THE SEOUL GAMES / DAY 7 : Television : For Its Seoul Success, NBC Owes a Nod to ABC

If NBC Sports’ Summer Olympics effort can be called successful--and its overall production generally has been solid to date--much of the credit, ironically, should go to competitor ABC. ABC Sports, for better or worse, established an Olympic tradition over the past generation, and NBC’s 1988 Seoul success is one part beg-and-borrow from ABC and one part build-and-blossom from within.

At least that’s the view from industry observers, who give high marks to NBC’s first Summer Olympics telecasts since 1964.

With no experience at producing the Summer Games--a sprawling undertaking like no other in sports television--Michael Weisman, NBC Sports executive producer, has taken much of ABC Sports’ Olympic framework and added NBC’s touch to it. Among Weisman’s better moves have been the choice of Bryant Gumbel, with his unique news and sports background, as prime-time host, the increased attention to journalistic initiative and the judicious use of a split screen when two compelling events are going on at once.

Ted Shaker, CBS Sports executive producer, whose network is next up in the Olympic wars with the 1992 Winter Games from Albertville, France, found himself praising his rivals.

“They’re doing a good job,” Shaker said. “My biggest disappointment is that I can’t stay up late to watch the late-night show, because I’m a big Bob Costas fan. . . . They’re taking some of the things ABC has developed and brought their own edge to it. They’re a bit more vigilant in trying to get to the story, and I think that’s good television.

“I’ve never had this many good things to say about NBC,” Shaker added with a laugh. “Quick, someone, take my pulse.”

Costas said from Seoul: “Anything that we do--even if we do it extremely well--we’re only building on whatever is already established (by ABC).

“ABC took tremendous steps. If you look at the first Olympics to their last, they made tremendous improvements. And we’ve picked up from there.”

Among the criticisms of NBC’s coverage has been that these Olympics don’t seem quite as special as before. But Don Ohlmeyer, who produced and directed Olympic coverage for ABC in 1972 and 1976 and was NBC Sports’ executive producer from 1977 to 1982, thinks that is more a product of the times than anything else.

“The ratings aren’t real good, but that’s not a function of what (NBC is) doing. Their coverage has been solid,” said Ohlmeyer, who now heads Ohlmeyer Communications Co., which, among other things, produces sports programming for NBC. “I think Bryant’s been superb. (But) over the last decade, the Olympics have taken the bloom off their own rose. . . . What maybe is missing is the glamour the Olympics has had in the past, and I don’t think there’s anything NBC can do about that. The public is more cynical, and the U.S. team is basically not very good.”

Ohlmeyer added that “NBC has gone out of its way to avoid” jingoism. “I think maybe they’ve gone more that way than the public wants in trying to be neutral,” he said.

Again, NBC’s approach in this area results directly from ABC’s approach. ABC took criticism for leaning toward U.S. athletes too much. NBC, thus, has moved a bit toward a more balanced, international broadcast. ABC gets the credit, kind of, for being so unbalanced as to bring to light the need to do it differently.

ABC Sports, the longtime network of the Olympics, is watching silently. ABC Sports spokesman Bob Wheeler said ABC officials would not comment on NBC’s Seoul effort.