5 ms·

I dunno, I found video of Usain Bolt's 2016 100m in less than a minute of looking around on nbcolympics.com. Though I'd have to imagine that that content is geo

by bdhess 10y ago

I dunno, I found video of Usain Bolt's 2016 100m in less than a minute of looking around on nbcolympics.com. Though I'd have to imagine that that content is geofiltered, since AFAIK NBC only has streaming rights within the US. NBC paid the IOC something absurd like $12B for exclusive US media rights for the games through 2032. Territorial broadcast rights agreements are a huge source of funding for the IOC. It's hard to imagine how they'd maintain these revenue streams if they abandoned the exclusivity aspect of their media agreements, which likely implies that the games would suffer in some way.

0xdeadbeefbabe 10y ago
If NBC were hosting a fireworks show they'd make the people that didn't pay stay indoors. Edit: Perhaps the strategy isn't effective, that's all.
Retric 10y ago
I completely skipped watching the Olympics in large part because of NBC which is terrible. So, I have some doubt that 12B is optimal for the IOC and it clearly sucks for the rest of US.
- xur17 10y ago
  I did the same. I tried to find a live stream online, and failed. Everything I tried wanted me to login with cable credentials. Ended up watching it on my broadcast TV for about 10 minutes before giving up, and didn't watch anymore.
  - js2 10y ago
    Too late now, but you could have purchased a Playstation Vue subscription for one month ($30, one week free trial) which would have given you full access to the NBC Sports app and nbcolympics.com. You can sign up on the web and don't need a Playstation. That's what I did since I don't have a TV subscription and it worked well. The NBC iOS and tvOS app was pretty awful in forcing ads, but the Roku app let you skip mostly skip through them, which is how I did most of my watching.
    - dv_dt 10y ago
      I wish I knew that before, tried a Sling Tv sub, and that didn't give one access to nbcolympics streaming content. I kept it for the (poor) live NBC streaming of the Olympics, but cancelled it after. Having to watch shows at a fixed time is crazy in the modern age. I watched much fewer sports and the advertisers probably lost out on quite a bit of exposure too.
      - rhizome 10y ago
        I wish I knew that before Which is directly due to NBC being the exclusive licensee for Olympic IP in the US, so the Vue could not advertise itself in terms of providing Olympic coverage. You could have come across one of the many articles and howtos for watching the games without cable, but it never would have been advertised to you.
- dexterdog 10y ago
  I watched more this year than ever because of the NBC app on Roku. I could watch any sport live or streamed later. No need to watch the Costas garbage.
- aschampion 10y ago
  Watching via the BBC is a completely different experience: complete on-demand archives almost every event, time bookmarks for groups/bouts/matches, no annoying commentators unless the event was also being broadcast on a channel, no missing most of the event because we need to watch a manufactured interest piece on the US athlete, and you can go 30 seconds without hearing the name Phelps. Watching NBC's broadcast, in contrast, made it seem like NBC had no belief that any of the events were interesting in and of themselves.
  - maxxxxx 10y ago
    I hate those sappy interest pieces! Just show me the event. You are right. They seem to think that the event is not interesting.
    - mikekchar 10y ago
      I have historically avoided watching the Olympics because I like to watch sports, not drama ;-). Having said that, NHK in Japan did a pretty good job, I have to say. I watched the entirety of the women's rugby 7's semis and finals. Great sports that I wouldn't ordinarily get to watch, and no Japanese participation at all.
mrb 10y ago
"I found video of Usain Bolt's 2016 100m in less than a minute of looking around on nbcolympics.com" The GP wanted to find "Bolt's 100m heat" which is a different event from the final (athletic heats take place before semifinals). His point was that it is very hard (in the US) to find footage of Olympic events of secondary importance.

by bdhess 10y ago

0xdeadbeefbabe 10y ago

If NBC were hosting a fireworks show they'd make the people that didn't pay stay indoors. Edit: Perhaps the strategy isn't effective, that's all.

Retric 10y ago

I completely skipped watching the Olympics in large part because of NBC which is terrible. So, I have some doubt that 12B is optimal for the IOC and it clearly sucks for the rest of US.

xur17 10y ago
I did the same. I tried to find a live stream online, and failed. Everything I tried wanted me to login with cable credentials. Ended up watching it on my broadcast TV for about 10 minutes before giving up, and didn't watch anymore.
- js2 10y ago
  Too late now, but you could have purchased a Playstation Vue subscription for one month ($30, one week free trial) which would have given you full access to the NBC Sports app and nbcolympics.com. You can sign up on the web and don't need a Playstation. That's what I did since I don't have a TV subscription and it worked well. The NBC iOS and tvOS app was pretty awful in forcing ads, but the Roku app let you skip mostly skip through them, which is how I did most of my watching.
  - dv_dt 10y ago
    I wish I knew that before, tried a Sling Tv sub, and that didn't give one access to nbcolympics streaming content. I kept it for the (poor) live NBC streaming of the Olympics, but cancelled it after. Having to watch shows at a fixed time is crazy in the modern age. I watched much fewer sports and the advertisers probably lost out on quite a bit of exposure too.
    - rhizome 10y ago
      I wish I knew that before Which is directly due to NBC being the exclusive licensee for Olympic IP in the US, so the Vue could not advertise itself in terms of providing Olympic coverage. You could have come across one of the many articles and howtos for watching the games without cable, but it never would have been advertised to you.
dexterdog 10y ago
I watched more this year than ever because of the NBC app on Roku. I could watch any sport live or streamed later. No need to watch the Costas garbage.
aschampion 10y ago
Watching via the BBC is a completely different experience: complete on-demand archives almost every event, time bookmarks for groups/bouts/matches, no annoying commentators unless the event was also being broadcast on a channel, no missing most of the event because we need to watch a manufactured interest piece on the US athlete, and you can go 30 seconds without hearing the name Phelps. Watching NBC's broadcast, in contrast, made it seem like NBC had no belief that any of the events were interesting in and of themselves.
- maxxxxx 10y ago
  I hate those sappy interest pieces! Just show me the event. You are right. They seem to think that the event is not interesting.
  - mikekchar 10y ago
    I have historically avoided watching the Olympics because I like to watch sports, not drama ;-). Having said that, NHK in Japan did a pretty good job, I have to say. I watched the entirety of the women's rugby 7's semis and finals. Great sports that I wouldn't ordinarily get to watch, and no Japanese participation at all.

mrb 10y ago

"I found video of Usain Bolt's 2016 100m in less than a minute of looking around on nbcolympics.com" The GP wanted to find "Bolt's 100m heat" which is a different event from the final (athletic heats take place before semifinals). His point was that it is very hard (in the US) to find footage of Olympic events of secondary importance.