NBC draws ire for not streaming Olympics ceremony

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP-Excite

By DAVID BAUDER

NEW YORK (AP) - A look at media coverage of the Summer Olympics:

Even before NBC signed on for its coverage of the Summer Olympics in London on Friday, it drew a storm online for its decision not to stream the opening ceremony digitally. Despite the grumbling, it's a decision that may pay off for the network.

NBC Universal has promised to stream live online every athletic competition in the Summer Games for the first time. But the opening and closing ceremonies were always planned to be shown on tape delay, a network spokesman said. Coverage began shortly before 8 p.m. on the East Coast, about the same time that spectators in London - which is five hours ahead of New York time - were filing out of Olympic Stadium.

NBC Sports spokesman Christopher McCloskey said the ceremonies "are complex entertainment spectacles that do not translate well online because they require context, which our award-winning production team will provide for the large prime-time audiences that gather together to watch them."

FULL story at link.


Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20120728/DA09LR2G0.html

---

A spectator waves a flag of Great Britain as pyrotechnics light up the sky over the Olympic Stadium during the Opening Ceremony at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Friday, July 27, 2012, in London. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

[alp227]

1. (1) NBC as a TV network has a vested interest in TV ratings,

thus streaming an event that's shown on tape delay in primetime would defeat the purpose of the broadcast. Imagine if "Saturday Night Live" were shown on a live web stream for West Coasters who didn't want to stay up late?

(2) What about those who can't stream media at work?

[TDale313]

2. Then maybe streaming needs to count towards ratings...

But not offering some platform for Americans to watch an event like this live is kind of ridiculous in this day and age. And if they're not going to, please don't insult our intelligence by pretending it has anything to do with concerns that without their amazing commentary we just wouldn't get it, or that that couldn't be done live.

Sorry, just found it kinda irritating. I do very much appreciate that they're allowing all the actual events to be streamed.

[LittleGirl]

3. agree, streaming is the wave of the future

and I too was disappointed that I couldn't watch it live. Not only did they not show the whole ceremony, they interrupted with commercials what I was truly enjoying.

[Evasporque]

5. Noooo.....that would diminish the giant teat's power...nt

[d_r]

4. why I hate nbc sports

"NBC Sports spokesman Christopher McCloskey said the ceremonies "are complex entertainment spectacles that do not translate well online because they require context, which our award-winning production team will provide for the large prime-time audiences that gather together to watch them." "

-----------------
Yes, we simpletons need matt lauer and bob costos to blather on and explain everything to us

[primavera]

15. Hear, hear

I get so sick of having to listen to the banal babbling of these useless commentators, I end up having to mute the TV so as to not be constantly distracted by their gibberish.

[tanyev]

6. I kept having to mute it because of the inane babbling of Meredith, Matt and Bob.

I'd watch it again if I could see it without that.

[sofa king]

13. It reminded me of Bateman and Cole

In the film Dodgeball:

At any point I expected Lauer to blurt, "come on, is that really a country?"

[BumRushDaShow]

7. "spectacles that do not translate well online because they require context"

I don't need their bullshit babbling on and on, littered with nonsensical political comments and annoying spin, with occasional grenades thrown in for "good measure", while I struggle to get past their inane paternalistic banter when watching an event unfolding before my eyes. I will watch and interpret what I see myself.

NBC - we are LONG past the "pen pal" era of discourse with the UK.

[bulloney]

9. During the opening ceremonies, Costas had to get some little political digs in to some countries.

The one on North Korea comes to mind when Costas said their late dictator Kim is perhaps their greatest athlete because of his claims of recording multiple holes-in-one in a single golf game.

[msanthrope]

16. The day I need Lauer, Viera or Costas to translate an event for me is the day I fucking shoot myself

[smirkymonkey]

24. LOL!

[FrodosPet]

8. Contact Information for NBC Sports

http://www.nbcumv.com/mediavillage/sports/nbcsports/contacts

Chris McCloskey
Vice President, Communications
NBC Sports Group
[phone]
Project Assignment: "National Hockey League" , "Notre Dame Football" , "PGA Tour" , "Ryder Cup" , "Senior PGA Championship" , "Costas Tonight " , "U.S. Open & USGA Championships" , "Football Night in America" , "2012 London Olympics"

[e-mail]

[Big Orange Jeff]

11. My email...

Mr. McCloskey,
I just read your explanation for why NBC Sports chose not to steam the opening and closing ceremonies. I believe the direct quote is that the ceremonies "are complex entertainment spectacles that do not translate well online because they require context, which our award-winning production team will provide for the large prime-time audiences that gather together to watch them."

Do you actually believe that? If that were the case, and you needed time to edit and add the context, then why are the ceremonies aired live when the Olympics are in a more broadcast-friendly time zone? And why are the tickets to the ceremonies - where the context is missing - the most sought-after? I've always felt that the often inane palaver that accompanies the ceremonies is superfluous and distracting, and I believe most people agree with me.

Let's assume that your explanation is accurate, and that the average American needs the constant explanations. What about those of us who do not? Why not just simulcast the ceremonies, either online or on one of the several channels dedicated to the Olympic broadcast? Give us the choice, so that those that need context can get it, and those who don't need it can avoid it.

Thank you for your commitment to stream all of the events live. I'm really excited at the prospect of programming my own Olympic experience, rather than being stuck with whatever a few network executives feel I need to watch. Having said that, I'm really disappointed in how the ceremonies are being handled. I'd have much more respect for you and your company if you had just been honest and said that you were trying to drive viewers to the official broadcast in order to enhance your ratings. That's much better than implying that we American viewers are simpletons without the capacity to comprehend artistic expression.

Yours truly, yada yada yada...

[FrodosPet]

19. I like that

I doubt if he will.

I think 30 Rock portrays NBC executives too kindly.

[dkhbrit]

10. It gets worse

There was a moving tribute to the victims of the terrorist attacks in London on 7/7 - the same week that London learned it had got the games.

NBC chose not to show this. They ran an interview with Michael Phelps instead.

It really painted the U.S. as a country that basically doesn't give a shit about anyone else at all. This isnt true of course, but its how alot of people must be thinking.

Dreadful, dreadful coverage.

[arely staircase]

12. yeah i need yammering meat puppets to provide context

I couldn't possibly enjoy and.appreciate something without Matt lour explaining it to me in real time.

[starroute]

14. And they apparently didn't bother to explain who Isambard Kingdom Brunel was

Leaving some Americans scratching their heads.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isambard_Kingdom_Brunel

Isambard Kingdom Brunel, FRS (/ˈɪzəmbɑrd bruːˈnɛl/; 9 April 1806 – 15 September 1859), was an English mechanical and civil engineer who built bridges and dockyards, the Great Western Railway, a series of steamships including the first propeller-driven transatlantic steamship and numerous important bridges and tunnels. His designs revolutionised public transport and modern engineering.

Though Brunel's projects were not always successful, they often contained innovative solutions to long-standing engineering problems. During his short career, Brunel achieved many engineering "firsts", including assisting in the building of the first tunnel under a navigable river and development of SS Great Britain, the first propeller-driven ocean-going iron ship, which was at the time (1843) also the largest ship ever built. ...

At the 2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, Brunel was portrayed by Sir Kenneth Branagh in a segment showing the industrial revolution.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

17. I wanted to see the tribute to the NHS.

And what Kenneth Branagh said.

The copper bars in two rows that rose and made up the cauldron after it was lit were spectacular. I'm trying to figure out how they did it.

[knitter4democracy]

18. Yup. Best cauldron ever.

Each country got a petal engraved with the name of the country and all the names of the teammates. Those were somehow attached to the pipes, lit, and then raised into a shape that looks like one cauldron. Freakin' brilliant and beautiful at the same time.

[juajen]

20. I so agree. It was just stunning. Everything was so well done and gorgeous.

[CBHagman]

21. I've been looking for that online.

I got home and switched on NBC just at the time for J.K. Rowling and the tribute to the baddies of child-oriented British literature, so I missed everything up to that point. I was able to find a BBC video of Daniel Craig, Queen Elizabeth II, and the corgis on YouTube, but so far I can't find the whole opening ceremony.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

22. Another thing about those idiotic greedheads at NBC

You can stream events live or delayed---but ONLY if you're a *digital* cable or satellite subscriber. I have a basic-basic analogue subscription, but only because that plus Internet costs less than Internet alone.

Hello, there's a REASON I dropped digital cable: 150 channels of increasingly crappier crap. If you want subscribers, start producing better programming (no more watching-paint-dry reality shows) and stop insulting your viewers' intelligence.

[bhikkhu]

23. I had thought of signing up for cable just to watch this olympics

...as we haven't had TV for years. But so far the coverage is better online, it looks like.

[may3rd]

25. London 2012 Olympics: Empty seats on the opening day prompts investigation

lost of empty seats?
Everybody in town must be working security or something



http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/olympics/london-2012/9434744/London-2012-Olympics-Empty-seats-on-the-opening-day-prompts-investigation.html


I

[Big Orange Jeff]

26. Or the ticket price ($400+) kept people away...

Remember 15 years ago, or so, when rain forced them to play on the third weekend of Wimbledon? Since they usually don't play on that weekend, the insanely overpriced tickets didn't go to the sponsors, corporations, and wealthy patrons. So they sold normal priced tickets - first come, first served. The energy and enthusiasm was off the charts, with the fans doing 'The Wave' for ten or fifteen minutes at a time.

It seems they would do the same thing for events that don't sell out. Even if they were forced to donate them to the underprivileged, it would create an amazing atmosphere.

[Renew Deal]

28. I've heard that tickets aren't available even if you have money to pay

At least that's what people in the UK have told me. I went to the Olympics in 2004. Lots of events were sold out and we still got tickets on the street.

[may3rd]

31. I've heard the tix were all purchased by "corporate interests"... well... they should have acted

they should have acted like hip capitalists portrayed in the opening ceremony

and SCALPED the TIX
I would have

[Renew Deal]

27. You can't have an opening ceremony without Bob Costas!

[Odin2005]

29. Giant corporate dinosaurs always use their power to preserve the old.

Crap like this is proof that Capitalism is inherently monopolistic and anti-innovation, only the regulatory power of a state can preserve a genuine free market and the innovation it creates.

[obamanut2012]

30. I streamed the BBC

until it came on here, then watched it with my family on NBC. The BBC's coverage was so much better.

[SanJuannabe]

32. It's our fault

NBC feels entitled to get away with not streaming to you unless you are a subscriber since we've amply demonstrated our willingness to pay for everything. Americans pay hundreds for cell phones that give them the privelidge of paying for outrageous "data" plans and paying for downloads that give us software which enables us to pay for updates and subscriptions. They pay for the privelidge to hook up cable so that they can pay monthly to watch commercials, and on and on. Who is speaking out on this insanity? Who is standing up for rural Americans that can't get broadcast NBC? I don't want to be provided for by the government. I want Americans to wise the hell up, stop being so money foolish and start protecting those who can't pay for every damn thing by refusing to be one of the lemmings who does pay for every damn thing.

[maryellen99]

33. Thank god for this:

For all those that live near the Canadian border, CBC is getting the Olympics back in 2014 and 2016. No more NBC for me.