A study was conducted to describe the extent and dimensions of televised messages about nation, culture, and the Olympics, comparing them across three broadcast systems in Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The study was based on complete opening ceremony telecasts by NBC in America, Australia's Network TEN, and the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). Data were gathered on important audio and visual dimensions of the broadcasts. The three major components of the ceremony as planned by the event organizers were: (1) the obligatory Olympic rituals and gestures as defined by the Olympic Charter; (2) the entry/exit of the athletes; and (3) cultural performances including music, dance and demonstrations. Findings indicated that all of the opening ceremony telecasts conveyed an emphasis on both nation and Olympic-style internationalism. A second general finding was that the three broadcast systems offered viewers different constructions of the Seoul opening ceremony. Results also indicated that, despite varied constructions and interpretations of the ceremony, South Korea's overall image portrayal across three opening ceremony telecasts was positive. The empirical evidence presented provides strong confirmation that television constructs the Olympic spectacle into multiple realities and that it does so with profound implications for images of nation, culture and the Olympic movement. (Four figures and four tables of data are included. One appendix, showing the "story units" of the opening telecast, and 39 references are attached.) (MG)