American TV is all about what commercials we get to see between those annoying programs.

I've had a change to see the Olympics from two different perspectives myself. Canada takes the same approach that German television does. And I've lived in Los Angeles. I noticed exactly what you're talking about. I talked with a TV producer friend of mine who explained the rationale.

There are certain sports that will not get an audience in the U.S. For those, you might get 2 minutes of air time, if an American is medalling. There are certain sports that men will watch. Those are the ones that get the air time. And the audience will be there regardless. But how do the networks get the women to watch? The thinking goes that this is accomplished by 'humanizing' the athletes. Hence the hardships/tragedies/challenges stories. The result is a packaging of the Olympics that is almost completely unwatchable by anyone who enjoys the sport of the Olympics. It also explains why NBC believes that it can actually show results on a time-delayed basis instead of live. Unfortunately, the ratings have proven them correct.

You have no idea how happy I am to be back in Canada for these Olympics.

The worst part of

The same is true for most of the world sports.

One of the bad points (for an external viewer) in American Sport is that they call their own championships (NBA, MLB, NFL...) "World Championship", and this is how they truly consider these championships. In this view, every other "world" tournament pretty much loses sense.

They have long exciting "World Championships" all the year, and for the average sport fan there's no need to confront America with foreign countries, since he already knows that America is better :-P

One of the good points, on the other hand, is that if you DO like American Sports (as I do like Basket or Football, even if my sport is Soccer), you can be in the U.S.A. each day of the year and get a good sport broadcasting of NBA, NBA History, NBA Whatever, etc...

So, when I'll be rich, I guess I'll watch the Olympics and the soccer World Cup at home, in Italy, and I'll fly to the U.S.A. for the NBA Finals and the Superbowl... OH YES, I LOVE SPORTS :-))))))

Sorry to brag, but living in the UK, after suffering years of no tv channels, I think we have one of the best services going.

The BBC are broadcasting the olympics for the whole period they are on with live coverage of multiple events using digital tv technology to switch events on the channel your watching and they broadcast highlights at the days end of differing sports, giving a massive coverage of the olympics and not a advertisement or biography in sight.

So funded TV does have its advantages.

Hmm, ARD and ZDF cover all of the sports? Hmmm, I think not! ARD and ZDF cover what the German audience will find interesting and where they (Germany) stands to get medals. JUST LIKE THE USA!

There were plenty of times where I wanted to see some sports like Mountain biking, or marathon running where ARD/ZDF did not cover because Germany was not a contender. This was especially apparent in Hall Bike Racing!

No digital TV, hmm?