Wednesday, September 27, 2000

I am writing to express my disappointment in the NBC television broadcast coverage of the Olympic Marching Band during the opening ceremonies of the 2000 Sydney Olympics. The international band comprised 2,000 accomplished student musicians from 20 countries. Most of the musicians were high school age. The band members have been practicing and raising money to finance the Sydney trip for well over a year. Nearly half of the band came from the United States.

Our contingent from Fayette County High School was 162 students strong. We were invited to play at the torch relay ceremony in Canberra, at Sydney's Darling Harbor, and at the Sydney Opera House. I accompanied the band to Sydney as a parent of one of the musicians and as a chaperone for nine of the musicians.

NBC's and WSB Channel 2's decision to broadcast local late night news and advertisements instead of the band performing was a poor and uninformed one. I am biased in that opinion because of my close relationship with the band. However, there is a unique story pertaining to the evolution of this band. There is also the story of Charles Sturt University and the town of Bathurst, Australia, where the 2,000-member band resided for over a week during integrated practice. Bathurst, calling itself "Bandtown 2000", basically adopted the band and was very accommodating to all of us.

I have viewed the opening ceremonies broadcast produced by the Australian broadcasters as well as the footage of a Canadian network affiliate. Even though there were only seven Canadian musicians in the 2,000-member band, the Canadian coverage showed the entire band performance. The commentary given was brief and intelligent, informative but concise to allow viewers to enjoy the performance.

The national pride in the accomplishment of the Canadian musicians and the acknowledgment of the efforts of all 2,000 Olympic Band participants were very apparent. The Canadian production managed to work in the advertisements without cutting into any performance during the ceremonies.

The Australian coverage, while more abbreviated than the Canadian production, was also very good. A stark contrast to the U.S. coverage, which spent about 20 seconds on the band, accompanied by brief and uninformed commentary.

When will the Canadians learn the way the "big boys" do television? They are so naive. They actually think television coverage should tell a complete, informed, and unbiased story for the enlightenment and enjoyment of their viewers.

I am sure NBC producers and other programming decision makers did not make these broadcast decisions to intentionally and summarily dismiss the efforts of the student band and the vast numbers of support staff and families involved, but that was the ultimate result. Your poor coverage notwithstanding, the band members still savor for a lifetime the experiences of being selected, training, traveling, and performing at the opening ceremonies of the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney.

The families and friends of the band in the U.S., who had tremendous emotional and financial investments in this historic endeavor, were unfortunately unable to enjoy the culmination of tens of thousands of hours of practices and millions of dollars in travel expenses. The American public was also deprived of the positive experience of seeing our young musical ambassadors perform. By sponsoring the games and purchasing advertising slots from NBC, major corporations such as Home Depot, Coca-Cola, IBM, UPS, and Kodak share the shame of denying television coverage to these dedicated student musicians.

Although the video feed of the band's performance to the U.S. was interrupted during the broadcast of the opening ceremonies, the opportunity for the 2000 Olympic band to be seen by a national television audience as substantial contributors to and bona fide performers in the Sydney 2000 Olympic opening ceremonies is not completely lost.

Perhaps a 15-20 minute profile during prime time Olympic coverage, similar to profiles done on individual athletes and their countries, would be appropriate. I am not familiar with the criteria upon which a network bases its programming decisions, but it would seem that a human interest perspective of a band composed of 2,000 international student musicians would appeal to a broad audience.

While in the Olympic park, I had the good fortune to meet Dr. Bob Arnot, an NBC commentator. During our conversation about the lack of television coverage for the band, Dr. Arnot indicated he was a musician himself, having achieved the honor of first trumpet for the New England Conservatory Orchestra. If no one else at NBC realizes the sacrifices and dedication demanded of a musical performer, Dr. Arnot can elaborate for them.

While I am not optimistic that NBC will respond to this letter, I am hopeful that the network will consider its content and perspective, and will realize the opportunity to rectify the omission of the band in the opening ceremonies programming.

Philip N. Foster

Fayetteville

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