NBC recently announced Web coverage plans for the Beijing Olympics show that the games will finally join the online video revolution. The network is expected to make 3,000 hours available on demand, according to the Associated Press. However, there’s a catch: any event that will be televised by NBC or its sister networks will not be available online until after the broadcast. This time delay can and will last hours, long after the event has been written about on various news Web sites. Clearly, NBC is having the Web take a back seat to conventional media in this respect.
Understandably, NBC wants to see its return-on-investment on the reported $3.5 billion it paid the International Olympic Committee to earn the U.S. broadcast rights for five Olympic Games, including Beijing. What NBC fails to realize, however, is that it will reach a broader audience by placing all content online as soon as possible.
Television ratings for the Olympics have been declining in recent years. The 2006 winter games in Torino had the for the winter games since 1988. Many attribute this to the time difference between Italy and the U.S., among other factors. China has an even larger time difference, and if NBC wants to supplement their declining ratings (and subsequent ad revenue), they need to change their minds about this embargo.
More and more people are shunning televisions all together and watching their favorite shows (time shifted, of course) on the networks’ Web sites or on a so-called “legal” video site like Hulu. In terms of the Olympics, the most popular events are chosen for broadcast on NBC, such as track and field and gymnastics. NBC needs a way to bring more viewers to these (relatively speaking) cash cow events, and the Web is the answer.
With Beijing being 12 hours ahead of the east coast, I encourage everyone to find the video they seek on Web sites from countries closer to China, like Australia. YouTube might also be good place to find that highlight of the latest world record being broken.
The Olympics are all about unity, and this Web video embargo counters that message. Americans deserve to see what they want, when they want. This is, after all, 2008. NBC needs to get with the times and put its viewers ahead of its financial priorities. The Web audience needs to be treated the same way as the conventional television audience.
Monday, July 7, 2008
A Look at NBC's Olympic Web Video Plans
-Ethan Klapper, Contributing Writer
http://www.theeagleonline.com>The Eagle American University, Washington, D.C.
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WHAT UP?! Media": NBC's Plan For the Olympics
Lot's of people are getting excited for the planned 3600 hours of Olympic coverage on the multiple networks and platforms of NBC Universal. The following article will tell you what all the hype is about:
http://www.nbcolympics.com/newscenter/news/newsid=148556.html#nbcs+complete+olympics
And all of what NBC said in that article is true and surely a positive for all Olympic fans across the country. But beware, it turns out that NBC's Olympic plan can be too good to be true. This are the flaws that I have heard from other blogs and articles:
* Sure, NBCOlympics.com will stream 2200 hours of coverage. But none of that live coverage will be of the marquee events like gymnastics and track and field. In an AP Report from last week, the Web will still be taking a backseat to TV.
READ MORE AT MY BLOG:
http://nowsportsamerica.blogspot.com/
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