NBCOlympics’ Opening Ceremony Tape Delay: Stupid, Stupid, Stupid

http://techcrunch.com/2012/07/27/nbc-olympic-opening-ceremony/

by rythie • 14 years ago

120 86 14 years ago

hardtke2• 14 years ago

I just watched the pirated BBC broadcast. I felt like something was missing, and then I figured it out. The stupid thing is that Americans are forced to watch the Olympics with 20 minutes of commercials per hour, while the rest of the world gets to watch it nearly commercial free. Why does the US citizen pay for the entire Olympics through the annoyance of commercials?

balac• 14 years ago

The BBC is not free, in the UK everyone with a TV has to pay a yearly fee for it, you get ads because you don't pay the fee.

gibybo• 14 years ago

How much is the fee? I suspect if given the choice between fee or commercials, many would choose the fee. Sadly that choice doesn't exist here (in the US) :/

hardtke2• 14 years ago

Presumably the BBC outbid other British channels in a competitive bidding process. I suspect that broadcasters in the rest of the world know that 20 minutes of commercials per hour is unacceptable, so they don't bid as much as our networks. EDIT: The only source I could find indicates that the BBC paid about $100 million for broadcast rights to these games. That's 1/10th of what NBC paid, or about 1/2 of the American fees on a per capita basis.

ralfn• 14 years ago

I was under the impression US networks are anything but free? I mean, guys like Viacom pay our cable companies for potential access to our eyeballs here in Holland. I heard they actually get paid by cable companies in the US. For jersey shore .. with adds. Way too many adds.

Now, i dont know how much money ads bring to the table, but they could double my cable bill, (from 10 to 20 euros), if it would all be ad free.

covercash• 14 years ago

I don't even mind the commercials, it's the awful commentators that ruin this for me. They should have done a simulcast on MSNBC without the idiotic comments.

w1ntermute3• 14 years ago

> The stupid thing is that Americans are forced to watch the Olympics with 20 minutes of commercials per hour, while the rest of the world gets to watch it nearly commercial free.

We complain about commercials here on HN, but you would be surprised to learn there are many people that actually enjoy watching commercials. For example, when I was at my parents' house a few months back, I watched something on TV with my mom. I instinctively muted the TV when commercials came on, but she told me to actually turn them back on. I asked why, and she said enjoyed watching the ads.

vacri• 14 years ago

I can't stand people that routinely mute ads because that in itself is an interruption. Even worse is a friend of mine that shouts violently for the ads to fuck off every time he mutes them.

The problem for me is that with muted ads, you have to visually monitor the TV to find out when to unmute. I find it much easier to just use my mental ad-filter, though I'll happily grant an exception if the station is doing the stupid loud-volume ad trick.

robomartin5• 14 years ago

Commercials are not a problem at all with a DVR. You'd be surprised how good you get at skipping them. If you have kids you hand them the remote control and it happens "automatically".

mtkd• 14 years ago

Another article referencing 'Sir Tim Berners-Lee, founder of the Internet' - expect better from Techcrunch.

Internet != World Wide Web

nekojima• 14 years ago

CTV coverage in Canada titled him on-screen as the "Founder of the World Wide Web" then the commentator called him the Father of the Internet... so half marks, if possible.

da_n• 14 years ago

I am a citizen of Team GB and feel your pain. NBC are idiots.

reaganing• 14 years ago

Tennis fans regularly suffer this same nonsense from NBC every year with the French Open and Wimbledon[^1]. I can't see them changing anytime soon.

Relatedly, their whole cable TV package requirements for online streaming is also very annoying. It requires having a package with both CNBC and MSNBC to get access. I still actually have a cable TV package, but my provider does not offer MSNBC on any of their packages so I'm out of luck.

Thankfully, there's the Yankees/Red Sox this weekend so I'll watch that instead.

[^1]: Thankfully ESPN bought the rights to Wimbledon starting this year. Maybe they (or parent, Disney) could do the same with the Olympics once the rights are up for grabs again.

robomartin5• 14 years ago

Well, companies such as Google need to start buying broadcast rights and put it all on the 'net. I am sure they can make far more money online than NBC ever pulls out of their advertisers. For one thing, these days lots of people DVR shows not just for convenience but to skip the commercials. I sure do. I'd rather watch something 30 to 45 minutes after the fact than have to endure the obtrusive commercials.

eurleif2• 14 years ago

If Google put the Olympics online with its own commercials (I assume that's how they would monetize it?), why would you stop watching your commercial-free DVR recording in favor of Google's broadcast?

robomartin5• 14 years ago

Far more convenient. Better quality. I get to watch what I want vs. egocentric American coverage. I get to watch it on my schedule. I get to watch it on different devices. I can even watch it on the road or while camping. I'd probably even get to watch it in different languages (granted, not so applicable to the London event) The ads might even be relevant.

And, in general, I prefer to support 'net-based entertainment vs. broadcast because, well, they suck.

There are probably more reasons beyond these.

acdha• 14 years ago

I would pay Google for access or watch ads if they had YouTube-quality video and ads before / after but not during the content.

packetslave• 14 years ago

NBC paid $1.1 billion just for the US broadcast RIGHTS, nevermind all of the other production costs. That would be a pretty big gamble for Google to take, to assume they could generate enough revenue through online advertising to make a profit.

cypherpunks01• 14 years ago

Does anyone know what ended up happening to BitTorrent Live (live.bittorrent.com)?

Creating a swarm of video streamers would've been a good technology fit for filling this role, from what I read about the protocol awhile back.

agravier• 14 years ago

I use SopCast for that, it works well. There is an android client that works very well for me.

mattvot2• 14 years ago

See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OR6OZ_x7QqM for the first hour and 20 from the BBC broadcast.

mattvot2• 14 years ago

never mind, Olympic Committee, UMG and EMI have taking it down a few seconds after I posted this.

josephlord4• 14 years ago

Having watched the first half live on the BBC in the UK it wasn't as embarrassing as I feared. The 3D version was pretty good, it worked better than many things.

Is NBC offering the 3D version in the US?

tzs• 14 years ago

NBC is providing live streaming on the web and via iOS and Android apps of every event, for free to people who have a cable, satellite, or telco TV package that includes CNBC and MSNBC. They are also providing on-demand access so you don't have to watch live.

For many people, they won't even have to log in to access this, as they have worked with some providers to automatically recognize IP addresses as belong to people whose accounts qualify.

So they didn't include the opening ceremony. It seems pretty nit-picky to focus on that and ignore the massive effort they've done to provide the live coverage of everything else.

photon137• 14 years ago

It's not being nit-picky - the opening ceremony is quite a massive bit of any Olympics. As one of the Athens 2004 organizers said, a 400m race in Sydney, Beijing, Greece or Atlanta would look exactly the same - it's the opening ceremony that sets the the theme.

And the BBC has done all of the above plus the opening ceremony. NBC's "massive" effort isn't for charity - people are paying money for it - they'd better deliver the goods.

btilly3• 14 years ago

NBC is providing live streaming on the web and via iOS and Android apps of every event, for free to people who have a cable, satellite, or telco TV package that includes CNBC and MSNBC.

    s/for free/only/

I tried to find an option for people who do not choose to have TV. I failed.

mynameishere• 14 years ago

In 2008 anyone with an internet connection could watch any event and replay any event. And that was without the obnoxious commentary that accompanies most TV broadcasts. I really enjoyed some of the longer events like the bike road races for their silent, almost Zen qualities. Won't happen this time.

Now, I have to use a UK proxy to see it, and it's got the usual idiots yammering over the action.

hackinthebochs• 14 years ago

Oh yes, that was godly. It seriously should be the standard for any big sporting event. It's sad to see that NBC has regressed so badly from the standard set in 08.

Zaheer• 14 years ago

Who's ready for Google Fiber? :)

ComputerGuru3• 14 years ago

My problem isn't just the delay, it's the fact that they were pretending the rest of the world does not exist.

The NBC "newscasters" were lying on air, saying things like "the big question now is who will be lighting the olympic torch," "the opening ceremony will begin in 2 hours" (when it was already over!), "in three hours time, the debate will be on as to whether the London or Beijing ceremony was nicer, we have the world has no idea what surprises are in store," and so on and so forth. They're deliberately misleading their viewers, and it's disgusting.

nicksergeant• 14 years ago

Weren't the "newscasters" actually in London while the ceremonies were taking place, taping there? Those statements make sense in that case.

Alex3917• 14 years ago

I agree with this. Everyone knows it isn't live, but they want to watch a recording of the livestream as it happened because that's what's the most exciting. It's the same reason why so many people watch Steve Jobs' live keynotes after the fact even though they could just watch the video advertisements or look at the Apple store for the products at that point.

ComputerGuru3• 14 years ago

No, I'm talking about the local newscasters. I'm in Chicago, these were newscasters people here in the city.

sk5t• 14 years ago

If one were to make the argument that NBC is the USA's worst major television network, with its manifold vapid sitcoms, wooden Leno show, terrible Notre Dame contract, general lack of relevant sports, and persistent butchering of the Olympic Games telecast, well... one would have the makings of a pretty good case.

wdr1• 14 years ago

If there comments were recorded as they watched the actual, live ceremony was, are they really lying?

Groxx• 14 years ago

If I tell you, now, that I just came up with this sentence two hours from now, am I lying?

ComputerGuru3• 14 years ago

They weren't, though. They were discussing the "upcoming" ceremony, live.

btilly3• 14 years ago

It is stupider than that.

Anyone who wants can get access to their streaming web. Just give them who your cable provider is, and your user name and password to that account so that they can verify that it is you.

OK. What about people like me? I wouldn't mind seeing some of the Olympics. I would like to show it to my son. But I never watch TV, and I do not have a subscription to any TV cable service. Can't I, I don't know, PAY THEM to get access to this 2 week event? Or maybe they can MAKE ME SIT THROUGH ADS to get it?

Apparently not. There is no such option. I'll just have to track down a friend who trusts me and has a cable account to login on my computer so that I can watch. Or else find an illegal stream. Or else just not watch.

ernestipark• 14 years ago

It's really unfortunate. I would pay $100 to have full coverage of the olympics streamed. Not to mention I have yet to find a good representation of the schedule. Everything is extremely difficult to track down.

Someone• 14 years ago

http://www.london2012.com/schedule-and-results/full-schedule...

ryannielsen2• 14 years ago

Well, if you're willing to pay, couldn't you sign up for cable for one month? I agree, it's not our ideal and it's more overhead for you since you'll need to deal with installation, but it's not like it's impossible to pay to see the Olympics.

btilly3• 14 years ago

If I sign up for cable for one month, it will take several days before I actually get it, and then who knows how much longer before I wind up able to login through their process. What portion of the Olympics will I have missed?

Borrowing someone else's account seems more likely to happen.

ollysb• 14 years ago

The bbc has great coverage at http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/olympics/2012/live-video. UK only, but I sure that won't stop you.

tkahn6• 14 years ago

Well here's my attempt at doing something marginally useful. The only thing I could really think of. I generally am ambivalent about these media blunders because I don't watch TV... but I was really looking forward to the Opening Ceremonies.

http://www.change.org/petitions/international-olympic-commit...

RobMcCullough• 14 years ago

The sense of entitlement in the last few Olympics related posts is really getting obnoxious. Granted the article here makes a good point about it being silly to live tweet an event that is not being broadcast. But, everyone commenting seems to think watching the Olympics for free is a god given right.

I am excited that, unlike the NFL, MLB, and other professional sporting events, the live-streaming capability provided to NBC subscribers is actually quite thorough and high quality.

stevvooe• 14 years ago

I've effectively boycotted as I have no legal means of watching the events. Way to make another institution irrelevant to my generation, big media. Enjoy your profits while they last.

Vivtek• 14 years ago

Hungarian TV showed it straight through, no ads (and free) (and live) but still had the damn commentators talking through all the music. Why do they think that adds anything? It drove me bananas.

NBCOlympics’ Opening Ceremony Tape Delay: Stupid, Stupid, Stupid

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