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2008 Beijing Olympics as a Media Test-Bed
CNN is reporting that NBC is using the 2008 Olympics in Beijing as a test-bed to understand how people are using different media platforms. "NBC has scheduled 3,600 hours of Olympics programming on its main network, along with Telemundo, USA, Oxygen, MSNBC, CNBC and Bravo. That's the equivalent of eight days of programming packed into each day. In addition, the company is planning to make 2,200 hours of streaming video available on NBCOlympics.com. Consumers may also get video on demand via their computer and Olympics content through their mobile phones."
The problem with this test is: who's actually going to watch the Olympics?
If they're using the Olymipcs as a test bed to see how people view media, then somebody in that department needs to be fired. You can't test a wide range of media on content that nobody's going to view in the first place (at least not enough to make it a real "test" of various media strengths).
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The other networks have to turn it into a fucking soap opera giving you a 20 minute tear-jerker biography of the damn athlete before each event. That cuts into time that could be better spent, I don't know, covering the actual Olympics? There are so many sports that don't even make it on television.
Kwisatz Haderach
Sell the spice to CHOAM
This Mahdi took Shaddam's Throne
I recall a lot of folks were annoyed during the last olympics because the BBC blocked access to their online video streams to American IP address blocks because of NBC legal threats/licensing junk.
I noticed this recently when they switched away from flash and it suddenly stopped working.
that whatever content you consume, it will be logged and analyzed. don't say they didn't tell ya.
I would love to see them actually stream decent quality video on their website. All networks want to boast their revolutionizing web access, when all they do is stream some ultra low res grainy crap. It's totally unwatchable when you are used to watching the exact same events in HD, for free. Why are content providers so scared to broadcast HD feeds via the web? They could leave the commercials in, and it would be the same as watching it on TV. It can't honestly be that they are worried about people distributing the content. I mean.... people can very easily capture the HD feed to their computer with a tv tuner. And when it comes to the "too much bandwidth" argument, couldn't they just use bittorrent? I know the reason probably has to do with money... but I'm not seeing it. Someone please enlighten me.
My fiancee is a big fan of the olympics. We'll be out of the country for the first few weeks of August with no intentions of watching any TV. So she's looking into DVR options. I think every minute of coverage will be available somewhere on the internet after we get back. It'll certainly be easier than trying to pick everything to record beforehand. But she's afraid to take the chance that she'll miss something.
So will NBC or others make all of the video available online immediately after the events? Will someone else? Is DVR the best option? Or will she have to spend hundreds of dollars on DVDs next year to see the olympics after-the-fact?
Developers: We can use your help.
Just making sure, we're all on the same page.
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Because Flash is crap and Silverlight is far superior.
They keep bragging about something called the Beijing Olympics in NBC. What the hell is Olympics?
sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
I am a track coach and the latest Olympic Trials streaming for track was a joke. They only webcast the same hours they broadcast. No in depth streaming, just re purposed broadcasting. Plus, if I have to watch stories instead of performances I am pissed. NBC is lost when it comes to Track and Field (as opposed to the NCAA where I happily sat at my desk and watched hours of great events. It's Ok to watch streaming as we are a streaming provider and I am the owner, haha.
"The whole idea is to get the same person and to touch them across all different sorts of platforms,"
Spielberg's "Minority Report" might not be a classic, but it was very savvy in it's predictions about technology. In particular, the above quote brings to mind the excessively invasive advertising keyed to individuals via eye-scans. You can tell these NBC bastards have a hard-on for that kind of future.
We're basically in a one-sided war. Advertisers are pulling together intelligence and getting organized for an all-out assault on our senses. They want control of our minds and they're willing to fight for it. What are we willing to do? Buy more ringtones?
So it's more of a narrow test even than you might think. To participate you have to have more money than sense. The advertisers should love it.
Until the servers go down, anyway. Microsoft might have some smart folks, but they're no YouTube.
Help stamp out iliturcy.
Microsoft Silverlight Gets a High Profile Win: 2008 Beijing Olympics.
NBC got incentivized. After Microsoft failed to gain control of Yahoo to use it as a channel to force Silverlight dominance, the NBC agreement was the fallback.
Well gee, with 2 events potentially being held at the same time or at 3:00 in the morning in a US time zone, obviously on demand is going to beat everything else because then people can watch it whenever they want. Plus, people without DVRs can't just pause and re-watch anything so they'll double up with on demand also. Here's another prediciton too: all the traffic is going to melt the freakin internet!
Google's Super Secret Search Algorithm: SELECT @search_results FROM internet WHERE @search_results = 'good'
But will it be available on demand? With a roughly 12 hour time difference between Beijing and the US a large number of events are going to be in the middle of the night. Without allowing on-demand even with this wide a coverage it's still going to be difficult to know when a particular event is going to be broadcast.
they do an outstanding job covering the Olympics, if you can get it.
while they of course emphasize Canadian athletes, they don't cater to them exclusively.
and you get to actually watch complete events. not flip from event to event in a format apparently designed only for those with attention deficit.
I bet CBC even gets some of the smog on screen. what a wonderful place to run long distances...
Last I heard a few weeks ago, the technology NBC will use is supported ONLY on Windows Vista.
If that is still true, this "test-bed" will only be testing that tiny percentage of the market that swallowed the hook and upgraded/bought Vista.
"We have just had a report that other countries are competing in the olympics. Now back to our coverage"
That has pretty well summed up every telecast I have seen in recent times, and what I fear will happen for Beijing no matter how many hours of coverage they stream/broadcast
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What exactly are they going to carry? Synchronized swimming?
The actual events will require both Silverlight and Vista.
Thereby making absolutely certain that the videos won't be cached, transcoded and redistributed within seconds of their first webcast. You won't be able to archive them or time shift them or view them on the evil Lunix or your otherwise capable crackberry or eee pc. Right? Right? Because Vista's secure media transport and display has been perfected and will never be cracked.
This streamed olympic footage will not be available for fair use, ever. Not even long after even those who participated have ceased to care. Me, I don't care already. If they stream it to an open platform I might watch some of it but Vista alone is too much of a price to pay, let alone Silverlight. I think instead I'll click over to CNN and see if they manage to smuggle out footage of protesters.
Help stamp out iliturcy.
I can't even watch the Olympics anymore thanks to NBC bastardizing it. It's like they swap out the NBC sports division with the staff from Lifetime.
Guess what NBC, I WANT to see the fucking prelim races for ALL of the track and Field events. Not just 1/10th of the final race/event with 10 hours of stories about the F'n athletes that don't even win.
DIE!!! DIE!!! DIE!!! You've killed the Olympics NBC, and your network is in last place for a good reason. Isn't it time for Law and Order Peoria to make it's debut?!?!?!?
Prof. Farnsworth - "Oh a lesson in not changing history from Mr I'm-My-Own-Grandpa!"
They're sure to have full access to online coverage. Even if the Chinese teams were to lose to Taiwan or protests were staged during the event, I'm sure the government wouldn't be so petty as to use their Golden Shield to#`%${%&`+'${`%&NO CARRIER
Prisencolinensinainciusol. Ol Rait!
I, for one, welcome our new car dealer prices overlords.
Same story as two years ago. NBC Sucks. Microsoft has bought them and is using them to push their platform and is refusing to support anything other than Windows and Windows Media Player.
All editorial writers ever do is come down from the hill after the battle is over and shoot the wounded.
I hope they put synchronized swimming, rhythmic "gymnastics", the other non-sports, and all of their sickening "in depth" tear-jerk background pieces even Oprah wouldn't touch onto one of the obscure cable channels. If you are televising an athletic event, show us competition, not BS!
Just to determine that most people will be watching "House" reruns on their iPod.
Eight days of programming each day on seven channels? That's only 87.5% compression. They can get up to 80% with H.264. Then they could have 8.75 days of programming each day on the same 7 channels!
NBC wants to use this to discover how people view media. But if the streaming is restricted to Vista, they'll be forced to come to the conclusion that only a small minority of people use their PC's to watch television sports.
All because the vast majority of people are still using Windows XP, not Vista. Somebody at NBC sure isn't thinking straight.
I guess they figure that anyone who watches TV on a computer isn't interested in watching sports to begin with (what is known as a self-fulfilling prophesy in this case).
"My country, right or wrong; if right, to be kept right; and if wrong, to be set right." --Senator Carl Schurz (1872)
Now we can't even spell for posting of stories? Sheesh... Or are we afraid of some potential copyright issues over the term Olympics?
Who is general failure, and why is he reading my hard drive?
This doesn't sound all that much different than the Triplecast idea that NBC tried with the 1992 Olympics. Spoiler: it went over like a lead balloon.
Software sucks. Open Source sucks less.
I assume you are too far from the border to get a CBC station.
These people can help, I think you have enough time.
http://global-cm.net/
http://forums.canadian-tv.com/index.php
http://www.satelliteguys.us/canadian-satellite-services/
There are also some french language programming. ie Canal Evasion with the Tour de France.
You're listing single day events.
Please think about why your comparison fails because of that.
Thanks.
I've always wanted to watch Olympics, but it's just so painful to find the event you want, wait for it to air, watch the boring "human story" of the american athletes who are expected to place 4th or 5th because it isn't US's best event, all to get to a few minutes of events. I tend to give up quickly
Recently, I watched a swimming qualifier after recording it. After getting rid of the crap, an hour of coverge was 15 minutes of a great swimming meet! I even watched a couple of the post event interviews.
"olymics?" You may want to check that
With the Olympic committee censoring the athletes and their families, dis-allowing blogging regarding the events, only allowing certain networks to cover the event, etc...
The Olympics and China are a perfect match.
Furthermore, NBC Universal(having exclusive rights) are teaming up Microsoft(a convicted monopoly) to bring you internet coverage using Silverlight(closed, proprietary, no Mac or Linux) technology for the coverage of events in (the censored country of) China.
The sheep are their oyster.
The government which is strong enough to protect you from everything is strong enough to take everything from you.