NBC ruins their own Olympics tape delay

LONDON - SPOILER: NBC must really think everybody knows the results before showing a tape-delayed race, or else someone was asleep at the switch. The network ran a "Today" show promo about interviewing Missy Franklin on her swimming gold medal - just BEFORE televising the race in which she won the medal.

QUOTE: "I think almost definitely we would have done the same thing." - CBS Corp. Chairman Leslie Moonves to Broadcasting & Cable, backing his rival NBC against criticism for airing tape-delayed events during its prime-time telecasts.

RATINGS: An estimated 36 million people watched Sunday night's Olympics competition on NBC. Through three days, an average of 35.8 million people are watching the games in prime-time, up from 30.6 million who saw the first three days in Beijing four years ago, according to the Nielsen company. Gymnastics ruled, apparently, for Sunday viewers. A study by the digital video recorder maker Tivo found that the top four moments played back and watched again on NBC's telecast were all about gymnastics. The top moment was Alexandra Reisman's uneven bars performance, with an entertaining reaction from her parents in the stands .

EXTRA TIME: All of the non-prime time coverage by NBC and its cable networks makes for an entertaining opportunity to see events that wouldn't normally get much focus. The NBC Sports network on Friday showed 19-year-old Iowa resident Miranda Leek's down-to-the-wire archery competition, for example. She lost, and her Olympics were done before noon local time on the third day of competition. Then the cable network aired in full a rerun of Sunday's swimming relay race in which France beat the U.S., complete with the pre-race set-up. Some highlights would have been fine, but couldn't the network have found something fresh to fill the time?