According to early ratings, fewer Americans are tuning in to watch the Olympics in Sydney than any other Summer Games since 1968 in Mexico City
The time delay's certainly a factor.
NBC's taking a hit from viewers tuning in north of the border to watch the Games live on Canadian television.
It's losing viewers who refuse to watch the Games taped delayed after they've already heard the results on radio, television, or the web.
And the Olympic coverage itself is suffering from an excess of fluff that had one Los Angeles Times report dub it "Sports vs. Human Interest Stories During NBC's Olympics."
For an instant, however, let me provide my own alternate, completely unfounded and most likely biased take on why Americans are tuning out and turning off.
It's too happy.
That's right. There are only so many times I can stare at a picture of Marion Jones draped in an American flag, listen to someone interview Kerri Strug like she's the next Joan of Arc, or hear about another Dream Team trouncing before I want to pick up my remote and switch to "Cops" or "Survivor" to see some real life TV.
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