Most people thought that both RTE's and the BBC's coverage of the Olympic Games was strong. RTE, particularly, provided informative panellists to boost their coverage of swimming, boxing, athletics and track and field etc. Both organisations covered the best of the action live and threw a lot of resources into the effort.

BBC rightfully won the IOC's prestigious golden ring award for its coverage, with the silver ring going to American network NBC, who also won first place in the feature section. Strange decision that one. NBC decided only to show highlights of the Sydney extravaganza with a 16-hour delay in transmission. It was a ratings disaster in the US and was considered one of the biggest and most expensive blunders in the history of television sport. Heads are already said to be rolling.

Surely the fact that NBC bankrolls the IOC to the tune of billions of dollars had little to do with the decision making process.