The broadcasts of the
Olympic Games
The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a multi ...
produced by
CBS Sports
CBS Sports is the sports division of the American television network CBS. Its headquarters are in the CBS Building on W 52nd Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, with programs produced out of Studio 43 at the CBS Broadcast Center on W ...
was shown on the
CBS television network in the United States. The network's last Olympics broadcast was the
1998 Winter Games in
Nagano, Japan.
History
1960s coverage
The first live telecast of the Olympics on American television was from the
1960 Winter Olympics
The 1960 Winter Olympics (officially the VIII Olympic Winter Games and also known as Squaw Valley 1960) were a winter multi-sport event held from February 18 to 28, 1960, at the Squaw Valley Resort (now known as Palisades Tahoe) in Squaw Vall ...
in
Squaw Valley, California.
CBS paid $50,000 to obtain the broadcast rights.
Walter Cronkite
Walter Leland Cronkite Jr. (November 4, 1916 – July 17, 2009) was an American broadcast journalist who served as anchorman for the ''CBS Evening News'' for 19 years (1962–1981). During the 1960s and 1970s, he was often cited as "the mo ...
hosted the game telecasts, anchoring on-site from Squaw Valley. With Squaw Valley connected to the network lines, some events were broadcast live while the remainder of the network's coverage was of events shown on the same day they took place. During the games, officials asked
Tony Verna, one of the members of the production staff, if it could use its
videotape
Videotape is magnetic tape used for storing video and usually sound in addition. Information stored can be in the form of either an analog or digital signal. Videotape is used in both video tape recorders (VTRs) and, more commonly, videoca ...
equipment to determine whether or not a
slalom skier missed a gate. Verna then returned to CBS headquarters in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
and developed the first
instant replay
Instant replay or action replay is a video reproduction of something that recently occurred which was both shot and broadcast live.
The video, having already been shown live, is replayed in order for viewers to see again and analyze what had j ...
system, which debuted at the
Army–Navy football game in
1963
Events January
* January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Co ...
. The event in Squaw Valley was the last time CBS would carry a Winter Olympics until 1992.
Later that year, CBS aired the
1960 Summer Olympics
The 1960 Summer Olympics ( it, Giochi Olimpici estivi del 1960), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad ( it, Giochi della XVII Olimpiade) and commonly known as Rome 1960 ( it, Roma 1960), were an international multi-sport event held ...
from
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus ( legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
, the only time that CBS has ever televised a Summer Games event. The network carried about 20 hours of coverage of such events as
track and field
Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...
and
swimming
Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...
. Because
communications satellite
A communications satellite is an artificial satellite that relays and amplifies radio telecommunication signals via a transponder; it creates a communication channel between a source transmitter and a receiver at different locations on Earth ...
s, which would have provided direct transmissions between the United States and Italy, were not yet available, production staff members fed footage from Rome to
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, re-recorded it on tape there, and then the tapes were flown to CBS headquarters in New York (or a mobile unit parked at
Idelwild Airport in New York, to lessen time that transporting videotapes into the city would take) for later telecast.
Despite this, at least some of the events, especially those held in the morning and early-afternoon (local time in Rome), actually aired in the United States the same day they took place (often during a half-hour late-night show that aired from 11:15 to 11:45 p.m.
Eastern Time
The Eastern Time Zone (ET) is a time zone encompassing part or all of 23 states in the eastern part of the United States, parts of eastern Canada, the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico, Panama, Colombia, mainland Ecuador, Peru, and a small ...
).
Jim McKay, then a relatively unknown radio and television personality, was the host, anchoring not from Rome, but from the CBS studios in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
.
1990s coverage
Although CBS bid on the rights to several Olympics in the 1970s and 1980s, the network was outbid by rivals,
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
and
ABC. When the 1990s approached, CBS won the rights to three consecutive Winter Games: 1992,
1994
File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nels ...
and
1998
1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''.
Events January
* January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...
.
The network provided some live coverage of the 1992 Games in
Albertville
Albertville (; Arpitan: ''Arbèrtvile'') is a subprefecture of the Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Southeastern France.
It is best known for hosting the 1992 Winter Olympics and Paralympics. In 2018, the commune had ...
, France on weekend mornings and afternoons (and on the last Friday morning (Eastern Time) of the Games to show live the men's ice hockey semifinal between the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
and
Unified Team, but most of the events (and all of the
prime time
Prime time or the peak time is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for a television show. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to ...
coverage) were broadcast by CBS on
tape delay, owing to the time difference between the United States and Europe. A similar format was used two years later in 1994 when the Winter Games adopted a new schedule, midway between the four-year Summer Games cycle, instead of in the same year as the Summer Olympics.
The 1994 Games in
Lillehammer
Lillehammer () is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Lillehammer. Some of the more notable villages in the munic ...
, Norway saw the highest nighttime ratings in the history of American Olympic telecasts, as a result of the scandal in which associates of figure skater
Tonya Harding
Tonya Maxene Price (née Harding; born November 12, 1970) is an American former figure skater, retired boxer and a reality television personality. Born in Portland, Oregon, Harding was raised primarily by her mother, who enrolled her in ice s ...
attacked
Nancy Kerrigan
Nancy Ann Kerrigan (born October 13, 1969) is an American figure skater and actress. She won bronze medals at the 1991 World Championships and the 1992 Winter Olympics, silver medals at the 1992 World Championships and the 1994 Winter Olympi ...
and the media frenzy that followed. The short program in
women's figure skating, which aired on February 23 is, , the sixth-highest rated prime time television program in American history. It had a rating of 48.5 and a share of 64 (meaning 48.5% of all television sets in the U.S. and 64% of all television sets turned on were tuned in to CBS). The long program two days later had a rating of 44.1 and another 64 share; it ranks 32nd. Both the short and long programs were shown on tape delay during prime time about six or so hours after the events had taken place.
Also contributing to the huge ratings in 1994 were a surprise gold medal by American skier
Tommy Moe, as well as
Dan Jansen
Daniel Erwin Jansen (born June 17, 1965) is a retired American speed skater. A multiple world champion in sprint and perennial favorite at the Winter Olympics, he broke a ten-year Olympic jinx when he won a gold medal in his final race, which ...
's
speed skating
Speed skating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors race each other in travelling a certain distance on skates. Types of speed skating are long track speed skating, short track speed skating, and marathon speed skati ...
gold medal win, and, on the final morning (Eastern Time) of the Games, a dramatic championship game in
men's hockey between
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic countries, Nordic c ...
and
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...
, won by Sweden in a shootout. When the construction of the
Lysgårdsbakken
Lysgårdsbakken, officially known as Lysgårdsbakkene Ski Jumping Arena ( no, Lysgårdsbakkene hoppanlegg), is a ski jumping hill in Lillehammer, Norway. It consists of a large hill, with a K-point of 123 and a hill size of 138, and a small hill ...
jumping hills started in 1992, the hills had to be moved some meters north so that television broadcasters (including CBS) could get the best pictures available from their pre-chosen location.
The
affiliation switches that followed the 1994 games resulted in several CBS affiliates losing their network affiliation to
Fox and
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
, the latter of which began broadcasting the Winter Olympics in 2002. The affiliation deal between CBS and
Westinghouse Broadcasting
The Westinghouse Broadcasting Company, also known as Group W, was the broadcasting division of Westinghouse Electric Corporation. It owned several radio and television stations across the United States and distributed television shows for syndicat ...
resulted in
WBAL-TV
WBAL-TV (channel 11) is a television station in Baltimore, Maryland, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is the flagship property of Hearst Television, which has owned the station since its inception, and is sister to the company's sole r ...
,
WHDH and
WCAU
WCAU (channel 10) is a television station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, airing programming from the NBC network. It is owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Mount Laurel, New Jer ...
switching to NBC in 1995, one year before those stations aired the
1996
File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 800, causing the plane to crash and killing everyone o ...
games.
The 1998 Winter Games in
Nagano, Japan did feature some live prime time coverage in the Eastern and
Central Time Zone
The North American Central Time Zone (CT) is a time zone in parts of Canada, the United States, Mexico, Central America, some Caribbean Islands, and part of the Eastern Pacific Ocean.
Central Standard Time (CST) is six hours behind Coordin ...
s (the Opening Ceremony and some
alpine skiing
Alpine skiing, or downhill skiing, is the pastime of sliding down snow-covered slopes on skis with fixed-heel bindings, unlike other types of skiing ( cross-country, Telemark, or ski jumping), which use skis with free-heel bindings. Whether ...
events), since these events were being held in the morning local time in Japan, which corresponded to the prime time slot in the U.S. Much of the men's and women's
hockey
Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...
action was held in the early afternoon (during late night in the Eastern Time Zone, allowing again for live broadcasts at 12:30 a.m. Eastern Time), however
figure skating
Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, when contested at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic disciplines are me ...
was shown on delay about 20 hours after the competitions took place so they could air in prime time.
Each telecast had a different prime time host(s):
Paula Zahn
Paula Ann Zahn (; born February 24, 1956) is an American journalist and newscaster who has been an anchor at ABC News, CBS News, Fox News, and CNN. She currently produces and hosts the true crime documentary series ''On the Case with Paula Zah ...
and
Tim McCarver
James Timothy McCarver (born October 16, 1941) is an American former professional baseball player and television sports commentator. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher from to , most prominently as a member of the St. Louis Cardina ...
in 1992,
Greg Gumbel
Greg Gumbel (born May 3, 1946) is an American television sportscaster. He is best known for his various assignments for CBS Sports (most notably, the National Football League and NCAA basketball). The older brother of news and sportscaster Brya ...
[ in 1994, and ]Jim Nantz
James William Nantz III (born May 17, 1959) is an American sportscaster who has worked on telecasts of the National Football League (NFL), NCAA Division I men's basketball, the NBA and the PGA Tour for CBS Sports since the 1980s. He has ancho ...
[ in 1998. CBS' theme music for their Olympic coverage was composed by Tamara Kline.
In 2011, CBS Sports president Sean McManus said the option to bid for the ]2014 Winter Olympics
, ''Zharkie. Zimnie. Tvoi'')
, nations = 88
, events = 98 in 7 sports (15 disciplines)
, athletes = 2,873
, opening = 7 February 2014
, closing = 23 February 2014
, opened_by = President Vladimir Putin
, cauldron =
, stadium = Fisht Olympi ...
or 2016 Olympics
)
, nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams)
, athletes = 11,238
, events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines)
, opening = 5 August 2016
, closing = 21 August 2016
, opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer
, cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro ...
"is not a priority of ours right now."
Hours of coverage
Commentators
See also
*'' ABC Olympic broadcasts''
*'' NBC Olympic broadcasts ''
*''TNT Olympic broadcasts The American cable channel TNT served as cable partner for the CBS broadcast television network during the 1992, 1994, and 1998 Winter Olympic Games, supplementing Olympics coverage in the United States.
History
While CBS was the American over-the ...
''
*Olympics on television
The Olympic Games have been broadcast on television since the 1936 Summer Olympics.
1930s
1936 Summer Olympics
The 1936 games, held in Berlin, Germany, were televised by means of closed circuit television to various viewing halls. Broadcasts ...
Notes
External links
CBSSports.com - Olympics
TV Theme - Olympics, Lillehammer Winter Games 1994 (CBS).wav
* ttps://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/2008-12-17-cbs-time-warner_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip CBS, Time Warner execs discuss Olympics TV bidbr>InBaseline
The 1992 Winter Olympics
1994 Olympic Winter Games
Olympic Winter Games XVIII
Logos of Olympic Broadcasters - Part 2: 1960s
Logos of Olympic Broadcasters - Part 5: 1990s
{{s-end
CBS Sports
CBS original programming
CBS
Black-and-white American television shows
1992 American television series debuts
1998 American television series endings
1960 American television series debuts
1960 American television series endings