Vancouver the Final Day: And now, back to reality

So how was that for a finish? Now we can all breathe again and prepare for the horrifying thought of watching NHL hockey after being treated to the sport at its best.

Ratings for Sunday's game won't be in until Monday, but they will be huge and will set a Canadian record. They'll probably also set a hockey record for NBC.

They will cap 17 days of record ratings for the CTV-Rogers consortium.

The consortium reports that 99 per cent of the Canadian population has watched the Olympics on its many platforms, which makes you wonder exactly what  the other 1 per cent was watching. _{Masterpiece Theatre}? The Shopping Channel?

It had another solid day Saturday, with 6.9 million viewers watching Kevin Martin's curling victory and 5.3 witnessing Jasey Jay Anderson's snowboard gold.

Interesting fact from the consortium: The most-viewed athlete on its website Saturday were figure skater Joannie Rochette and curlers Martin and Cheryl Bernard. Somehow we get the feeling the top spots Sunday will be taken up by hockey players.

THE GOOD: CTV's Chris Cuthbert and Pierre McGuire hit pretty much all the right notes during the gold medal hockey game. McGuire's line describing Sidney Crosby's game-winning goal ``and an entire nation is relieved" really summed up the entire game.  Great work also by CTV to get some superb views of crowds watching the game around the country. A post-game series of gatherings was superb. The overhead shots of Robson Square and other venues said it all. ...  NBC's Al Michaels after Don Cherry, a vision in red velvet, expounded on how the game would go, including his opinions on that ``Lalongo" guy: ``I never knew that Feb. 28 was Halloween in Canada." ... NBC's Mike Milbury heading into the game: ``There are two, maybe three guys on the U.S. team who could make Team Canada." ... The beauty of having a guy between the benches.  McGuire reported early in the first period that Canada coach Mike Babcock was telling his players to get more pucks on net and cease with the fancy stuff. You don't get that kind of stuff in the broadcast booth. ... Watching the game on CTV, the sound mix made me feel as if I were in the stands. On NBC, I felt like I was in the parking lot. ... NBC used slow motion and stop-action to illustrate why things were happening the way they were. In the second period, Ed Olczyk showed how Ryan Kesler got too close to Brian Rafalski on the point, letting Canada's Rick Nash to break up a pass. ... Nick Kypreos, after Kesler told CTV reporter Ryan Rishaug that Vancouver Canucks teammate Roberto Luongo was fighting the puck just as he expected: ``I think Kesler forgot that he has to go to work Monday morning." ... Good discussion by Chris Cuthbert and McGuire on why Ryan Getzlaf was taking a key last-minute faceoff in the Canadian end despite having the lowest faceoff percentage on the team. .... Good analysis from the studio panel on how Canada was forced into overtime because it sat back and tried to protect the lead.

THE BAD: When did ``O Canada" become a commercial jingle? There are now two ads using our anthem to sell burgers and bread. ... Does CTV honcho Ivan Fecan have a Conservative Party membership card in his wallet? How else to explain the camera time given to PM Stephen Harper, who has revealed the real reason he prorogued Parliament? ... Huh? Pierre McGuire after a U.S. penalty: ``Corey Perry just got a mouthful of stick right in the head." ...

Vancouver Day 16: The end is nigh

One more day to go. One more day of boffo ratings for the CTV-Rogers guys.

Friday's prime time averaged 7.7 million, led by the Canada-Slovakia hockey game (9.5) and women's curlng (6.8). It turns out, by the way, that Thursday's women's hockey final was more popular than originally advertised.

An error in the ratings was corrected Saturday, showing that the game averaged 7.5 million viewers. It did beat out aerials, though, as the correction dropped its average by about 2 million to 5.5.

 RADIO DAZE; While most of the Games focus has been on television -- mine, too -- radio has played an interesting and unique role in the Olympic story. The CTV-Rogers consortium's radio network, which includes Toronto's FAN 590, has been supplying precedent-setting Olympic programming. In addition to regular updates and features, there's been plenty of play-by-play. Every time a Canadian is in a position to win a medal, the radio network has broken into programming, using the television feed. It's supplied some strange moments -- just imagine figure skating on the radio -- but it's been invaluable to those who can't get to a TV. ``We've been getting a lot of great feedback from listeners," says Nelson Millman, head of the consortium's radio operations and general manager of the FAN until Monday . ``Two years ago, I wasn't sure we could do this and a lot of people said we were crazy to try it. But I think it's worked very well." The key, Millman says, is the amount of work done by reporters and announcers. ``They've really embraced this," he says.

THE GOOD: CTV provided great coverage of the Brian McKeever controversy Saturday morning. Michael Landsberg produced the best question when he asked cross-country ski analyst Jack Sasseville what he would do if it was his decision. Sasseville, an excellent analyst, said that he would have kept the legally blind skier in the race. By making the decision the coaches put the four others in a very difficult position, he said. ... While the CTV Fam-Cam (my name, not theirs) has produced some interesting shots, most of the close-ups of athletes' parents have been pretty much time-wasters. But it struck gold Friday night by zeroing in on short track medalist Marianne St-Gelais as boyfriend Charles Hamelin skated in the 500 metres. Watching her was as exciting as the race itself. ...  NBC's Kenny Albert after Canada escaped a late rally by Slovakia in Friday's hockey semifinal; ``A collective exhale from 34 million residents of Canada." ... CTV's Pierre McGuire on Slovakia's second goal" ``(Richard) Zednik just wanted that puck more than anybody for Canada." ... Analyst Darren Pang detailed how a soft goal on Canadian goaltender Roberto Luongo set the tone for Slovakia's comeback. ``But at the end of the day, it's his great save that solidifies the win." ... CTV's Nick Kypreos on Slovakia's defensive strategy: ``If the Slovaks back up any more on (goaltender Jaroslav) Halak, they're going to fall into the Pacific Ocean." ... Gord Miller as Friday's game ended: ``Canada wins, barely." ... Brian Williams' interview with figure skater Joannie Rochette was excellent, ending with Williams telling her, ``What you did was beyond courageous." ... Great moment: Catriona Le May Doan walking into the CTV studio Friday night after curler Cheryl Bernard told Williams that the former speed skater was her hero. Thankfully, Darren Dutchyshen did not appear with a bottle of champagne. ... Ski analyst Brian Stemmle on the men's slalom course Saturday: ``You almost needd a Google map to figure this one out." ... Another great Stemmle line during the foggy race: ``I'd describe his skiing style, but I can't see it." ...  Great feature on the Ghanain skier known as the Snow Leopard on Saturday. It's a great story and Perry Solkowski's post-race interview capped it nicely.

THE BAD: Following the Canadian hockey victory, viewers were promised  the gold medals on short track speed skating and bobsled. But first, CTV airs one of those etalk features on the guy who wrote the music to CTV's ubiquitous Olympic theme song. Among the fascinating things we learned was that he likes to go shopping and that he watches breathless host Jeanne Beker's show ``all the time." As long as we have our priorities straight. ... Don Cherry surfaced this week, giving his reassurances that Canada would win the gold medal in hockey. One the main reasons, in his opinion, was the goaltending of ``Lalongo." Must be Canada's secret weapon. ... McGuire on Canadian defenceman Shea Weber's strength: ``He's Adonis on skates." Sounds suspiciously like a man-crush, doesn't it? .... Vic Rauter has done a great job calling curling throughout the Olympics, but was caught trying to set up a Canadian victory in the 10th end of Friday's women's final. As Cheryl Bernard's final stone approached the house, Rauter began calling the victory before it disappeared... It's nice that Canadian athletes have those nice team toques, but couldn't they take them off when the national anthem is played? It's kind of a basic, isn't it? ... Brian Williams pitching Olympic merchandise? Say it isn't so.

Vancouver Day 15: Unbelievable ratings for aerials

Back aching, retinas imprinted with the Olympic logo and Brian Williams' face, brain unable to rid itself of that ``Believe" melody, suicide prevention hotline number scrawled on my arm. Hey, you try doing this for 15 days.

As if that isn't bad enough, I'm now reading a CTV-Rogers press release that says the most-watched event on TV Thursday night was men's aerials. This, on a night of women's hockey gold and the conclusion of the incredible Joannie Rochette story.

But it's apparently true. Aerials coverage on Rogers Sportsnet averaged 7.8 million viewers. That's men's hockey territory. That's 2 million more than Canada's 2-0 win over the U.S. and 3.4 million more than figure skating.

The release also says that the figure skating audience peaked at 8.7 million just AFTER Rochette received her marks. Not during her skate, not while she was getting her marks, but after. So maybe this is all an illusion.

SINGING THE PRAISES: Here's an interesting observation about ``O Canada" from the Sports Business Journal on Friday: ``Is it just us or does this song seem too fun to be a national anthem? It sounds like it should be sung with a pint in hand. The song's been sung throughout Vancouver for the last two weeks, and the Canadian women's hockey team certainly relished its chance to belt it out atop the medal stand last night." And the SBJ never heard the late Roger Doucet sing it ...

THE GOOD: While both CTV and NBC did a great job of covering Thursday's women's figure skating final, CTV went one step further with a fascinating isolation on gold-medal winner Kim Yu-Na's coach, Brian Orser. The Canadian skating icon was practically doing his protege's routine as he stood rinkside. It was a great bit of television, especially considering that Orser finally got an Olympic gold on Canadian ice. .. NBC analyst Scott Hamilton got a little choked up when Joannie Rochette finished her program, and who wouldn't have been? ``I've never seen such a super-human amount of courage, determination," he said. ``What an inspiration." . ...CTV got a great shot of Rochette and her father hugging after the medal ceremony. ... Not to belabour the figure skating thing, but CTV's Sarah Orlesky's interview with Rochette was a fitting ending to the proceedings. .... Sideline reporters are known for detailing how one coach urged his players to try harder or that the team trailing 4-0 needs to score more often. So it's nice to see something interesting, such as Lisa Bowes' report during the women's gold medal game that the Americans were wearing heart monitors to give the coach an indication who was freshest. .... Kevin Quinn and Cassie Campbell-Pascall did a nice call on the game, resisting the urge to gush. Quinn's closing statement that, ``The fans at Canada Hockey Place let you know that Canada has won gold," summed it up perfectly. ... Great analysis by Jeff Bean at the aerials, explaining the intricacies of the sport and adding a bit of colour. When Dmitri Dashinski of Belarus finished his jump, Bean summed it up thusly: ``He looks like he just stepped off a curb right there on that landing. That's a four-storey balcony he just jumped off." ... Best prediction of the day came from skier Kelly Vanderbeek, who fingered Austrian Andrea Fischbacher as the likely winner of the women's Super-G.

THE BAD: NBC hockey analyst/entertainer/Don-Cherry-wannabe Mike Milbury gets paid to be colourful and more power to him. Better a guy who makes outrageous statements than one who spoons out pablum. But sometimes Milbury's words bypass his brain. His comments that the Russians played ``a Eurotrash game" against Canada wasn't half as dumb as his defence that he didn't realize that the term Eurotrash meant anything more than a perimeter game, ... Nice coverage of the women's bobsled medal ceremony Thursday, but CTV kind of ignored the silver-medal winners. It was as if Helen Upperton and Shelley-Ann Brown were from Kazhakstan, not Canada. ... Can we please put an end to those shots of people on the streets screaming and waving the second they realize that they're on camera? 

Vancouver Day 14: Canada-Russia blowout still delivers

Had Wednesday's Canada-Russia hockey showdown been in contention after the first period, it could have threatened the all-time ratings record.

 But even though the outcome was pretty much decided before the first intermission, it still averaged 10.5 million viewers according to BBM Canada overnight ratings. That's 100,000 below the all-time sports record, set Sunday when Canada met the U.S.

A total of 21.6 million Canadians watched at least some of the game, with many no doubt finding better things to do when they saw the score.

The game peaked at 13.3 million and did provide a huge audience for women's bobsled: an average of 3.6 million and a peak of 8.2. Statistics aren't available, but it's believed to be the largest bobsled audience ever. (That's a joke, if you're wondering.)

Hockey pushed Wednesday's prime-time average to 6.7 million, second highest of the Games.

Coverage of the big game was, not surprisingly, excellent. The hype was kept to a minimum if you don't count Darren Pang's claim that this was the kind of game that defines careers. How many of those games are there?

A great moment came just before the game started when CTV showed Team Canada taking the ice to a raucous welcome, letting the crowd sounds tell the whole story.

Chris Cuthbert was excellent and analyst Pierre McGuire was sharp. He told viewers early that despite having the last change, the Russians were getting bad match-ups. ``I don't understand the mindset," he said. ``If they don't change that match-up, they're going to get lit up like a Christmas tree."

He also showed how the Russians' attempts to work the stretch pass were opening up big holes for Canada's offence.

Good line from Nick Kypreos, who had said the Russians needed to change goaltenders after the first period. When James Duthie pointed out that Russian coach Slava Bykov was 26-1 at the world championships, Kypreos rebutted, ``In that one loss, I guarantee you he left the goalie in too long."

THE GOOD: I'm pretty sure Rob Faulds hadn't called one minute of bobsled action prior to going to the CTV-Rogers boot camp last summer, but he has emerged as one of the best announcers at the Games. His call of the women's bobsled Wednesday was superb, especially considering that he's working with inexperienced analysts. Chris Lori tries too often to be the play-by-play guy and Christina Smith, well, let's just say she should reduce her caffeine intake. ... Kevin Quinn has also done a great job calling women's hockey. ... Those curling microphones picked up a great moment in Thursday's Canada-Switzerland semifinal when the Swiss coach, a Canadian, address the team in the 10th end. ``If you can make this shot, we can win this game right now," he told them. Of course, if he'd been speaking in Swiss, it would have been lost. ... Great curling moment: CTV cameras showed Swedish players, having just beaten China in the semifinal, moving the stones back into place. As Vic Rauter noted, just like would at a club tournament. ... Great TV team: Michael Landsberg and skier Kelly Vanderbeek. If they don't get their own show, she should at least be a regular on Off The Record. ... NBC's Mike Milbury on Alexander Ovechkin's disappearing act in Wednesday's Canada-Russia game: ``This was a superstar who wasn't ready for this situation."

THE BAD: The CTV guys did a great job of juggling all those medals amid a hockey game Wednesday night, but come midnight (Eastern time) turned into pumpkins in one instance. As Sweden and Slovakia battled to see which team would play Canada in the men's hockey semifinal, viewers were taken to Whistler for Jennifer Hedger's interview with Canada's winning bobsledders. We'd seen an interview with them a couple of hours earlier and this didn't add much more than the sight of cheering throngs in Whistler. Surely this could have waited until intermission. ... Those ads with the talking cars were mildly amusing the first 10 times they ran. Since then, the most annoying Olympic ads of all.  Among the best, those Leon's sofa ads. ... At the risk of repeating myself (I know, way too late) podium is not a verb. Never has been, never will be in spite of what we hear almost every night. ... Trip back in time: At about 5:30 today, CTV aired a promo for the women's curling semifinal, which finished about three hours beforehand.

Vancouver Day 13: A little panic boosts ratings

The audience wasn't as big as Sunday's hockey game agains the Americans, but Tuesday's Canada- Germany game still topped the Olympic ratings for the CTV-Rogers consortium.

Maybe having the entire nation in a state of panic helped.

The game, won 8-2 by Canada, was watched by an average of 7.4 million viewers, according to BBM Canada overnight ratings. The audience peaked at  9.1 million. Not long after the hockey guys left the ice, an average of 2.8 million watched Joannie Rochette's emotional skate, That audience peaked at 7.5 million during her program. The prime-time audience averaged just over 6 million viewers, the second highest of the Games.

That will surely be beaten by Wednesday's audiences.

ACCESSIBILITY ISSUES: The many great features of the CTV Olympics website have been well-documented, but not everybody is impressed.

Toronto writer Joe Clark charges that both the CTV and VANOC sites are not accessible to the disabled, even though they claim to be. Clark says that the two sites ``are almost impossible to use for some people with physical disabilities and hard to use and understand by blind or deaf people."

Clark's complaint is that the sites' layout and features don't take the disabled into account, even though VANOC boss John Furlong promised they would. While inaccessible websites aren't covered under Canadian law, Clark says a blind Australian man won a human rights case against the Sydney Olympics website in 2002.

``I just don't think they took this into consideration," says Clark, who does consulting on web accessibility. ``Much of this could have been addressed without a lot of expense."

Clark points out among the deficiencies is the fact that those who cannnot use a mouse have great difficulty moving around the site. For the visually impaired, there's no captioning on videos or descriptions.

Both VANOC and CTV deny his claims.

The CTV-Rogers consortium says that in attempts to make the site accessible to the blind, key components such as statistics and biographies comply with international regulations. VANOC told Clark that the organization strived to make the site accessible.

Clark disagrees. He writes that CTV admits it didn't make the entire site accessible and that VANOC, ``did not strive far enough."

As good and as extensive as the consortium's coverage has been, the disabled aren't the only ones who feel left out. A reader in Hanover, Ont. wrote to say that he can't watch because there's no CTV affiliate in his area. CTV has a pretty wide reach, but it apparently doesn't reach everyone.

THE GOOD: The CBC is on the sidelines for these Olympics, but it's still making an impression. A CBC report on the death of Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili on Tuesday's national news stands as the most comprehensive report on the tragedy. It raised a lot of questions that haven't been addressed before. ... Both CTV and NBC played the Joannie Rochette story perfectly on Tuesday, basically letting the story tell itself without trying to prime the emotional pumps. ... Great point by Pierre McGuire Tuesday on whether or not Canada coach Mike Babcock should have let struggling Rick Nash take a penalty shot. McGuire's point was that with Canada well ahead, Nash could have used a boost in confidence. ... Good catch by McGuire on the missed Canadian goal, too. ... NBC's Jimmy Roberts on and Scott Moir's singing of ``O Canada" during their medal ceremony: ``When people stand on top of the podium and lose it to the national anthem, it's a great moment." ... Most fascinating story of the day came from analyst Beckie Scott, who described a punch-up in a cross-country ski relay. Fighting in skiing? Who knew? ... NBC's Bob Costas after the gaffe that cost speed skater Sven Kramer a gold medal in the men's 10,000 metres: ``If they have a federal witness program in the Netherlands that coach who screwed up, Gerard Kemkers, may soon be applying." ... Rod Smith's call on Clara Hughes' Olympic swan song was as good as it gets. ... Morning co-host Jay Onrait deserves a gold medal for putting up with the orgy of cross-promotion and foolishness that goes on around him every day. After a reporter polled a half-dozen people in a disco Wednesday and reported breathlessly that ``most people are happy with Canada's (hockey) win over Germany," Onrait listed the morning lineup and dead-panned to co-host Beverly Thomson, ``If this isn't quality morning programming, Bev, I don't know what is."

THE BAD: Sportsnet hockey analyst Nick Kypreos mangles the language from time to time so Tuesday's Canada-Germany pre-game show performance was no surprise. After talking about Canada's need to go to the net, he offered this: ``This is still what Canada lacks a lot of inconsistencies in their game." No translation was available. .... Fellow analyst Pierre McGuire can tell you more about what's going on in game than most of his ilk, but man, is that guy long-winded. After Germany scored its first goal Tuesday night, McGuire told viewers three times that Canada had a ``disjointed" line on the ice, twice that Sidney Crosby was using somebody else's stick and twice that Crosby lost the man he was supposed to cover -- all in the space of 34 seconds. (Yes, I timed it.) ... Great coverage on the men's cross-country relay, today, but not perfect. With the Swedes holding a small lead on the last lap, CTV cut to an interview with Canadian Ivan Babikov. When we got back to the race, the Swede suddenly had a big lead. How it happened was a mystery.

Vancouver Day 12: Golden skate has tarnished moments

 Coverage of Monday's ice dance finale showed the best of the CTV-Rogers consortium's work, and some of the worst.

The best came prior to the skate by leaders Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir. CTV cameras showed them warming up and going through their routine in the corridors.  It was a fascinating look into what athletes do before the big event. Coverage of the skating was solid, too, with Rod Black, Jennifer Robinson and Victor Kraatz restricing their commentary to the pertinent points. Black's pronouncement that the Russian pair's program was ``klunky" and ``slow" was bang on.

The fact the entire event was carried on Rogers Sportsnet no doubt pleased fans of the icy dance.

 But things didn't go so well off the ice. CTV reporter Michelle Dube was stationed at the Ilderton Community Centre with hometown fans and, for some reason, decided to wear a Virtue and Moir ``Believe" sweatshirt. That's like a hockey reporter wearing a Leaf jersey.

After Virtue and Moir won the gold, there was some dead air behind the scenes and some obvious confusion. But the CTV-Rogers consortium managed to use its French-language partner RDS to get the first interview. Unfortunately, the RDS reporter who opened by gushing, ``I'm just so emotional right now." A little professionalism, please.

But the skate produced another ratings hit for the CTV family, with 7 million viewers watching their skate. Overall, the event averaged 3.5 million and the consortium's prime-time broadcasts averaged 5 million.

The day's big draw, no surprise, was hockey. The Canada-Finland women's game averaged 3.6 million viewers.

MORE GOOD: One of the strangest moments in radio came Monday night when the FAN 590 aired live coverage of Virtue and Moir's skate. Basically, it was four minutes of music interrupted by the occasional announcer's comment. On the other hand, that was preferable to someone actually describing what was happening (``they're skating forward, now they're spinning, now her dress flies up ...") It was also a bonus to anyone who was stuck in their car. Sure beat Joe on a car phone talking about the Leafs, too. ... Coverage of Monday's Canada-Finland women's hockey game was a model of how to do these events. The commentary by Kevin Quinnn and Cassie Campbell-Pascall was balanced, more about the game than Canada's chances. Lisa Bowes even interviewed a Finnish player. Interviews with foreign athetes should happen more often in all sports. .... Jamie Campbell had a great story during Tuesday's women's ski cross quailifying, telling how Julia Murray's father, the late Dave Murray, put a notice in the Whistler newspaper when she was born that ended with: Will she be a freestyle skier or a downhill racer?" ... Campbell made a great call on Ashley McIvor's ski cross gold medal Tuesday, as well. ... When a Great Britain stone hit something and basically gave Canada the victory in Tuesday's play, curling analysts Linda Moore and Ray Turnbull called it ``a bad break." There was no celebration that this was a good thing for Canada, which is the way it should be. ... While Vic Rauter, Moore and Turnbull are perforrming as expected, a real surprise has been Brian Mudryk's work with Russ Howard. Mudryk does a great job of using Howard's expertise.

MORE BAD: There's still too much jargon making its away across the airwaves on CTV. Cassie Campbell-Pascall referred to ``the PK" during Monday's women's game, a term that probably puzzed a lot of people who aren't regular hockey watchers. There was also a reference to a ``tranny" in ski cross, a term that may have a rather diifferent connotation to many viewers. Or maybe that's what the announcer was talking about.  ... Slow reaction:  CTV broke into ski cross coverage Tuesday to report on favourite Sven Kramer being disqualified from the 10,000 metres even though he set an Olympic record. We were promised an update. Two hours later, not another word had been heard. ... Maybe it's just me, but doesn't that CTV voice-over announcer sound a lot like Duffman from The Simpsons? ... During Tuesday's Great Britain-Canada women's curling match, microphones caught the Scots discussing strategy. Surely, CTV could have supplied a translation. Couldn't make out half of what they were saying. ... During women's ski cross qualifying Tuesday, analysts Chris Kent and Aleisha Cline discussed a recent article they felt was unfair to their sport. What this had to do with the event was not quite clear.

Vancouver Day 11: This just in! Hockey drives ratings to new heights

While our national pride, our very essence apparently rides on the fortunes of Canada's men's hockey team, there's a lot more at stake for the CTV-Rogers Olympic consortium.

If Canada can't get past Russia later this week, the consortium can say goodbye to a potential ratings bonanza. Sunday's game against the United States, a loss that raised blood pressure across the land, was the most-watched sports program in Canadian history.

According to BBM Canada overnight ratings, the game was seen by an average of 10.6 million, more than the 10.3 million who watched the gold medal final on CBC at Salt Lake City in 2002. Sunday's audience may be dwarfed by the number tuning in for Wednesday's quarterfinal against Russia, assuming Canada gets past Germany on Tuesday.

Sunday's average was 2.4 million more than what MSNBC averaged in the U.S. NBC took some heat from the U.S. press for not airing hockey on its main channel. Considering how good the game it was, they're right.

Sunday's game was watched in part by 21.5 million people, or about two in three Canadians. That helped boost Sunday's prime-time average to 6.8 million, the largest of the Games to date.

THE GOOD: The Calgary Olympics had its battle of Brians with Orser and Boitano. Vancouver has Williams and Williams. CTV brought NBC news anchor Brian Williams into its studios to meet his Canadian namesake for a fun bit ot TV. The news guy showed a surprisingly good sense of humour, deadpanning that the CTV fake fireplace looked a lot like the fake fireplace in Bob Costas' studio. .... On a more serious bent, the Canadian Brian got his big moment Monday evening, first grilling Own The Podium CEO Roger Jackson on Canada's performance in Vancouver, then talking with Wayne Gretzky about Canada's hockey fortunes. The best moment came when Williams asked Jackson if the organization's name was a mistake. ``There's an arrogance there that you know is being ridiculed in North America, in particular in the States, and Europe," he asked. Jackson called it more bold than arrogant. It was a tough but fair interview. ... Two great TV sports: ski cross and cross-country skiing. The former is obvious, sort of a demolitiion derby on snow with no judging to confuse matters. The latter provides great images with surprisingly close races. Again, no judges. .... Great coverage by CTV on Sunday's Canada-U.S. hockey game. Great commentary, too. Pierre McGuire, after Martin Brodeur's gaffe that led to the second American goal: ``Play within character. That's out of character for Martin Brodeur." ... Studio analyst Bob McKenzie, assessing the play of Chris Pronger and Scott Niedermayer: ``The elder statesmen have not been getting the job done." ... Gord Miller, after cameras showed Sidney Crosby lodged in the American net: ``Sidney Crosby, the only thing Canada can put in the net tonight.: ... The super slo-mo feature has worked well in a lot of sports and didn't disappoint anyone in hockey. It showed how the puck ricocheted in off Jamie Langenbrunner's skate on the fourth U.S. goal. ... Why Canadians love curling on TV: Monday's coverage included an interview with one of the Canadian curler's fiance. ... NBC reporter Alan Abrahamson on Sunday's hockey game: ``Today is National Group Therapy Day in Canada."

THE BAD: Is it possible that there's a CTV show that hasn't been plugged during the Olympics? If there is, don't fret because there are still six days left. ... Nobody takes the CTV morning show seriously -- I hope -- but of all the fluff being forced on us, nothing is fluffier than something called The After Show Freeze Frame. In this case, less exposure might be better. ... So, it's about 10C in Vancouver, sun shining, tulips ready to bloom. Why is there a fireplace burning 22 hours a day in the CTV studio? Why not switch from the Fireplace Channel to the Flower Channel? ... All those athlete profiles are wonderful, but they do raise the question: Is there not one Olympian who was born in a mansion, drives a Ferrari and spent his youth playing polo?

Vancouver Day 10: Big ratings here, but Americans pine for CBC

 The CTV-Rogers Olympic production is drawing huge ratings in Canada, but many Americans are longing for the CBC,

According to a report in the New York Times, a lot of Americans accustomed to Canadian coverage are upset because their cable packages don't include CBC, They prefer the Canadian style and the fact that everything is live, which isn't always the case on NBC.

But some aren't happy because they don't like CTV's way of doing things. A Detroit lawyer has started a Facebook page calling for CBC to return to Olympic broadcasting. Kurt O'Keefe says he misses CBC. ``They covered the Games as if they were about the athletes and the competition and not self-promotion of network personalities," he writes. Others have decried what they see as un-Canadian flash.

Canadians apparenty don't agree, at least not if the ratings mean anything. CTV averaged 5.6 million viewers in prime time Saturday, an impressive number considering there was no hockey involved. The biggest audience was for the men's 1000 short track speed skating, which averaged 7.4 million and peaked at 8.3 million.

 THE GOOD: There are plenty of technological toys in use during these Games and two of the best were in use Sunday. The best of all is the virtual leader line utilized in speed skating. It shows instantly where the skater is in relation to the leader. Almost removes the need for an announcer. The other, the helmet-cam used in Sunday's ski cross, isn't as important, but provides some pretty cool shots. Especially when somebody wipes out, which somebody always does. ... James Cybulski got a great interview  with speed skater Denny Morrison, getting Morrison to clarify an earlier statement that appeared to criticize the Own The Podium program. Cybulski asked a lot of good questions and as a result got some great answers. ... Katherine Dolan did a similarly good job with ski cross competitor Davey Barr. ... Great idea to carry Melissa Hollingsworth's press conference live.  ... Great line by Brian Williams on these being ``the Spring Olympics,"

THE BAD: Is it just me, or is Brian Williams being underused? He's had a couiple of interviews -- a good one with VANOC head John Furlong and a so-so one with IOC boss Jacques Rogge, but this is what he does best and he doesn't seem to be doing much more than directing traffic. .Speaking of questions, when is somebody  (Williams?) going to ask the Own The Podium people why they made so many outrageous predictions about our medal chances? ...  CTV has done a great job of story-telling but every story needs an ending. The network spent much time Saturday building up the short track medal hopes of the Hamelin brothers. That was fine. But when they finished out of the medals, we never found out what happened because CTV never interviewed them. ... Here's why you need all those channels: There was some pretty good biathlon coverage (yeah, when did you ever think you'd hear that?) on Sunday, but the main network was showing the reporter known as The Toaster trying to find out which nation produces the hottest chicks. 

Vancouver Day 9: A small ratings dip and une grande gaffe

Is it really Day 9? Seems like only yesterday I was drifting off to sleep having disturbing dreams about Wayne Gretzky standing in the back of a pickup truck while holding something fiery in his hand. (I had a similar dream yesterday about Tiger Woods apologizing for everything but World War II, also.)

Friday wasn't a big one on the Olympic calendar and it reflected in the ratings. The most amazing thing about them is that Jon Montgomery's gold medal victory, which came at about 11:30 p.m. Eastern time, drew more than 4.6 million viewers.

CTV averaged 4.5 million in prime time Friday, according to BBM Canada overnight ratings, which was more than 1 million below Thursday's average and 600,000 below the Games' average. But an in-depth Star investigation shows that there is a trend here.

Let's see: 5.9 milliion average Thursday, 4.5 million Wednesday, 5.7 million Tuesday. So why were ratings so high Tuesday and Thursday? Hint: It starts with an H.

Now that presents a rather huge dilemma for the CTV-Rogers consortium Sunday night. Three Canadian women will be skating for medals at the speed skating Oval just about the time Canada and the U.S. face off. CTV isn't giving out any hints on how it's going to juggle this one, but you can be sure there have been some seriously long meetings at the media centre.

The most interesting thing about Friday's ratings is that 606,000 people watched the Czech Republic-Latvia hockey game. Who knows what Saturday's monumental Switzerland-Norway game will draw?

SACRE BLEU: Under the What Were They Thinking category, a couple of RDS figure skating announcers are the subject of a complaint from a Quebec gay rights group for some boys-will-be-stupid comments during the men's competition. Claude Mailhot and Alain Goldberg apparently took some pleasure in mocking flamboyant American Johnny Weir. Mailhot asked if Weir lost points because of his costume and body language. Goldberg, who must have forgotten what century it was, replied that Weir was setting a bad example for boys everywhere. The pair also suggested Weir take a gender test or compete in the women's competition. They apologized, for what that's worth,  as did RDS. Where did they think they were? In a bar? The incredible thing is not that they still have their jobs but that they weren't alone. A couple of Australian TV yobbos engaged in similar witty repartee.

CAN YOU SAY PROROGUE?: CTV aired a clip of a Canadian medal winner taking a congratulatory phone call from Prime Minister Stephen Harper. So now we know the real reason he shut down Parliament. Can't run a country when you've got all those phone calls to make, I guess.

THE GOOD: Rob Faulds did a great job calling Jon Montgomery's gold medal race. He showed the difference between celebrating the moment and cheerleading. ... Ski analyst Brian Stemmle made his feelings known on the set-up of Saturday's women's giant slalom course: ``This course is impossible," he said after five skiers wiped out. Stemmle was also critical of the women's downhill, which featured some serious crashes. ... Figure skating analyst Jennifer Robinson didn't hold back on assessing the Russian ice dancers leading the competition after compulsories: ``They were sloppy, they were slow. I really think that they lost it here tonight, even though they're in first place." ... Skeleton analyst Duff Gibson on Melissa Hollingsworth's fifth-place finish: ``I'm shocked at this result." ... Farhan Lalji handled the interview with Hollingsworth well, asking her what went wrong without coming across as being accusatory. Hollingsworth's emotional response and apology to those she felt she let down was quite moving.

THE BAD: Heard Canada's Olympic men's hockey team referred to as ``the Dream Team" on the CTV News the other night. Please don't do that again. It conjures up images of American basketball millionaires pummeling Angolans. ... There's a long lineup for free zip-line rides in Vancouver. We get the point. We also get the point on those silly scenes involving poor James Cybulski amid hordes of mugging, screaming tourists in downtown Vancouver. ... The morning show is mostly a lot of fluff, but CTV should keep bubbly co-host Melissa Grillo away from sports. On Saturday, she informed viewers that the sport of biathlon is not pronounced ``biath-u-lon." We needed to know that.

Vancouver Day 8: Hockey hits the heights

There was a concern in many parts that once the men's hockey tournament started in Vancouver that the Olympics as we knew them were pretty much over. Hockey would likely dominate the Games, what with panels of experts dissecting everything from the defensive pairings to what kind of tape is being used on sticks.

Well, hockey's in the spotlight and it's not hard to understand why.

Thursday's Canada-Switzerland game, one of those David vs. Goliath things, averaged 6.8 million viewers on CTV and two French-language channels. The audience peaked at 12.1 million, according to BBM Canada overnight ratings,

The 5.02 million audience on CTV alone more than doubled that of Survivor on Global (2.45 million), which a lot of people apparently watch in the belief that it's actually real..

About 19 million Canadians tuned in to some part of the game, almost two-thirds of the country. And this was Switzerland, not exactly a traditional rival -- although the land of cheese and yodeling is starting to become one.

The fact Canada was pushed to a shootout may have been the best thing for CTV. Sunday's game against the U.S. was going to be a big draw anyway, but now the game takes on a lot more importance. There's already a feeling of panic in the streets.

Had the Swiss been bombarded the way Norway was in the tournament opener, Sunday's game might have been a formality.

Thursday was another big night for the CTV-Rogers consortium, which averaged 5.94 million in prime time. Next to hockey, the biggest draw was Christine Nesbitt's medal presentation: 4.1 million.

To put these audiences in perspective, Hockey Night In Canada is averaging around 2 million for its early game.

CTV SOUTH? People have long complained about NBC's American-centric coverage of the Olympics, a charge that never really was fair. Yes, when the Games were in the U.S. the flag-waving got a little nauseating out of control, but in general NBC is no more focused on their own athletes than any other broadcaster. But there might be some legitimate complaints this time around about NBC focusing too much on Canadians. It's almost as if NBC has adopted Canadian athletes. The other night, it showed Maelle Ricker's medal ceremony, including the anthem. Maybe that was for the benefit of Americans who watched the opening ceremony and may have wondered what our anthem really sounded like. Prior to the men's figure skating short program, NBC aired a feature on, guess who, Patrick Chan.

TANGLED WEB: One of the more challenging jobs at the Games is ensuring that all 10,000 media members and all the official broadcasters get enough bandwidth. How much? VANOC has compared its broadband needs to staging three Super Bowls for 17 consecutive days. The guys in charge of this are Avaya and Bell Canada and part of keeping the traffic flowing is anticipating the peak usage times. So far, the biggest come when the public hits websites like vancouver 2010.com and ctvolympics.com. ``People are streaming to their desks and watching three-minute recaps of the day's activities," says Dave Johnson, Avaya's general manager of Olympic programs. The other hot items are gold-medal events. So far, there have been 10 million video downloads at the CTV site. ... What's most amazing about the CTV site, other than the quality of the live feeds, is the ability to watch events with or without commentary on the world feed. You can also call up leader boards and statistics whenever you want.

THE GOOD: While it doesn't always produce great results, or even good results some time, the CTV fam-cam that focuses on athletes family has found some gold. The reaction of Christine Nesbitt's family after her race was great. ... Good analysis: Liz Manley on figure skating and Russ Howard on curlilng. ... There are so many features on CTV sometimes you wonder if you've tuned in to the Family Channel, But there's no denying their quality. Rick Hansen's features, like the one on Melissa Hollingsworth's relationship with her father, are great. So is the How Tough Are These Athletes? bits. It's hard to top Jacques Villeneuve flying down the skeleton track. ... Best view of the day: A cable-cam used on ski jumping gave viewers a pretty good idea of the speed involved in a sport that few know very well. .... NBC's Sandra Bezic on Patrick Chan's long program Thursday: ``Patrick Chan is an immense talent. He's just not baked yet.". ... CTV ski analyst Cary Mullen on the deteriorating course during Friday's men's Super G: ``You can't pull the Zamboni out halfway through this one."  ... Best liline of the day came from James Duthie as he spoke with co-host Lisa LaFlamme moments after Tiger Woods' mea culpa: ``I want to apologize, Lisa, for my indiscretion," he said in typical Duthie deadpan. ``I used your powder puff earlier today."

THE BAD: All those super slo-mo shots are wonderful, but you really have to wonder what some of these producers and camera operators are thinking. During Friday's men's Super-G, things were delayed after a horrific crash involving a Swedish skier. As CTV analyst Brian Stemmle talked about ``the sick feeling" he had in watching medics tend to the skier, cameras focused on a bird sitting on a fence and, in super slo-mo, showed it taking off. Incredible.  ... Here's a phrase that should be forever banned from all broadcasts: ``That's not what he was hoping for." It's used when somebody crashes on the first turn or falls down or trips over his own shoelaces. When that IS what he was hoping for, then we want to hear about it. ... Another phrase I'd like to hear less often:  lactic acid. You hear it a dozen times in every race. I'm getting lactic intolerant.