The US media's obsession with women's figure skating can get ridiculous sometimes. I remember at the 1998 games there was some big event going on (I don't remember what it was, ski jumping or something like that) and NBC switched over its main channel to show one hour of live coverage of the US women figure skaters practicing at the ice rink. The NBC Olympics comment forum site lit up with thousands of angry comments, which NBC ignored.
When I was in Japan their coverage of each Olympics on TV was great. They would show each event in its entirety, not just the top athletes or the more popular events. For example, I was able to watch every single cross country skiing race, which was a first for me because, in my memory, no US network had ever shown a cross country race for more than a few seconds. The Japanese network showed every single downhill run, even the guy from Argentina who went 35th and finished in 35th place in the standings. When I watch NBC's coverage, the only runs they show are the top 10 and they usually won't even display the full standings at the end of their coverage.
When I was in Japan their coverage of each Olympics on TV was great. They would show each event in its entirety, not just the top athletes or the more popular events. For example, I was able to watch every single cross country skiing race, which was a first for me because, in my memory, no US network had ever shown a cross country race for more than a few seconds. The Japanese network showed every single downhill run, even the guy from Argentina who went 35th and finished in 35th place in the standings. When I watch NBC's coverage, the only runs they show are the top 10 and they usually won't even display the full standings at the end of their coverage.