WLBZ viewers OK with taping> No complaints being expressed on Olympics

Almost one week into the Summer Olympic games, NBC Sports has opted not to differentiate between live and taped Olympics coverage during its evening telecasts.

It’s probably become obvious to even the casual viewer that taped events are being passed off as live.

Either they’ve accidently heard the results of the competition they’re watching on radio or TV (CNN, ESPN) before watching the finals that night; or they’re left scratching their heads over how NBC can show a gymnast getting ready for her uneven bars program, cut to a five-minute feature piece on her, and still be able to cut back to her without missing any of the program.

“I haven’t heard anything from anyone, viewers or otherwise, and it wasn’t something they let the affiliates in on,” said Judy Horan, general manager of Bangor NBC Affiliate WLBZ (Ch. 2).

According to a column in the Boston Globe this week, NBC Sports vice-president Ed Markey said there is no problem with this practice because “viewers just want to see the event unfold.”

Markey said research done before the Olympic games involving 10,000 viewers bore him out.

This marks the first Olympic coverage in recent memory in which the primary U.S. network has not labeled its taped coverage as such – prompting the question whether NBC is, in effect, lying by omission.

Olympic coverage continues on NBC over the next 10 days and concludes with the closing ceremonies on Aug. 4.

Mike Schoor, assistant sports director at Bangor television station WVII (Channel 7), will soon be bidding Bangor goodbye as he moves on to a station in Alabama.

Schoor, who began his broadcast career at an ABC affiliate in Fort Smith, Ark., will return to the south at another ABC affiliate in Birmingham, Ala., – the 38th largest TV market in the country.

“It’s the next step and a wonderful opportunity,” said Schoor, who has been with WVII the last 13 months. “This is a whole different league, a whole different ballgame.

“The places I’ve been have been strapped for resources and manpower. This is my first job with a major market station, so I’m looking very much forward to it.”

The 31-year-old University of Southern California graduate will be the No. 3 sports guy at the new Birmingham station and will be “on the road, doing live shots and stories.”

He’ll also have occasional sports anchor duties in the five-man sports department which primarily covers college sports (Auburn, Alabama, Alabama-Birmingham, etc.).

WVII news director Dale Dixon said he has already opened up a national search for Schoor’s replacement.

“I’d like to be able to have somebody locked up in a month,” Dixon said.

Michelle Bonner, a Northeastern University graduate who interned three years at WCVB in Boston (1992-95), will fill in for Schoor in the meantime. Bonner, who was hired part time at WVII last year, moved on to a full-time production job at WCHS in Charleston, W. Va., before re-joining WVII – where she has been a news reporter for the last eight months.

SportsChannel New England will broadcast this weekend’s Michelin Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) Auto Rally from Rumford on a tape-delayed basis next month. SportsChannel will air the July 28 race on Thursday, Aug. 8 at 11 p.m.