This was supposed to be an easy column — a screed against the GE-addled execs at NBC who are now demanding a share of their affiliates' retransmission consent revenue.

Gray Television President Bob Prather kind of got me worked up, calling NBC "arrogant" and its money demands "unbelievable" in light of its lousy primetime performance of late.

But then I got to watching the Olympics on NBC, a lot of it, something I really hadn't planned to do.

What a spectacle it has been. At the gorgeous opening ceremony, the Chinese somehow managed elegance and grace on a massive scale, signaling to all that this was, indeed, a very special event.

I am not the only one watching. Viewership is up sharply from Athens in 2004.The first four nights in Beijing averaged 30.4 million viewers with a 17.1 rating/30 share, a 16 percent increase over the first four nights from Athens.

From the start, NBC has been blessed with great stories to tell.

Last night, I was up past 1 a.m. to watch, Nastia Liuken and Shawn Johnson accept the gold and silver in all-around gymnastics after an emotionally draining competition. Is there any other sport that demands such continual perfection? Tiger can hit one out of bounds and still go on to win the tournament.

When kids say, I wanna be like Mike, they no longer mean Jordan. Phelps will be going his seventh and eighth gold medals this weekend. In hindsight, his success seems preordained. But, of course, it wasn't. Remember Bode Miller?

The Redeem Team led by the NBA's two biggest stars — Kobe Bryant and LeBron James — is playing with heart equal to its extraordinary skill. And it has rediscovered that defense is part of the game.

The ratings are all the more impressive given that NBC has had to overcome its own fourth-place ranking among the broadcast networks to promote the games. Four years ago, it could seduce viewers in the lead-up to the games as the No. 1 network.

So, the games serve as a forceful reminder that NBC does deliver a product of enormous value to its affiliates — not just one every two years, but every day, from Today to Tonight.

It does give one pause.

Yet, I'm still not buying the idea of reverse compensation. The NBC affiliates shouldn't either.

Even today, deep into the Internet Age, broadcasting remains the only way to deliver programming to every TV set within every home.

(This may be less true after Feb. 17, 2009, when a lot of OTA viewers may finally throw their hands up and subscribe to cable or satellite. Or, it could be more true, after viewers discover the pretty pictures and ancillary service of digital broadcast TV.)

NBC needs its lineup of affiliates — and the ubiquity that comes with it — to maximize the revenue from each of those Nielsen rating points.

And affiliates supply more than homes. Out of their own self-interest, they promote the NBC brand and individual shows as much as they can in 210 TV markets day after day and day. That's something that no cable network or Internet Web site can do.

For the Olympics, many NBC outlets are airing special programming in access and seeking every possible local angle for the evening news. No hometown hero escapes.

And despite tough economic times, some have even sent reporters to the games.

Thanks in part to its affiliates, NBC will make a substantial profit on the Beijing Olympics. Although it paid nearly $900 million for the rights to the Beijing games, advertising sales have soared past $1 billion. Everybody wants to be part of the Michael Phelps Show, it now seems.

There should not be any need for me to run on about the network-affiliate partnership. In NBC's case, it has been a winning combination since 1926.

Rather than putting the squeeze on its affiliates, NBC should be working with them to assure that each and every one has the resources they need to remain (or become) a dominant local presence, not only in broadcasting, but also on the Web and in mobile.

In his interview with me, Prather tacitly acknowledged he cannot live without NBC, which account for nearly half of Gray Television's revenue. That's not a strong negotiating position.

But, the truth is, NBC as we know it today, cannot live without its affiliates. It cannot allow its broadcast distribution base to begin eroding. It cannot lose its universal reach.

And imagine what Washington will say if every citizen doesn't have the chance to watch the opening ceremonies of the 2012 Olympics in London because General Electric got a little greedy.

Most affiliates don't have enough household coverage to stand up to NBC and its demands so NBC may be able to pick them off, one at a time as affiliate agreements come up for renewal.

The affiliates cannot let that happen. Every NBC affiliate should announce its opposition to reverse compensation just as Prather has done and publicly refuse to pay.

The more open the process, the tougher it will be for NBC.

Well, this column wasn't so hard after all.

Harry A. Jessell is editor of TVNewsday. Send your comments to him at hajessell@tvnewsday.com.