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August 6, 2021

RED STATE REPORTS:

With numbers for the Games collapsing, NBC News and Lester Holt focus on divisiveness.

As NBC has been anguishing over the failure of the Olympics, the network has been striving on its telecast to come up with any manner of compelling storylines to attract those viewers it was counting on tuning in. The executives might have been wise to keep tabs on other departments, as Lester Holt on NBC Nightly News managed to work against their interests. In a profile of one of the star athletes on his broadcast Holt delivered more of the very anti-social content that has been driving away the viewers.

For a variety of reasons, the 2020 Olympic Games have been a ratings disaster for NBC. From the opening ceremonies up to today, there has been dwindling interest in what is normally an audience windfall.

Overall, the ratings are about -50% of the last Summer Games, with only a slight benefit realized for its new Peacock streaming service. The network is now having to make deals with advertisers to compensate them for promised audience figures, offering future ad spots with NFL games, or other options in a make-good move.

This could become a significant challenge going forward. A recent Monmouth Poll showed that interest in these Olympics is dim. Only 16% of respondents said they had high interest in the event, with 42% expressing only a passing interest. Over 40% declared there was no intention of paying attention to the games. One director of the Monmouth institute indicated what was driving away the viewers from what is normally a ratings bonanza....................

...................Now, this week Lester Holt had a lengthy profile interview he conducted with track star Noah Lyles.

(LYLES SAID) "But it hurts even more to see that the country that you want to support so much is trying to kill you. And, it's really hard to get through that."

.......................There was no further exploration of this sentiment from Holt, seemingly content to just let that inflammatory statement hang as he closed out the segment. For an athlete to actually believe this to be the case raises so many questions. Did this movement really deliver this message to Lyles? Does this athlete who has risen in the international ranks with the support of the national program actually believe the country does not want him? And does he really believe there is an organized effort to kill him, when he is so prominently featured and easily found?

Lyles is in possession of opportunity and a platform that is not afforded to most Americans, a position in this country that many of the BLM leadership would normally describe as being in a position of privilege. Yet here he is - on a national news broadcast, speaking to millions - describing a scenario that not only does not exist, but is completely defied by his very status in the country.

Here is an Olympic star, with every benefit afforded him, denigrating the country he is representing on the biggest international stage, and in so doing adding to the strife that is driving away the biggest viewing audience. The leadership of NBC must be scratching their heads, wondering how it is that Lester Holt thought this was a clever segment to run, as they are struggling with a ratings disaster the past two weeks.

Read the entire article on Red State

Hat Tip To Free Republic

Photo credit Lester Holt on Youtube