webcast audience—I can appreciate the challenges that Olympic broadcasters NBC and CTV had in delivering independent productions to their respective US and Canadian audiences.

How the Coverage Works
The way the opening ceremony coverage works is that Olympic Broadcast Services Vancouver is responsible for producing unbiased live television coverage of the Olympics to each of the rights holders, one per competing nation. Those broadcasters then take that master unbiased feed and remix with their choice of the 20+ other camera angles available from the OBS.

Traditionally, Canadian broadcasters have simply taken the US feed and adjusted it slightly for their needs, but the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics marks the first time that Canadians are producing their own broadcast. The result is two different versions of the same event, tailored to their specific audiences, which, when viewed side by side, show just how much of a difference the team of live switchers (and the various layers of producers who direct them) can make on the interpretation of a live event.

In terms of numbers, a total of 26 million Canadians, representing 78% of the population, experienced the 2010 Winter Games on the platforms of Canada’s Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium, which includes CTV, partner Rogers, and several affiliated channels that are covering the Olympics. This is only 38% of the 67.5 million American viewers that NBC reported watched the opening ceremony, but the US has 10 times the Canadian population. My only question is, what were the 22% of Canadians who weren’t watching these Canadian opening ceremonies doing?

Proud and Puzzled
As I watched the coverage live on CTV, I was taken aback at the choreography of the cultural portion and was beaming with pride that this event was taking place in my hometown and that just the day before I was producing an Olympics event with many of the same dignitaries. I also caught myself rattling off names of a few of the key non-celebrity performers that I’ve been fortunate to work with, including solo tapper Brock Jellison and Slam Poet Shane Koyczan.

Despite this patriotic feeling, I caught myself being critical of several of the live switching decisions from the rookie Canadian team. I saw several instances where the live camera operator switched shots midway, as well as shots that were out of focus, and dissolves from two very similarly framed and angled shots that looked like a jump cut—not to mention tons of shots of the audience that were either too short, too long, or too late. I saw several shots of an audience member returning to their seat, indicating the camera operator caught them doing something but by the time the director cut to that angle they were done and sitting back down.

So I decided to see how the Canadian viewing experience differed from the US NBC one—although that introduced some technical problems. Using a Canadian ISP, I was unable to connect to the NBC streaming video feed. So I found a free program called Hotspot Shield that hides my online identity using HTTPS. I have to admit I don’t fully understand how it works but I think it hides my Canadian location and allows me to act as an American viewer. Unfortunately, using Hotspot Shield means I cannot watch the Canadian CTV streaming media feed on the same computer so I had to run VGA cable from a second computer to a monitor next to my first one in order to be able to watch both feeds at the same time. It worked brilliantly, although I had to juggle 2 sets of computer mice and keyboards.

First Impressions
First impressions are the ones that stick so here are my first impressions of the beginning of the opening ceremony, from the start of the program until the end of the athletes marching in.

After an pre-recorded outside shot of a snowboarder riding down a mountain, the broadcast teams were faced with the challenge of transitioning the viewer to an indoor shot in BC Place Stadium where the same snowboarder continues his ride down an artificial slope, jumps through the Olympic rings, and sticks his landing. I later learned that there were three stuntmen originally trained for this stunt but one was injured in rehearsals.

Canada: Snowboarder jumping through a video screen on-site as fireworks erupt and then a shot of the snowboarder at the top of the ramp and as he starts his descent.

U.S.A.: Jumps straight to the front angle shot of the snowboarder as he waits motionless at the top of the ramp.

Verdict: An early lead for Canada for shot selection, variety, and timing.

The Governor General of Canada’s entrance with IOC chair Jacques Rogge.

Canada: C/U the moment they appear in the VIP section.

USA: A wide shot of the VIP box, eventually showing a C/U of the GG as she is almost at her seat.

Verdict: 2-0 for Canada.

Canadian Flag being brought across the entire length of the stadium by the Royal Mounted Canadian Police and them passed to the honor guard, who raise it up the flag pole.

Canada: Excellent shot variety, including a stunning overhead shot of the flag from above, clearly showing the flag. The shot stays on the flag as it is raised.

USA: Several similar shots in a row of the flag being carried with little else to provide perspective as to where they are in the stadium and where they’re going. Just when they start raising the flag, inexplicably the shot goes to the anthem singer as she awaits her cue.

Verdict: It might be because of a homefield advantage, but Canada is off to an early 3-0 lead.

Next up: A rendition of the Canadian national anthem being sung by 16-year-old jazz singer Nikki Yanofsky.

Canada: Good shot variety and an initial shot that is tighter and more appealing than the USA shot, which cuts off the anthem singer awkwardly at the ankle. Canada loses ground for not timing shots to the lyrical phrasing of their own anthem and for a more static shot selection than the USA, but does include shots of the Prime Minister, the Governor General, and a whole section of the audience singing and waving Canadian flags.

USA: Despite a slow start the USA is going to take this round for better use of the beatiful crane shots available, selecting more shots with motion, and impeccable timing on a c/u shot of Yanofsky as she belts out “God keep our land glorious and free,” at the anthems crescendo. Canada chose to show a c/u of the flag at his critical lyrical moment.

Verdict: First medal for USA.

The four-host First Nations welcome.

Canada: Shows 4 representatives as they enter the stadium and the raising of their totem poles from beneath the stadium floor. Overall better use of crane shots, motion shots, steadicam shots, and better timing.

USA: NBC goes to a commercial break and misses the opening. Afterwards they never quite recover. Both show shots of empty seats where the athletes will eventually sit but the US shot has a man crouching in the background.

Verdict: 4-1 for Canada.

Athlete Entrance – Australia:

Canada: Up to this point the US was showing better shot variety after the initial shot of the flag bearer.

USA: Initially the US uses a better variety of shots, although I found they lingered a bit longer, and they were the first to switch to the C/Us of the cuter female athletes of the previous countries. No complaints here and they didn’t dissapoint when it was Australia’s turn. Despite having 40 athletes in the larger entourage that marched in the opening ceremonies, NBC spent the entire time on only two athletes, both female, and both very attractive.

Verdict: They were cute; another round to the US. Canada still leads 4-2.

Athletes’ Entrance: Nations with unique costumes

Canada: Canada doesn’t deviate from its shot selection formula.

USA: USA gave us close-ups on the legs of Bermuda short-wearing athletes and the amoeba-patterned Azerbaijani pants.

Verdict: The gap is closing. 4-3 for Canada.

Athletes’ Entrance: Uzbekistan.

Alphabetically speaking, Uzbekistan follows after the United States of America, and is the final country to enter before the host country. The US has the largest athlete delegations, so let’s see how much coverage the peacock network gives the Uzbekistanis.

Canada: Canada broke coverage of the US athletes to give Uzbekistan, and its tiny athlete delegation, their moment in the spotlight.

USA: NBC continued coverage of the US delegation, mainly on close-ups on individual athletes, such as Shaun White, whom they returned to with a c/u several times in conjunction with a story the announcer was telling. Just prior to Canada’s entrance the announcer sheepishly added a mention that Uzbekistan “slipped-in between the US and Canada.”

Verdict: Canada up 5-3.

Athletes’ Entrance – Canada.
Timing when to switch to a shot and when to switch away from a shot is a combination of skill, gut instinct, and luck. Let’s see how our challenge nations fare on the all-important c/u shot of Canadian Prime Minister Steven Harper.

Canada: CTV loses marks for holding their shot too long on the waving Harper than ends with him making adjustments to his suit jacket. The shot itself is too wide and Canada’s leader shown off-centered. Then they switch to a steadicam shot that clearly shows a handler trying to part the Canadian athletes around the steadicam operator, but they’re too busy waving at the fans to notice and the handler gets too much airtime and is even caught staring right into the camera.

USA: Although they start with three almost identical shots of a large flags in the audience, they deliver a more powerful-looking image of Prime Minister Harper and avoid the risky steadicam shot.

Verdict: Although the USA has better shot variety overall, they spend too long on close-up shots on a few individual athletes and their clothing, and favor extended coverage of US athlete Shaun White over the entire nation of Uzbekistan. Meanwhile Canada’s coverage is more like the reputation of its polite and apologetic citizens, but unfortunately this makes the coverage a bit bland. The US steals this final round with a better shot of Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Final score: Canada 5, USA 4.

Stay tuned following the Olympic closing ceremonies when I compare and score both nations’ coverage, specifically the cultural component. I’ll be watching a dual feed live in my living room and taking notes for a more critical online review of the streaming version. I’ll even be doing some cheering of my own for some more of the performers as Stephanie, my editor, and dozens of my dance recital clients are going to be performing in the closing ceremonies.

Shawn Lam (video at shawnlam.ca) runs Shawn Lam Video, a Vancouver video production studio. He specializes in stage event and corporate video production, is president emeritus of the BCPVA, and is a contributing editor to EventDV.