NBC Fail: Olympics Opening Ceremony Segment Honoring Terror Victims Cut from Broadcast

NBC is having a fail-filled year covering the Olympics. It's not that the network is new to covering the games; it has been the Olympics network for years. What have changed, though, are the times.

The network came under fire even before the games started, for failing to provide a live stream for viewers to enjoy while the Opening Ceremony was happening in London. Instead, NBC blocked all streaming content of the ceremony (the BBC had one available, but it was not offered to U.S. viewers) and played the ceremony on tape delay in primetime on Friday.

As if that wasn't enough, it seems that NBC didn't even provide the full ceremony for U.S. viewers, even on that tape delay so many hours later. There was a segment that was performed right before the parade of nations that NBC decided we didn't need to see.

It was a dance piece, rather quiet and contemplative compared to the rest of the ceremony, designed to honor and remember the victims of the 7/7 terrorist attack in London. NBC decided to omit the piece, saying that it wasn't of interest to American audiences. Instead, the network aired an awkwardly placed interview with Michael Phelps before covering the parade of nations.

Sadly, it doesn't look like NBC will be paying for its negligence of its audience: this year's Opening Ceremony was the most-watched non-U.S. ceremony in TV history, beating even Beijing's strong numbers.

Watch the omitted piece below: