West Coast Winter Games viewers screwed by NBC

Olympic Art on Granville Street in Vancouver
Photo by Sue Frause

Back in January 2010, a month before the opening of the XXI Winter Games, I blogged about not being able to access CTV for the Olympics. I'm blogging again about it as the reality really sucks.

One thing I didn't anticipate were all the spoilers from well-meaning Canadian Facebook and Twitter friends. Although I've unfriended and unfollowed the ones who I thought would be the biggest culprits (such as mainstream media outlets), well meaning PR and tourism folks have been sharing the results.

You can't blame them, and their explanations are sincere: "Sorry about that, we were just so excited! We promise that's the last time."

Nonetheless, one of them tweeted that Lindsey Vonn won the Gold, so while watching it late last night on NBC, I already knew the outcome. OK, it's Canada's Games, but we west coasters in the US are on a three-hour tape delay thanks to the NBC conspiracy. Not to mention that we have to suffer while watching Bob Costas.

Well, groups are rallying around Bob and the bunch who are dishing out the results (with way too many commercials). I've already joined one on Facebook: 10,000,000 People Against NBC Coverage.

A Facebook friend just posted on my wall that Anacortes, Washington (located north of Whidbey Island via the Deception Pass Bridge) does in fact get CTV. Maybe I'll have to head up there for a few days. And start planning my trip to Sochi for the XXII Winter Games in 2013.

The flight to and from Russia has to be less painful than watching NBC.