All Olympics live online
NBC has made official what it has hinted at all along: It will carry all of the 2012 London Olympics, largely by using the world TV feed, online live. Where broadcasters used to fear online action would cannibalize their TV ratings — as recently as the 2010 Winter Games, NBC streamed only curling and hockey online — this move represents networks’ increasing acceptance that viewers usually will seek the best available screen, watching their bigscreen TVS and other devices when they can’t.
That has been proved with the NCAA college men’s basketball tournament. And like the NCAA games online, the NBC Olympic coverage will require users to “authenticate” themselves as cable/satellite TV users, which is meant to protect cable/satellite providers from viewers getting access to Olympic coverage without them.
NBC’S game plan always has been to package the biggest rating draws for taped primetime TV. (NBC doesn’t have much choice anyway, given U.S. prime time comes after midnight in London.)
And online viewers shouldn’t expect the usual Olympic TV packaging. NBC’S online coverage, which will not include any costs to consumers, will rely heavily on the world TV feed — which captures every second of Olympic action — meaning some NBC online action will be presented without announcers or graphics.
— Michael Hiestand