From last night—
- Tara and Johnny are really building up the US Ladies’ skaters—just to dash our hopes, or maybe to keep people watching? Later, they were apologetic after underwhelming performances.
- Johnnyisms—“That’s a crazy score guys. Anything 220 or up is Russian territory” “Comparing her skating to others is like comparing a Picasso to a finger painting” “A swan has gotten her wings, Clarence!” “Like skipping stones across a placid pond"
- We get a “tale of the tape” from Tanith White before the top Russ—sorry “Olympic Athletes from Russia”—compete.
- The Peacock is taking full advantage of the “primetime” period by show it live in all time zones. As a result, Eastern/Central goes to local news afterward, while Mountain/Pacific continues coverage, and then both come back together for “Prime Plus”. Depending on the scheduling of events you’re interested in, it’s easier for the East or West Coast to watch.
- Ladies’ Figure Skating kicked up the TV ratings for Kabletown, but the overall numbers have not been good—below the Sochi numbers. It’s not the streaming options dragging down the numbers, since they are being included in the Pyeongchang figures.
Moving to today—
- The US flagbearer for the closing ceremony was announced on the Today Show--Jessie Diggins, Cross-Country Gold winner. It's not as big an honor as the opening ceremony.
- We also got our first Tokyo 2020 preview package during the morning show--882 days and counting...
- Since many of the outdoor events got pushed up due to weather concerns, the last few days are going to be a little less jam-packed than originally expected. I’m sure you will be seeing even more pre-taped packages and rerunning major events between now and the closing ceremony.
- Speaking of, in today’s afternoon coverage, we got a segment about the US military force in South Korea—narrated by Dale Earnhardt, Jr.???
- …and then we got a rerun of last night’s figure skating. You know this is available on the website, right?
- Primetime begins with Tirico at the Fortress, handing us off to Four Man Bobsled. If the team screws up getting into the sled at the top, it looks like the Three Stooges going through a doorway.
- We’re also wrapping up Speed Skating tonight. Shoni Davis, who earlier inferred that a coin flip to choose the flag bearer was racist, didn’t do well.
- Then it’s Men’s Big Air Snowboard, and a second chance to see phenom Red Gerard. Since his initial appearance, he flew back to the US, appeared on Kimmel, CBS This Morning, Kelly and Ryan, did a People magazine shoot, a video for Sports Illustrated, and flew back (14 hours each way). What you can do when you’re 17…
More to come.