The surest bet during any Olympics is not that Usain Bolt will win the 100 meters; it is that NBC will be trashed, loudly, in many quarters, for the quality of its coverage.
If there is a silver lining for writers and editors at Gawker Media's flagship site, which will cease operations next week, it's that, for now, they still have jobs.
The Rio Olympics, and NBC's coverage of them, have been neither the utter disaster that many feared, nor completely flawless. But until conditions force the network to reconsider its formula, there's little incentive to change its routine.
The Viacom board is close to approving a settlement that will change the face of the company: Philippe Dauman, CEO for the past 10 years, will step down next month,
NBC is still bringing in big ratings for its coverage of the Rio Olympics, but the network appears to have hit its lowest viewership of the games so far Wednesday night.