Channel 7’s Winter Olympic coverage has been blasted once again by irate viewers after the network showed replays instead of live medal events.
Olympic fans took to social media on Wednesday night to vent their fury, labelling the network’s coverage as ‘utterly pathetic’.
Their rage came after Scotty James’ bronze medal in the halfpipe was replayed multiple times during prime time, despite gold medal events – such as the women’s 1000m speed skating final – being played out.
Channel 7’s Winter Olympic coverage was blasted once again on Wednesday night by irate viewers after the network showed replays instead of live medal events. Pictured: Channel 7’s Hamish McLachlan and Edwina Bartholomew with snowboarder Scotty James
Olympic fans took to social media, labelling the network’s coverage as ‘utterly pathetic’
Their rage came after Scotty James’ bronze medal in the halfpipe (pictured) was replayed multiple times during prime time
‘Do everybody a favour @Channel7 and never bid on the Olympics again. Your coverage is utterly pathetic. No wonder free to air TV is dying,’ one viewer posted to Twitter.
Another wrote: ‘I’m halfpipe replayed out; bye bye #7Olympics I’m going elsewhere; isn’t 5-6 times in one day enough?’
The final straw for many viewers came shortly after 9pm, when the speed skating final was being broadcast before it was interrupted by host Hamish McLachlan.
McLachlan went on to tell viewers what was ahead on the program, which included returning to the skating final before showing men’s doubles luge.
One viewer said they would be changing the channel after the halfpipe event was replayed again
Gold medal events – such as the women’s 1000m speed skating final – were being played out when the replay began
Some viewers said they felt betrayed when the halfpipe final was replayed instead of the live speed skating event
Some viewers then felt betrayed when coverage switched to the halfpipe final, which had only been replayed moments ago.
‘There is a movie on Seven Mate as we speak and replays on Seven. No speed skating as promised. #nothing live,’ one person wrote.
Another wrote: ‘This is the third time you have shown the same event – bl***y hell #7Olympics.’
Other viewers took exception to the network’s head-to-head comparison between Scotty James and gold medallist Shaun White.
Instead of showing their physical statistics or recent form, it compared how many Instagram and Facebook followers the pair had.
‘Tip: no one cares how many followers on social media the athletes have,’ one person wrote.
‘That’s the most useless stat I’ve seen,’ wrote another.
Another wrote: ‘This is the third time you have shown the same event – bl***y hell #7Olympics’
Other viewers took exception to the network’s head-to-head comparison between Scotty James (right) and gold medallist Shaun White (centre), which showed how many social media followers they have
The criticism comes after viewers expressed their frustrations with the over-the-top commentary from the team at Channel 7 (pictured)
The criticism comes after viewers expressed their frustrations with the over-the-top commentary from the team at Channel 7.
‘Seven’s Olympics could not be worse at hosting the games on TV. Get rid of them,’ one man said on social media on the weekend.
Others took offence to the childish references to other countries, with commentators describing Sweden, a strong nation in winter sports, as the birthplace of the pop band ABBA.
During the Opening Ceremony on Friday, they also described Madagascar as the inspiration to two children’s movies.