Majority Of Americans Want NBC To Air Olympics Live: Gallup

The majority of Americans want to see changes in NBC's coverage of the Olympics, according to a new poll by Gallup.

The survey, which polled over 1,000 adults, showed that most Americans want NBC to air the Olympics live and again on tape delay in prime time.

A vast majority of those who report watching the Olympics "a lot" prefer that approach (71%). Even those who are watching "a little" and "none" of the games prefer both live broadcasts and tape delayed coverage (57% and 43% respectively).

The results should come as no surprise. NBC has come under fire for airing the Olympics on tape delay, and for numerous editing decisions. The network was hit for cutting out a tribute to the victims of the 7/7 terrorist attacks from its broadcast of the opening ceremony, spoiling Missy Franklin's gold win and missing another huge moment. The heavy barrage of criticism has even produced the Twitter hashtag #NBCfail.

Still, NBC has defended televising the Olympics on tape delay, citing research that shows people who know the results ahead of time are even more likely to watch the events. The 2012 games have done very well for the network, bringing in huge ratings and the most advertising sales ever for an Olympics.