NBC has been roundly criticized for its insistence on airing most Olympics events on tape delay, and its refusal to broadcast events live backfired on Monday night.

The network was about to air the women’s 100m backstroke that took place earlier in the day in London, but a “TODAY” show promo (seen above) spoiled the outcome of the event for unwitting viewers.

The promo aired during a commercial break before NBC aired the race won by Missy Franklin.

“When you’re 17 years old and win your first gold medal, there’s nobody you’d rather share it with. We’re there when Missy Franklin and her parents reunite … a ‘TODAY’ exclusive … live, tomorrow,” the promo says.

Between the chatter on social media networks as well as other news outlets, NBC is making it difficult enough to avoid learning the outcome of events. They just proved how impractical it is to tape delay things. Maybe this will be the wake-up call it needs to make a change for the future, though based on the strong ratings the network is posting, it may not be inclined to change. At least NBC won’t be able to censor its critics on this one like it has in the past.

For the record, this is the second big “TODAY” show-related blunder in recent weeks.

H/T Deadspin, video via Guyism

Note: This post also appeared on Yardbarker’s Olympics blog Medal Detector

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