This from NBC today:

NBC Universal has added Oxygen, the newly acquired female-targeted network, as an additional Olympic platform to provide significant weekday coverage of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. The announcement was made today by Dick Ebersol, Chairman, NBC Universal Sports & Olympics and Lauren Zalaznick, President, Oxygen and Bravo Media.

Oxygen's Olympic coverage will air weekdays from 6-8 p.m. ET and will feature a daily insider's look at gymnastics. The gymnastics show will offer an entertaining mix of in-depth analysis and exclusive athlete interviews, providing the most comprehensive coverage of one of the Summer Olympics most beloved sports. The show will utilize the unparalleled experience of NBC's expert commentators and the unique resources of NBC's production team. Oxygen will also offer extensive coverage of equestrian, tennis, rhythmic gymnastics and synchronized swimming.

The Beijing Olympics begin in August. NBC plans 3,600 hours. I asked how many networks it will have coverage on and got this answer:

NBC Universal’s NBC, USA, MSNBC, CNBC and Oxygen will all provide coverage from Beijing with high definition coverage on NBC’s HD affiliates, USA HD and Universal HD. Spanish-language Olympic coverage will be seen on NBC Universal’s Telemundo.

As soon as Drew Lachey made that first jump in the freestyle section of "Dancing With the Stars," I knew he was going to win the judges' cards in that round. Like the judges, I had expected more from Stacy Keibler, who has been very good in what I've seen of the competition (which hasn't been much before last night. I was much more involved in the first season of "Dancing.") Keibler's freestyle routine on Thursday was just too safe. Lachey has no fear of audience-grabbing dance moves — or of seeming camp, which was part of both of his dances on Thursday's show.

That said, if I'm judging, Stacy still has a bit of an edge. I thought she was better in the first round, when Drew's cape was just too laughable. (Jerry Rice's big hair in the freestyle was pretty weird, too, but a wide camera shot had given away the gag before we got to the dance.)

And I have a pretty simple way of deciding which dancers are better. First — memo to Master P — they actually have to dance. Second, I imagine how I would react if I saw them, non-famous, in a chorus line. In most cases, you would look at one of the celebrity dancers and think something was wrong; even in the better dancers, there's self-consciousness and stiffness in some moves. Keibler seems to fit most easily into the dances and the least likely to stand out unpleasantly in a larger group of  dancers.  I concede that I may be giving too much credit to her because of those chorus-girl legs.

But, as fans know, "Dancing With the Stars" isn't just about being a great dancer. It's about, as reality-TV folks are so fond of saying, "the journey." "Dancing" is making that a pretty long journey, giving the contestants one more chance to impress the judges on Sunday night before a winner is announced. But a journey it definitely is.

"American Idol" starts at least with the assumption that, once the auditions are completed, the contestants have some singing ability. "Dancing" makes no such assumptions about its ''stars" and dancing, so part of the audience interest lies in seeing how people will improve. Or not.

Rice, then, is very much "the people's champion," as "Dancing" referred to him in the opening on Thursday night. (As in, something like "two perfect dancers and the people's champion.") He obviously brought fewer skills to the competition than either Lachey or Keibler; his recap in the first hour last night showed a lot of flaws for something that was supposed to feature highlights. But he keeps working and finally on Thursday night won over the judges to a degree he had not done before.

By the way, I watched "Dancing" this morning, having run out of viewing energy on Thursday night after catching "Idol" and "Survivor" (written about below) and a chunk of the Olympics, which I'll get to in a bit. And competing shows were clearly structured with "Idol" in mind. "Dancing" spent almost the entire first hour (when it was directly opposite "Idol") on recaps, and did not put a live dance on the air until after "Idol" was done at 9. Tom Bergeron even told viewers during the telecast that the live dancing would begin later, as if warning channel flippers they weren't going to miss anything.

The Olympics coverage also spread out its drama. Of course, part of that is to keep the audience around for four hours of programming; men's figure skating was also spread out over the evening. But it makes for a long night when Emily Hughes isn't shown until after 10 p.m ., when "Dancing" had finished as well as "Idol." Sasha Cohen and the eventual gold-medalist, Shizuka Arakawa, did not get on the air until after 11.

As I mentioned yesterday, the figure skating lost some attraction for me after I saw online that Cohen had fallen and ended up with the silver medal. Still, I stayed up late enough to watch her and Arakawa. (The Japanese skater probably won over some viewers just by using the familiar and dramatic strains of "Nessun Dorma" for her music.) But after Cohen's falls, as well as the falling and wall-touching by other skaters, I have to wonder if something in figure skating needs an overhaul.

Is it emphasizing great but risky stunts too much? Are young skaters just not mastering the basics? Or should new drama be added — perhaps by balancing the judges' scores with viewers' votes?

I'm kidding! A little.

I liked to get a good night's sleep. NBC would rather I didn't.

On Thursday night, the network's Olympics coverage ran four hours, with the big event — men's figure skating — scattered like crumbs behind Hansel and Gretel.

NBC provided 24 minutes of coverage at the beginning of its telecast, then went to other events, mainly the snowboard cross, for almost an hour. (It did at one point put up a graphic promising more men's figures in 27 minutes — an estimate that brought viewers back several minutes before skating coverage actually resumed.) Another 43 minutes of figure skating — taking viewers past the 10 p.m. hour — led into more snowboard cross.

At this point, I have to concede that NBC's strategy worked somewhat with my viewing. I did sit through snowboard cross to get to more figure skating. (I had already read some notes online about Johnny Weir's troubles, and wanted to see for myself.) Not only that, the snowboard cross was exciting both in the semis and the final.

Still, NBC let itself be too focused on the gold-medal finish in snowboard cross, especially after American Seth Wescott won the gold. In a race with four men vying for three medals, we saw Wescott's win and replays of the big moments. But we never saw how the race for the bronze played out, even though it involved two racers who had been impressive earleir. Instead, we just got the information in a graphic with voiceover.

Skating resumed at 10:40 p.m., and would fill almost another hour. There were shots of skaters warming up, and a profile of Russian Yevgeny Plushenko, whose family-sacrifice tale makes for heart-warming television. Then Plushenko himself was on the ice, moving in a way that piled up points but found the NBC commentators carping about a lack of artistry.

Then, finally, came Weir. It was after 11 p.m. when he took the ice, an hour when many sensible viewers had gone to sleep. (I was among them, having wearily set my recorder before Plushenko's performance, to watch the rest of the coverage this morning.) He had a shot at a medal, but he didn't take it. In fact, I could almost feel the disappointment from the commentators, in their awkward silences during his routine, along with their acknowledging of his errors.

One blamed Weir's struggles on "Olympic-itis." Maybe. But that's a disease that takes many forms. One is nervousness in an event. Another is a network stretching things out to keep viewers.

"Grey's Anatomy" beat the Olympics Sunday night in the national ratings. "American Idol" crushed the games on Tuesday night, and "House" did so in some markets (including Northeast Ohio). I see a bad night coming for the Olympics.

Why tonight? New "Idol," for one thing, where the field will be narrowed one more time before fan voting starts next week (and telecasts expand to three nights a week). I'll be watching.

New "Lost," also, and one that sounds as if it will have some important plot developments. I'll be watching here, too.

"Bones" will probably do well, since it will follow "Idol." The "One Tree Hill" crowd will probably remain loyal. Too bad CBS and its corporate companion UPN are basically rolling up the carpet — with reruns of "Criminal Minds," "CSI:NY" and (waaaaa) "Veronica Mars." It could have made things even rougher for NBC, especially with younger viewers.

I'm tempted to say the Winter Games will end up third for the night, behind "Idol" and "Lost." Of course, they could run a strong second in each of the first two hours and then draw enough people at 10 p.m. to make a good night of it. But it won't bode well for NBC during the second week of the Olympics, when "Idol" will fill five hours of prime time (two hours of performances on Tuesday and again Wednesday, and an hour-long results show on Thursday). Success there will undoubtedly encourage the other networks to be even more aggressive the next time the games come around.

Don't get me wrong. I like watching the Olympics, as I have said in other posts and will say again in a column in tomorrow's Beacon Journal. But I don't like them so much that I'll give up the big serialized stories on "Idol" and "Grey's" and "Lost."

Speaking of "Idol," I'm still irked that the show kept the Hissy Twins around on Tuesday's telecast. A far more entertaining scenario would have been holding them to their resignation from the competition (or, better yet, holding Hissy 1 to his resignation but keeping Hissy 2, since H1 shouldn't have spoken for him when quitting).

But "Idol" is very much a soap opera, especially in this stage, and I'm sure they didn't want to give up a couple of outrageous players too soon.

One of the things I like about the Olympics is the grit people show in the face of trouble, the people who face seeming disaster and go on to finish their competition, even win medals. But there's another half to that lesson, which is to show that overconfidence and poor preparation can bite you. Which brings me to Bode Miller, and to Sunday night's Olympics telecast.

I have already noted several times that Miller was a marquee name for NBC going into these Olympics, and that the network seemed determined to mention him whenever possible. (One of my favorites: Brian Williams tying Miller to the Chilean team during the opening ceremonies.) The departure of Michelle Kwan, another big name, looked as if it would make Miller even more important to the network. And not just to NBC: Just before the prime-time presentation of the men's downhill Sunday night, two different companies had commercials showcasing Miller.

So the coverage was more than slightly interesting when it was suggested that Miller had not prepared fully for the event. Reporter Steve Porino described Miller's using "factory fresh" skis that were virtually untested, and that Miller did not inspect the course before the competition. "He … just rolled out of his RV," Porino said.

Analyst Todd Brooker argued "that's just Bode being Bode." He later called Miller ''so calculating and so smart." And when play-by-play man Tim Ryan mentioned a report that Miller had been out late the night before, Brooker again said, "That's just Bode being Bode. … Gimme a break. He knows how to prepare for a race."

Except, in this case, he didn't. After his run, he was fourth, out of medal contention. (The final standings had him fifth.) The U.S. team, Porino reported, went into a scramble to decide which skis Darron Rahlves should use — since the new skis hadn't worked very well for Miller — but he still finished out of medal contention.

I would have liked to have heard immediate commentary, especially from Brooker, that maybe "Bode being Bode" wasn't paying off. That maybe all the attention and sponsorships and attendant confidence were not helping his performance. That especially on the Olympic level, you can't leave anything to chance if you really want to win. But I didn't hear that. After all, Miller was going to compete in other events, and NBC was still hoping that he would be a big star in the games. Only today — AND HERE'S THE POSSIBLE SPOILER — he hasn't done well either.

On Sunday I began to realize that I was getting a little crazed about the Olympics. Before going to bed, I set the DVR timer for the rest of that night's prime-time coverage, and for 3 a.m. to get some of the coverage of men's curling. Then, during the day Monday, I watched a good bit of women's curling before deciding (for the time being) that I needed to step back and recharge before diving deeply into Olympics telecasts again. As I have said before, this is a marathon, and — as I learned while blogging and podcasting about the opening ceremonies — it's a lot more fun to watch when you're not fighting burnout.

Of course, that meant that I missed some things. But, as I have mentioned before, I have seen some drama. And I know every morning that I have missed something, since I go online and immediately see photos and headlines from the overnight events. But life cannot be overtaken by TV. On Monday, I did some Valentine's Day shopping, and spent time with my bride, and watched some entertainment shows — and talked baseball, for a story about the new Indians network. That should be in Thursday's Beacon Journal.

Today I've been back on Olympics some of the time, trolling among MSNBC and CNBC and USA. Not sure about tonight, though. I have seen tonight's "House" already, and I have a copy of "The Shield," but I will almost certainly give an hour to "American Idol."

Most of the time, I am willing to ignore the results of the Olympics in order to watch events on TV as if they are live. And I have seen considerable drama — Georg Hettich's tough-as-nails win in the Nordic combined, Kristina Smigun's exciting finish in the women's pursuit. The crash at the beginning of men's pursuit was so stunning that I backed up the telecast and watched it again.

But Sunday afternoon, I was watching the luge when NBC decided to hold back the finish for its prime-time telecast. Since they had just devoted considerable time to the event, the insistence that I wait was galling. So I went online to see how it ended up — and will do something else during that portion of tonight's coverage.

Slept in a little this morning, but I wasn't awake very long when I found myself watching Olympics biathlon coverage. We took two of the cats to the vet for a checkup, and I was a little irked that the TV set in the vet's office was tuned to CNN. Although I considered asking if I could switch to the Olympics, we didn't wait long enough for me to raise the point.

We've been in and out of the house most of the rest of the day, and when we have been in, I have had Olympics on — hockey, skiing, whatever I can find. I have pondered Michelle Kwan's condition and almost become used to NBC's obsession with Bode Miller. (I said almost. That Robert Redford/Bode Miller profile was way too much.) I am not yet tired of the glorious shots of mountain scapes, and at commercials start flipping around in search of another channel with the Olympics. (NBC, if you must run yet another promo for "Deal or No Deal," I'll be over at CNBC watching Canada-Italy women's hockey.)

This worries me. Watching the Olympics is a marathon activity. There are days to go, and in a week or so I may be burnt out.

Besides, I have other things to watch and other things to do. Then I think, well, if we go out tonight, I can put the DVR on for the Olympics — or catch that 1 a.m. replay. And maybe I can record my regular shows at night and catch up on them during the day — unless there's some more good Olympics on.

I know many of you are facing similar questions, and probably wondering how this has come to past. If, for the better part of three years, I don't care about how Austria's Michael Walchhofer does in Alpine skiing, why do I care now?

Because it's different. Because it's often unpredictable. Because it's a chance to watch people who are the best at what they do, even if I don't entirely understand what they do.

Hockey, I get. And you don't need to know much to recognize that Canada's current 12-0 lead on Italy is a whuppin'. But any event involving style points tends to be a mystery. And still I watch, and find myself muttering things like "nice landing."

As much as we may complain about coverage — oh, there's Bode Miller in a graphic again — we are getting to see beautiful pictures, in regular speed and slow-motion, of grace and grandeur, and people falling on their backsides. There's a chance of scandal, or at least NBC hopes so — hyping tonight's coverage with a reminder of the skating drama of four years ago. And so far, in what I have watched, I have been spared those overdone personality profiles that slow everything down and turn athletes into wallpaper for a replay of "Everybody Hurts."

In other words, in case you have forgotten, sports coverage is one of the earliest forms of reality television. And even when we are watching tape-delayed, carefully edited competitions, there is a chance for surprise — and an opportunity to see something that feels fresh, since I haven't watched it in years.

And, even though Canada's now up 14-0, I feel as if I'm missing something.

My first Olympics podcast should be available here: Heldenfels Olympics.

Please keep in mind that it was after midnight when I did it.

The technology expert at my paper also tells me that you can get a feed file for this and my future podcasts with  http://www.ohiomm.com/podcasts/RSS/tv.xml. I leave it to the tech-savvy among you to understand what that means. For me, it's now WAY past midnight, and I must say goodbye.

Costas is reciting torch stats. Carriers: Alberto Tomba, the 1994 Italian cross-country skiing relay team, Piero Gros from the '70s … and I keep waiting for NBC to ask Bode Miller what he thinks of all this.

Deborah Compagnoni.

And finally Stefania Belmondo. "The most decorated Italian Winter Olympian ever," Costas says. I am sure there are Italians and Italian-Americans who view this the same way I felt when Muhammad Ali carried the torch. (When I googled Belmondo, the first thing that came up was "il sito ufficiale.") And I felt that way again on Friday– when I thought of Ali carrying the torch.

Costas promises a final surprise — after the break. It's Pavarotti, looking overly made up. But as far as I can tell in my uncultured way, he's putting all the drama into the song, and the song is made for drama.

Fireworks follow. Big ones. I'd like some sports now, please. Costas instead promotes "a final word." Which, after commercials, includes a sequence of scenes from the ceremonies, with music by Bocelli. It's not bad, especially when you see how much less time it took than the telecast as a whole.

Sophia Loren is carrying the Olympic flag, with Susan Sarandon, Isabel Allende and other "women of distinction" explains Costas. The walk with the flag is slow, but the camera work is very impressive and the HD picture is great — the flickers in the stadium, the lights reflecting off the stage. Stately music, too, making for a more serious moment than the light-hearted disco accompanied earlier.

The flag is up … and the solemnity of the occasion gives way to a promo for "Law & Order" and Mark Nolan. (Channel 3 has concentrated its promo time on its weather reporting, as if all these winter sports make the audience more weather-conscious.)

Back to the ceremony. Mary Carillo tells us we are hearing the anthem composed especially for these games. It's a little overripe, but better than those specially-composed songs on "American Idol."

Acrobats. Save me!

That's an aggressive-looking dove of peace.

NO, NO, NOT YOKO!!!!

Look, I love "Imagine." It can still have force. Neil Young did a lovely, wrenching version of it in the 9/11 "Tribute to Heroes" telecast. But unless you do something special with it, it ends up feeling obvious and cliched. Although Peter Gabriel tried to make it interesting, it came across as funereal.

If Bette Midler and Cher toured together, the set would look a lot like this. Only with better dancers.

Mary Carillo points out Michelle Kwan. What, no Bode Miller?

We are pondering the future through dance, big dancing pieces of cheese and some guy who resembles one of those Visible Man figures. Again, this is why announcers get paid so well. They have gotten through all of this without saying, "What the bleep is that?"

The moment does not cry out for Brian Williams's rumination on the Italian auto industry.

I am sure that, if I was sitting in Torino and watching this live, I would enjoy the bursts of flame, the floating objects, the gigantic spectacle, in a way that just doesn't come across on TV. I would also be bored and puzzled in spots, but rather less than I am at home, when whatever modest momentum has been built is disrupted by NBC's need to have Dennis Haysbert sell me insurance.

I am waiting for just one thing at this point, and that is to see who will be the last carrier of the Olympic flame. I have managed not to peek at the stories to know who it is, and I am hoping to be dazzled or moved.

Brian Williams makes it official. He manages to use the arrival of the team from Chile to talk about interviewing Miller and discussing his training in … Chile.

Williams is trying very hard to be the news guy; when Denmark appears, he brings up the Muhammad cartoon furor. But it's better to bring it up than ignore it — and then see disaster strike at the Olympics. It's not an event that's always free of terror, after all. And Costas underscores that by talking about security at the games.

There must be times when Costas is regretting that promise to show EVERY country's delegation. He's grasping for interesting tidbits — imagine, a country called ICEland has never won a Winter Olympics medal! I'd like to hear Williams explain more about party time in Reykjavik. "It's dark most of the time," he says. "Largest per-capita number of discos north of the equator …"

So Iceland picked the music for the opening ceremonies!

Good hats on the Kazakhstan team.

Hey, what else do you want from me? People are walking and waving, and that's about all we've got. If Brian Williams can talk about partying in Iceland, I can talk about hats.

Excellent hats on Mongolia. Even Brian Williams is taking a break from political discourse long enough to mention them.

Let us note that the flag of Norway — tops in Winter Games medals overall, says Costas — is being carried by a curling athlete.

Costas is finally commenting on the music — "80s American pop tunes" to his ears; it's DISCO. And a fair amount of it '70s, including "YMCA," which gives Williams a chance to say "gesticulation."

Williams squeezed Bode Miller into the conversation again! He needs to relax. That reference to Pope John Paul II as a "former, very proud skier" was really strained.

The U.S. team enters. Waiting for it, waiting for it … Michelle Kwan … Michelle Kwan again … waiting … YES! Bode Miller! "Perhaps you've heard of him," Costas jokes. And where would we have heard that, Bob?

Greece kicks things off, with the countries "in Italian alphabetical order," Costas tells us. NBC has a handy graphic listing the countries in order of appearance. Graphics also show us what the country looks like, its population and other handy information.

"You will not miss a single country in this parade of nations," Costas promises as he begins to chatter, knowing that all these shots of people waving are not enough to keep the audience engaged.

Where is Joan Rivers? Someone must ask the athletes "who are you wearing"? I want to see Kathy Griffin interview Bode Miller.

After seeing half a dozen countries' winter wear, I no longer care whom they are wearing. Lots of padding. Any one of them has enough material to make a hundred of Teri Hatcher's outfit at the Grammys.

OK, what is Italian for "Belarus"? Since it's after Bermuda in the alphabetical order. Oh, I see on the sign. "Bielorussia."

The disco music is pretty odd. And Michael Jackson a bad choice on any grounds. Kathy Griffin would have something to say about that.

Shouldn't "Repubblica Ceca" be under "R"?

The A-team has arrived, Bob Costas and Brian Williams. Williams is the new kid, and his presence has fueled speculation that Katie Couric is heading out the door to CBS soon — so NBC is more interested in promoting a talent who will still be on the team at the end of 2006. But if I'm Couric, I'd figure I didn't have to work the Olympics — that NBC is going to want to keep me happy, and that means no huddling into a parka and pretending to enjoy snowball fights. And if I'm gone, then I don't need to do the parka drill, either.

Williams is hanging tough in a Playboy "Back to College Fashions" way — sweater and jacket, very tidy.

Wow, some set in Torino. Like a top view of the starship Enterprise.

Is that a Power Ranger hitting the anvil?

The dancers gather and move about. Tight choreography. Odd costumes. Anyone have an urge to rent "Roller Boogie"?

Amazing how Costas can read lines like the one about the beating heart as a symbol of passion, and not giggle uncontrollably. Which reminds me: Make Valentine's Day plans.

Hey, Netflix has "Roller Boogie"!

We are now in the alpine portion of the program, which includes a tribute to cows, or maybe Gateway computers.

There's an overhead shot that makes me feel a little dirty.

Reminder: Make really good Valentine's Day plans.

Presentation of the Italian flag, introduction of Olympic officials, flag raising. Brian Williams tries to make us forget the operatically silly uniforms by invoking World War II. (Did he inherit the turf from Brokaw?) Williams speaks of "the actions of U.S. GIs on this land, how blood was spilled, how many never went home." And does he remember which side Italy was on in that war?

Costas apparently does, mentioning Mussolini after the break.

The announcers quietly let the action unfold curing the close-order formation of an Olympic skier. It unfolds very slowly.

Costas points out Bode Miller in the crowd. We're getting a lot of Miller tonight. Imagine how big he would be if he took up curling.