Where The Gender Differences Really Reside: The "Big Five'' Sports Featured In Nbc'S 2012 London Primetime Olympic Broadcast

This study analyzed all 69 hours of NBC's primetime coverage of the 2012 London Summer Olympics to determine which sports were most likely to contain divergences in dialogue by gender of athlete. Coding over 14,000 descriptors, 23 significant differences were detected: 11 attributions of athletic success and failure and 12 depictions of personality and physicality. Swimming was found to have the most dialogue differences (seven), while beach volleyball only contained one. Ramifications and implications for the study of gender in sports media are offered.