The CBC, after a 12-year run as Canada's Olympic network, leaves the arena with a record that includes thorough coverage, live programming any time of day and a high standard of broadcasting.
Yesterday, near the end of the Beijing closing ceremony, International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge described the Games of 29th Olympiad as "truly exceptional," a muted declaration, given the spectacle that we'd seen over the past 17 days.
Actually, "exceptional" describes well what the CBC has accomplished over seven consecutive Olympics, beginning with Atlanta in 1996.
Its coverage wasn't as slick or always as exciting as the telecasts produced by NBC, nor did it have the financial resources of the U.S. network. There were poor choices and plenty of mistakes.
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The decision this year to call several competitions, including soccer and the equestrian events, off a monitor in Toronto was a money saver, but unfortunate, given Canada's two medals in equestrian events.
But what the CBC did give Canadians, by way of a free, over-the-air broadcast, was a big menu of Olympic sports programming around the clock. And, on most days, it was solid and dependable.
At these Games, the CBC devoted 15 of 24 hours every day to coverage. And, on two of the three weekends, every hour of the day was filled, but for 90 minutes.
The CBC also took the first big steps into the digital world by providing 1,500 hours of online content.
With CTV taking over as Canada's Olympic broadcaster for Vancouver 2010 and London 2012, Scott Moore, the head of CBC Sports, said he wanted the Beijing coverage "to make a statement, to showcase the CBC's skill at covering Olympics and to set the bar high for those who follow."
That was achieved. Assisted by the remarkable pictures of China and its $40-billion Olympic infrastructure, as well as some terrific stories, the CBC's work at Beijing was as effective and compelling as anything it has done at the Olympics in the past.
Memorable performances
Announcer Mark Lee, calling only his second track and field meet, was outstanding - good play-by-play, smooth delivery and plenty of information.
Elliotte Friedman, a workhorse who reported at the pool and the athletics events and also called volleyball. He asked smart, probing questions.
Michael Smith. His athletics analysis was low-key and incisive.
Byron MacDonald. There can't be a better swimming play-by-play analyst.
Dave Moorcroft. The British track analyst spoke hesitantly, almost with a stammer, but he was descriptive and told good stories.
Steve Armitage. First-rate play-by-play at the pool.
Co-hosts Scott Russell and Diana Swain. Solid work during the morning shift.
Karin Larsen. Good reporting at rowing and play-by-play for the triathlon and tennis.
Scott Oake, stepped in to replace ailing Bruce Rainnie as the rowing announcer and handled the assignment well.
Host broadcast pictures at the Water Cube. They were spectacular. Shots effectively illustrated how close the finishes were in two races involving Michael Phelps.
The robotic camera. One of the lasting memories will be the side shot of Usain Bolt as he raced to a world record in the 200-metre final, produced by a camera on a rail speeding beside the track.
Nigel Reed and Jason De Vos. Working off a monitor, they did well with soccer play-by-play.
Weekend coverage
The men's marathon was well under way and Dave Moorcroft was drawing us in with a narrative that involved of the ridiculous hardship of this "masochistic sport," the fact the Kenyans had never won at the Olympics and, unlike the Ethiopian team that trained in luxury, had very few resources. Kenyan Sammy Wanjiru and Deriba Merga of Ethiopia were neck and neck. Then the CBC went to one of its features on Olympic history. When it returned, Merga had fallen well back and Wanjiru was alone in front, on his way to a gold medal. Viewers had missed the biggest development of the race.
Scott Russell and Diana Swain did a good job with the closing ceremony, talking just enough to keep us interested, but, for the most part, letting the spectacle speak for itself.
Audience record
NBC's coverage of the Olympics on the main network and affiliated cable channels was watched by a total of 211 million U.S. viewers through Saturday, topping the previous mark of 209 million, set by the Atlanta Games in 1996.
NBC says its Beijing coverage "has been viewed by more Americans than any event in U.S. television history."
NBC tape-delayed many of the big events to prime time and carried content on more channels than in 1996. As well, the Beijing swimming and gymnastics finals aired in the evening Eastern time, pushing up prime-time figures.
NBC's average prime-time audience was 27.7 million, up 11 per cent from Athens in 2004. The average prime-time rating of 16.2 (percentage of U.S. households tuned in) was the best for a Summer Games since Barcelona in 1992 (17.3), but up only 7 per cent from Athens (15.2).
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