Death = Ratings

Shame on Brian Williams and his producers for ghoulishly exploiting the death of Georgian Luger Nodar Kumaritashvili in order to increase Olympic viewership. By relentlessly reporting this story, Nightly News is sending the not-so-subtle message that people should tune in to the luge, skeleton and bobsled events because they might get to see someone die. And shame on NBC Sports for reducing the men's downhill skiing competition to a disappointing half-hour of selected taped highlights in prime time instead of showing it live on Monday afternoon (eastern time). The downhill is one of the most thrilling Olympic events, but NBC made it seem about as exciting as a high school chess tournament.