Shifting Time Zones,Shifting Narratives: NBC’s Primetime Broadcast Portrayal of Men and Women Athletes During the 2020 Tokyo and 2022 Beijing Olympic Games

Abstract

Content analysis was used to examine NBC’s primetime broadcast commentary from the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympic Games (62 hours) and the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games (61.5 hours) to ascertain differences in how male and female athletes were described. Using an expanded taxonomy to analyze the descriptor word(s) assigned to each athlete, NBC’s commentary diverged based on athlete sex in a number of categories in both Games, though differences were not consistent between the two Games, with one notable exception. A number of firsts were found with respect to significant differences in descriptors in the Tokyo Games, while significant differences found in the Beijing commentary repeated previous findings. Commentary during the Tokyo Games appeared to present females as athletes first, as compared to men, focusing on their commitment, intelligence, and athletic backgrounds. Men were significantly more likely to have their attractiveness discussed, a result in opposition to previous studies. The attractiveness finding from Tokyo was also replicated for men during the Beijing Games. Overall, Tokyo commentary presented significant differences in 10 different categories, while the Beijing commentary presented significant differences in 5 different categories. The divergences are examined within their given Olympiad and also analyzed in a longitudinal context.