Slashdot Mirror
US Cord Cutters Getting Snubbed From NBC's Olympic Coverage Online
Monoman writes "The Washington Post reports, 'The 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics start tonight. But if you're among the 9 percent of U.S. households who have broadband but don't subscribe to paid television, it will be nearly impossible to (legally) watch the games online this year. ... That's because while NBC is streaming all of the events live online, full access to the livestream will only be available to paying cable subscribers. And thanks to a $4.38 billion exclusive deal NBC struck with the International Olympics Committee (IOC) in 2011 for the privilege of broadcasting the Olympic games in the U.S. through 2020, cord-cutters don't have a lot of options.' Is this a money play by Comcast/NBC to get some subscribers back? Should the FCC step in and require NBC to at least provide a stream of their OTA content?"
And why is it that you are owed free content?
Should the FCC step in and require NBC to at least provide a stream of their OTA content?
But that would be Socialism! Where is the freedom??? Gummint bad! Gummint bad!
Sincerely, the average Slashdot libertarian
I am not in favor of the FCC stepping in.
Instead, I think we should allow for NBC to see the consequences of their deal. Let people with the ability to use proxies, use them and get the coverage of these Olympic Games from whatever source they choose to.
Myself? I think I'll get some from the BBC. If for no other reason than avoiding the near constant shilling of the athlete's stories. If I want to know them, I'll look it up. Otherwise, let me watch the damn games already.
Not with a bang, but with a beta.
Face it, Slashdot has jumped the shark. As others have said, the way forward is Usenet. Time to go back to the only censorship-free, non commercial Internet forum. Nobody will ever be able to buy Usenet, it will ever go 'beta' and it is the wave of the future.
Comp.misc seems to be the new Slashdot replacement. See you there!
like the cord-cutters who are getting shafted by NBC/cable companies, we Slashdot users are getting boned by Dice with the forced Beta.
Make all the beta skins you want, but allow logged-in users to choose Classic.
The day Classic disappears as an option is the day 90% of slashdot members are gone.
Did you notice that there is a new javascript link saying they changed their plans on rolling out the beta? Or what are you fighting against now?
>Should the FCC step in and require NBC to at least provide a stream of their OTA content?"
no, you can do this already with several products, HD HomeRun / Simple TV.
Isn't the BBC broadcasting it or something? just go there, and if you have to, use a proxy.
...and all online. There's just the minor issue of geolocation to circumvent.
I watched them last night. They had skiing, snowboarding and all of the non-curling ice events on. I'm good. I've already had enough olym*-feel good (passive-boastive) commercial time to last me. I might just skip the next few weeks.
I've been snubbing comcast since 2007 and they have done this with every major event for years. They won't let you pay for it, the only way to get it is as cable subscriber. This should be illegal for sure. FCC should require them to have a payment option. Just charge $100 for the event coverage. NHL charges that much for the entire season of broadcasts. (Outside of US that is, inside it is $160.)
If programs would be read like poetry, most programmers would be Vogons.
Otherwise people will quickly find cracks.
Also does anyone really care about the law any more? To me it's just something you pay enough respect to that you're not caught. It's a product of power-mongers born with privilege. Much like the new owners of Slashdot, who are trying to fuck it up with their site redesign.
i dont watch it, dont care.
the Athletes are awesome... buts its too political and commercial now.
and now the Olympics are being limited to certain media outlets....
It's not a typo if you understood the meaning!
Pretty much all HDTVs support receiving over-the-air TV stations using an antenna, and considering NBC is one of the largest broadcast networks in the US, it shouldn't be that hard to get NBC if you don't have cable.
It is time delayed. And they have caused more people to cut.
Like me. Give it back to the over the air people dont do cable tv.
And do you believe it? FUCK BETA
I am not going to watch the debacle-in-the-making Sochi Olympics anyway. I would call it a boycott, but I wasn't really interested in watching it anyway.
How much better would it be if people could get as energized by something that really matters as they do sports? (Or, indeed, as energized as they do over the sucky beta).
That 9% is pretty used to having reduced access to licensed, live television content as a direct consequence of not paying a subscription for licensed, live television content.
For a while not, the Olympics has been nothing but a money making and redistribution system. When I was a kid, we had amateur athletes that worked hard for their few minutes of fame. The money for them came after their competitions, so it was a bit less corrupt. Sure, we had steroids back then and people were getting busted. At least they tried to give a sense of fair play back then.
Today's Olympics is like watching any other televised sport (NBA/NFL/Baseball). It's a sham to make money. Most participants do have some natural talent, but anything that makes TV is well.. treated differently. Athletes are "trained", "fed", given exceptional medical care, and pampered for the spotlight. Their sponsors abuse them to make money, media outlets do the same, and Governments use them for clout (see how much money we spent on _our_ athletes!).
I'm sure part of my bias is becoming older and more cynical. Not that much though, because we have an internet that lets us compare today to the 70s and see the difference. Pro Hockey players are what make the Olympic teams today, and Pro basket ball players, and Professional skaters are what's on the ice. The US claims to have done this because others do, which may or may not be true. Two wrongs won't bring back the original spirit of the games however.
-The wise argue that there are few absolutes, the fool argues that there are no probabilities.
I heard the Sochi Olympics are just for beta testing. Nobody watches them.
Legality is overrated. Then again, so are the Olympics.
I've been a cord-cutter since 1992 and don't miss it, so why am I supposed to be upset that NBC is being as criminally stupid as usual?
Decided I'd check out Slashdot today and got served the "beta" (alpha?) version. Looks totally radical and bodacious! Looks like Web 1.0 had a gnarly head-on collision with Web 3.0. I really am excited about the changes -- maybe you can throw in some "Like us on Twitter" and "Tweet about us on Facebook" things at the bottom that would really be great!
Oh shit, and how about some ad-based/artificial scarcity games. We could have our own awesome games like "Dungeon Farmer" and "Distro Wars". I'd totally play "Distro Wars" especially if you could couple it with some banner ads and malvertising!
http://entertainment-beta.slashdot.org and http://beta.slashdot.org look awesome!11!1oneoneleventy. I am totally going to make a viral video about it!!11oneone.
If "fail" were the elixir of life you would be immortal.
"Should the FCC step in and require NBC to at least provide a stream of their OTA content?" No. This is not a health or safety issue, so the government should stay out of it.
Canada, despite having a population of only 30 million, has the second most athletes competing, and by far the best coverage of any developed nation.
If you're Usian or from the UK i'd recommend getting an unblock subscription and setting your country to Canada.
If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Cord cutters know they are going to miss out on any live sports (or any other live) broadcasts that are not on over-the-air networks. Why would anyone have any expectation that the Olympics would be different?
Thus sprach higg.
I'll watch it illegally if I feel like it, but more than likely I just won't bother. I've pretty much watched every Olympic games since 1984 in LA. Their loss as far as I am concerned.
This. OTA to USB tuner, Windows Media Center or lots of linux options for DVR. Hi-def, no subscription. I only use it for Super Bowl and Olympic parties!
NBC paid $4.38 billion.
There are 2,850 athletes.
That's about $1.5 million for every single athlete competing.
Isn't this sort of thing its reason for being?
Mission: To provide products that consume time and energy as entertainingly as permitted by the laws of thermodynamics.
The Olympics are about winning. Not loosing if you don't have cable TV you are loosing. START WINNING
That's silly, no reason to compel them. Might be a good idea from NBC's perspective to make the stream free, but they don't stream their entire lineup of shows, why should they be required to stream this one? This doesn't really affect 9% of the country in any case. Most cord-cutters can still watch this, because it's over-the-air. Just use an antenna!
We're still stick in the old world, even with all the nice shiny technology around us. NBC is in a world where they wish everyone watched Johnny Carson every night. Where politicians can't go on stage without flashing their wedding rings. Where they can, with impunity broadcast laughable stories from the Olympics. They're still stuck in that world. And if you love the Olympics, so are we too.
Newsfollow.com
Just like slash BETA the world wouldn't really be affected one way or the other if the Olympics just up and went away. The worst effects would be felt by the corporate sponsors who would be deprived of a way to market their garbage to teh sheeple consumers.
Let the Olympics die. The International Olympic Committee and a large percentage of the national committees are some of the most corrupt organizations in the world. Fuck 'em.
And if someone who doesn't subscribe to cable television can't see online video of the games then I consider that a GOOD thing. It leaves more bandwidth for the rest of us.
I thought "Cord Cutting" was the term for Olympic Winter Wood Log-Chopping. Imagine my disappointment! Another travesty caused by CAPITALISM.
UNITE with the Campaign for a Free Internet because today, our future begins with tomorrow!
I have paid cable TV but not through Comcast or Charter. How will their scheme work for people who have alternates to Comcast, Charter, Dish, or DirecTV?
"There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death." Proverbs 16:25 (NKJV)
Do Time Warner customers have access to watch the Olympics online? I know that TWC has *not* signed the deal with NBC for NBC Sports Live Extra for watching EPL games online or via mobile devices. Does that exclusion include the Olympics?
Considering that real-time programming, particularly sports, is why many people hold onto their CATV subscriptions to begin with, I'm not expecting a whole lot of overlap between those who cut their cord and whose who are particularly interested in live Olympic coverage.
We are nerds, it's a fucking corporate sports charade. WHO THE FUCK CARES
FUCK SLASHBETA
And why can't I switch back to classic on my iPad ! And log in dosent work!
1. Ignore the whole fiasco to start with
2. If it hurts their ratings because people can't get to the content, they'll learn...eventually
Their team knows how to hack the internet.
Though media reports that their current (/.) IT security team is in "beta"
nerd news readers says: **** beta
Try, the CBC. No need to pay the NBC
Meh.
From what I saw last night, the US isn't doing much worth watching so far, so...
I noticed that you are a chump and a sucker! And probably a bourgeois propagandist.
UNITE with the Campaign for a Free Internet because today, our future begins with tomorrow!
I don't care about the olympics but I wish there was a way for cord-cutters in the US to still watch Formula 1 at home.
Did you read what that new link says?
It says they'll keep classic around "until we're confident that the new site is ready", thus implying they do plan to remove classic. It states that they "have work to do in four big areas", and accurately lists what people have been complaining about (the accuracy and non-contradictoriness of the list makes Soulskill's assertions that much of the feedback is contradictory look questionable, to say the least), but carefully refrains from actually saying that any particular improvements will happen before they roll out the beta and execute classic.
In short, once you run it through a corporatespeak filter, it says they didn't expect this much backlash, they're going to postpone the rollout (but not necessarily change it in any other way), and they're trying to pacify us by repeating back what we've said. And if you read between the lines, you might get the impression they're not going to give us this much warning next time...
Antenna!
They should be forced to stream their OTA content.
In fact, they should put WAPs all over the country streaming it wirelessly. To do this efficiently, they should use multicast packets Better yet, use broadcast packets.
It could be called "broadcast television".
I am a recent cord cutting. We use Roku, Chromecast, and an antenna. I don't miss cable at all.
With the right antenna, you can get hi-def.
Better then being a dumb and weak cracker like you. KILL WHITEY!!!
I zapped my cable three years ago. I watched the opening ceremony (and only that) of the London Olympics via a VPN. I don't care enough about Sochi or winter Olympics to be interested in watching any of it.
I don't think it's important if the FCC forces NBC to run a live stream. If NBC thinks the cost of running a stream of the broadcast they're already doing exceeds the revenue they could generate from stream viewers watching the same commercials the network is already doing, that's their problem.
-- Slashdot: When Public Access TV Says "No"
#1--why watch NBC? CBC, BBC, and if you don't care about perfect English--the list gets a heck of a lot longer. But why even bother with streaming from a website--why not grab one of the usenet or torrent postings?
.x264-2HD
Winter.Olympics.2014.Team.Figure.Skating.Pairs.Short.Program.720p.HDTV
Winter.Olympics.2014.Ladies.Moguls.Qualification.1.720p.HDTV.x264-2HD
Winter.Olympics.2014.Mens.Slopestyle.Qualification.HDTV.x264-2HD
You get the point--if you are going to cut the cord--I'd hope you know how to get content before you made the move...
One last link: Instructions on watching live: http://deadspin.com/how-to-wat...
That NBC has broadcast (ahem) their intentions loud and clear. It is now up to you (the person wishing to watch the Olympics) do decide what you are going to do about it.
When your choices are systematically taken away, yours options become much easier to make.
So rise up, all ye lost ones, as one, we'll claw the clouds.
Every time I try to cancel my cable tv they tell me that it is cheaper to keep it. Thats right, its less expensive to get 50mb internet WITH tv than without, thanks to the deals they offer. This is via comcast in eastern mass. They must be doing it to inflate tv subscriber numbers or hide the rate of cord cutting.
One of the biggest draws of satellite/cable TV is the multitude of sports related channels available. If you "cut the cord" without first checking what you'd be missing, I guess your momma never told you to "look before you leap".
This is pretty much non-news. I hear there are places where you can go to watch sports. They even have snacks and refreshments available, too!
---
DRM is like antifreeze, to the MPAA/RIAA it's sweet, to the consumers it's poison.
I use to live in a town that was 70 miles away from the nearest NBC station. You can't easily pick up content from that far away.
As a cord cutter speaking ... don't make the coverage any better. Keep putting up a fight to try to convince cord cutters to come back. I'd bet more people will ditch you than will come back. In fact I'd bet more people access your online videos without paying for cable or satellite because the typical viewer can't figure it out or be hassled with the hoops they need to jump through.
So maintain course, make no compromises, and hasten your own demise. Good riddance.
Winners tell stories while losers yell deal.
Meh, I think just having a post in every thread where people can mention that they'll disappear if the beta goes live and forces everyone onto it, while still having all the problems that it has that the old version doesn't, is good enough. No need to boycott the site *before* we're forced off the working site, while the working site still works. Just need to keep posting about how we'll totally boycott it if the other option is using it while it's broken and awful, which I totally will.
That's what it comes down to: Do my taxes directly fund the Olympics, the American athletes, or any other reasonable aspect? If they do, I want to be able to see them for a reasonable service fee without commercials or have access to the NBC stream, free of charge, but with commercials.
If I don't get that, then I'll probably find another means. Likely a streamed Canadian channel which provides the additional benefit of non-asinine hosts, generally cordial and likeable interviews, and no one screaming "USA USA USA!"
Will soon be hosted at AltSlashdot.org or a site linked through that domain.
It will be for the Nerds, by the Nerds, focusing on the Stuff That Really Matters: The community that makes the comments the best part of Slashdot.
The name will change to avoid any trademark problems.
Some have suggested encouraging Bruce Perens to resurrect Technocrat.net for the third time. With all due respect to Bruce, the problem with that is he has shown he is not a reliable host. He has twice deleted that site without warning and without providing access to the archives. I don't think we want to get burned a third time.
I can't think of any reason why they should. Can you?
I think your problem is with IOC. Maybe you should boycott (or pirate) their proprietary commercial product (The Olympics). Maybe even go have your own olympics, with blackjack and hookers.
BTW, please stop calling people "cord cutters" unless they're using radios or soemthing like that. If you're getting internet access over a CORD, then "cutter" is an anti- descriptive word for what you're doing. It's not just lame choice of words, but a misleading one.
I hope Facebook makes some changes to their site too so you beta-bashers can go somewhere else and and hijack the comments.
oh my god who the hell cares
this is not news for nerds
this is dumbass comment bait
Cable companys don't like people who don't pay for their shitty service ... more at 11
(if you're a subscriber)
I doubt most of the people complaining about the beta are people who would really care if facebook broke their crap, on account of we probably mostly don't actually use facebook. I haven't used facebook since it basically *was* a beta (back when it was new and exciting, and notably, only for college kids), for anything other than liking some random crap in exchange for a contest entry.
Try watching your favorite NFL team out-of-market. The only legal recourse is to buy a DirecTV package and even on just one screen that'll run you ~$100/mo plus the NFL package which is ~$3-400. So, you're looking at $1200 if all you want is to see the 10 or so Steelers games that aren't nationally broadcast in a year; assuming you don't live around Pittsburgh.
I swear to God...I swear to God! That is NOT how you treat your human!
I have never once cared to watch the Olympics. I don't care about the games at all.
I'm basing this post off of my previous experience watching the summer olympics online. I don't expect it will be any different this time around, but perhaps NBC will surprise me.
Two years ago, as I am now, I'm "borrowing" my sister's login and password for her paid TV subscription. Why doesn't NBC allow non-subscribers to buy online streaming access? I would pay some amount of money (maybe $30?) to get access to the online coverage and they aren't letting me. I can't think of a reason why they don't make this an option...
That is, I would pay for it if the online coverage wasn't terrible in several different ways. First, spoilers are EVERYWHERE on the website and cannot be avoided. Unless I stay up until 3am to watch an event live there's no way I can watch the event the following day without inadvertently seeing the results on the website while trying to get to the recorded stream. Sometimes the spoiler is even part of the video itself ("Watch Bode Miller win gold!")!
Second, many or most of the broadcasts online are commentator free. Even IF you know all the ins and outs of curling rules, commentators are very helpful in conveying exactly what it is that you're watching (e.g. who is the player or team being shown? What is the significance of this match in the tournament? Who are they playing next? etc.). The prime-time TV broadcasts that are heavily edited to show the most interesting bits are completely unavailable online.
Third, high profile medal events cannot be watched until the DAY AFTER the prime-time TV broadcast has occurred unless you stay up until 3am to watch it live. Not only do you then have to impossibly dodge the spoilers on the website, but also radio, TV, co-worker conversations, etc. the following day.
Whatever you say negro, whatever you say
Last year when i got FIOS i cut the cord. I was all smug about not having a paid tv service. This year, they offered me a package that includes tv and faster internet for less than my internet only package. I don't know why it works this way, but it's $10 a month cheaper to have a tv subscription. I still can't watch tv because i don't have a tv that supports this card thingy. I didn't get the set top box option. However, i was pleasantly surprised when i found i could use my login to get access to olympic streams.
Try watching your favorite NFL team out-of-market.
Try watching your favorite NFL team in market.
Surely you're joking, or just very, very clueless. Usenet has been compromised for a decade. Unless you're using a private server with a few hundred participants.
I would pay to have BBC coverage of the Olympics in the States.
NBC couldn't pay me to watch their coverage.
(Cord cutter since 1995).
The Roman Rule: The one who says it cannot be done shall not interrupt the one who is doing it.
Fortunately for me, I decided 2 things a few years ago:
1) There is nothing worth watching on Cable/Satellite, and nothing on broadcast TV that justifies the endless advertising torture perpetrated against its viewing audience.
2) The Olympics has long since forgotten why it exists, and is now nothing more than a shell game.
I can now feel sympathy and sorrow for those who are still chained to the Olympics addiction. Once you view television and the Olympics from the correct perspective, you can laugh at moves like the one perpetrated by NBC.
The reaction to these changes demostrates the issues "nerds" have with change.
I suddenly feel sory for GNOME Designers.
I personally don't give a rat's ass about this "event". I'd rather pull my nut hairs out one by one than watch the Olympics. Hell, I'd rather do that than deal with /. beta too.
They wont let me watch their corporate commercial-fest!
Oh dear, whatever shall i do?
Look cord cutters don't get many things including many live sporting events (College Football, NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB), the local news channels etc..
They wanted to cut their cords knew fully well that not everything they wanted was available online.
I pay for cable tv so I get the olympics, I don't pay for netflix, so I don't get every episode of Friends on demand. Oh well. It's not like I can force netflix to stream to me every episode of Friends on demand because it's not fair, or I didn't realize that I could get them to provide me with free services even when I don't pay for them.
The more people don't see the Olympics, the less popular it will be.
1. NBC Primetime coverage OTA.
2. Upgrade your cable, temporarily.
I'm a Comcast subscriber with the lowest possible TV plan. By upgrading to the Digital Starter package for the next couple weeks I'll be able to watch extended coverage on my TV, laptop, and other devices. When it's over, I revert to my old plan and my charges will be pro-rated.
Is the content behind an artificial wall? Yes. Of course as is all restricted content.
Is it impossible to climb that wall? No. It's just not free.
I'd rather pay the pro-rated monthly rate for regular service than have a free tier that's crammed with "but if you upgrade to Comcast full time, you'll be able to ..." promotions.
Should step in and stop the monopolistic abuse.
---- Booth was a patriot ----
Am I missing something? Doesn't NBC broadcast OTA? Can't all these people being snubbed just use an antenna to watch the olympics?
What gives you the idea its free?
Taxes are used to subsidize the companies and content. Commercials are provided during the programming, which provide revenue. ( this is how broadcast TV, and radio, worked for decades. I assume you are too young to remember a time before cable and content monopolies so this concept may be a bit beyond your understanding )
---- Booth was a patriot ----
If you're among the 9 percent of U.S. households who have broadband but don't subscribe to paid television, you probably don't really care about competitive sports anyway...
Who Care.
Seriously, why do we even care about watching the olympics live, just check the result at the end, just as well. The Olympics are the biggest yet most boring sport events that happen in the world.
Honestly the modern Olympics is shameful enterprise all around. Nations and cities compete with each other to get the games by playing who can saddle their local tax payers with crippling debt in order to build giant venues that more often then not have no real use after the games.
The local residents get to pay, and suffer major interruption so a handful of real estate developers and international media conglomerates can rake it in. In some cities that have won the games many of those local tax payers probably could barely afford to attend.
If that is not bad enough we have seen scandal after scandal, the IOC proving itself to be completely corrupt.
Oh and then there is little matter of the hugely negative environmental impact of not only all that construction but all that jet travel. Just think of the habitat destruction and how carbon intensive the entire production is.
Honestly anyone supporting the Olympics ought to be ashamed of themselves.
Repeal the 17th Amendment TODAY! Also Please Read http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/right-to-read.html
Not only are we used to this: it's a feature, not a bug.
Very little that stems from the IOC is a net constructive influence on human society, although if you're a major urban center looking for a good pretext to cull some undesirables, nothing beats it ... if you can afford the price.
I think the use of the word audience sums up Dice's perception of /. They want to take /. from a smaller audience to a larger audience. /. is a community, not an audience. You've got a 6 digit UID, do you remember any prior changes being motivated by increasing the /. 'audience'?
The reaction to these changes demostrates the issues "nerds" have with change.
Change is neither inherently bad, nor is it inherently good. The problems people have been raising with the Beta are many and are legitimate concerns: tone-deaf forcing upon the users, reduced information density and poor use of space, loss of features, more development emphasis on articles (a top-down feature) rather than the comment system (a community-driven feature), etc. Dismissing these concerns as just a "fear of change" is intellectually dishonest and insulting.
I suddenly feel sory for GNOME Designers.
Don't. They are terrible for very similar reasons. A high-handed notion that their "cleaner" design trumps the need for any features that they removed that others might have actually used to work more efficiently. Plus, both cases had an existing community that did not like the changes and were ignored in favor of hopefully appealing to newer users.
Kind of like Spike TV (designed from the beginning to target 18-35 single males) trying their damnedest to get women to stop watching the network, so they could sell ads to the right people. As my sig says, it's because it's the advertisers who are viewed as the "real" customers. We're just the product, and product doesn't get much of a say in how it's used.
If it's for-profit but free, you're not the customer -- you're the product (e.g., the Slashdot Beta's "audience").
You know, this sort of smells like the they are setting up this year's April Fools joke with this Beta.
After all, they can't be serious with something THAT bad, can they?
And a television network gaining a monopoly on it is nothing new. It's America: if you don't like it, vote your best to try and get it change, but really, good luck with that.
Facebook has never, in its entire history, been as broken as Slashdot Beta.
The NBC Sports Live Extra app on Windows 8 and Windows Phone had live streams of events all day long, on demand right now, and a full slate again for tomorrow. I was never asked for any credentials, and I was watching from public wifi.
Do you honestly think a "cord cutter" is going to spend any cycles contemplating "plugging back in" just to watch the winter Olympics?
Puhleeez.
As a cord cutter, I could care less.
Who remembers that you have free OTA broadcasts? TV (Or TV Tuner Card) + 'Rabbit Ears' and/or an aerial... Seriously.. this is a non-issue.
Good Riddance. Us cord-cutters miss out on a lot of things. Ice skating, curling, and copious amounts of commercials will not be mourned here.
I do not [expletive deleted] care if EVERY "competitive sports" professional circus were to disappear from the face of the earth forever-more.
That includes everthing past primary school disorganized recess 'pickup' games.
The biggest waste of meat and customer's money is the ex-jock mba mlm air-head useless P.O.S. that exists in every organization who wastes the useful time of those of us who do the actual work with their endless hero stories of "the big game".
The requirement for me to subsidize 'sports entertainment' is a big reason why I 'cut the cable', and will NEVER go back.
Im sure their real mission is anything but preserving life.
The fools are shooting themselves in the foot:
Here's an idea: Lets get the entire next generation disinterested in the Olympics by making it impossible to see it over their preferred method unless they bug their parents for cable bill info! Lets remind those kids who is in-charge.
This will also exclude some Americans and totally exclude all those fit country people so they won't join the games out of spite. Now the US won't participate as well or be interested as much. And we know how well America watches international sports they do poorly in. Soccer anyone?
This media event is unrelated to the ancient games except by name. It's about 20 years before irrelevance.
Science & open-source build trust from peer review. Learn systems you can trust.
http://www.reddit.com/r/notslashdot
I've watched the Olympics in the past when I had television and access to cable. I just don't care. It's boring, it's pointless. I don't care who won the 100 meter dash or the ski jump or the toboggan run. It just doesn't matter to me. It's crap for the masses and if I wanted that stuff I wouldn't be a "cord cutter" in the first place.
It's pretty sad that NBC is not keeping up with the times. But really... I think most people who get all their tv online just don't care.
Is this a money play by Comcast/NBC to get some subscribers back?
Obviously.
Should the FCC step in and require NBC to at least provide a stream of their OTA content?
No, but the IOC should, if they want the games to be a thing Americans still watch in 15-20 years. The FCC already failed when they allowed the anti-competitive Comcast/NBC merger in the first place.
0 1 - just my two bits
Let me see if I care about not getting the Sochi Winter Olympics. Engaging the fuck-o-meter. One moment please.
BeepBeep Whirrrrrrr Pssssssssh Ping!
I'm getting 0.150 uF here. Not even a whole micro-fuck. I don't give a fuck. Not even if they have lugers getting killed by unguarded structural supports like in Vancouver. Hell, it's Sochi... they probably line the track with packs of hungry stray dogs or something and I still don't give a fuck.
I'd like to see some of that hotel room surveillance though. You would too and you know it.
Happy Friday.
Over-the-air broadcast?
Why do we keep using the term "cord cutter" for someone who cancels TV service but keeps their Internet? For most people in the US, the ISP and the TV provider are the same company. And there's only one option, for both. No competition. So very few people are sticking it to the man.
Please, just call these people what they are: TV unsubscribers. Ok, maybe that doesn't have the same ring to it. We can work on it. But "cord cutter" implies a far more drastic thing than what is happening.
Put that on your cable service and I'll subscribe.
Otherwise forget it.
Comcast bought out all of NBC... On top of that Comcast owns just about every, if not 95%, of cable companies in that state of Pennsylvania, and I would guess its the same thru out the country.
They are a monopoly, plain and simple, and they're trying to monopolize broadcasting networks such as NBC. The fact there trying to blackmail people back with something no one really watches, I believe this is illegal. I would be interested in the Olympic broadcast contract to see if NBC is suppose to provide all games on OTA channels, but can broadcast the games on alternate NBC owned channels. But I doubt the Olympic committee would do anything to void the contract.
The problem is no one cares about the Olympics, and the decision by NBC to buy a contract to broadcast something very few watch only shows how they ended up becoming bankrupt. And there coverage is so cheap when it comes to sporting events, with North American sporting events they aren't even wroth watching, let alone there cheap coverage of international sporting events.
NO. You are already being "given" (in exchange for advertising that you can easily, and legally, skip with a DVR) the broadcasts OTA. (and you can already easily use a Tivo & iPad app, or Slingbox, etc., to get your own recordings to your phone/tablet)
Why should someone run expensive servers for stuff they paid for, if they think they won't make money from it?
Pay someone to build a repeater, and license the content. If you couldn't access it before the cable converter giveaway, you lost nothing and deserve nothing.
I cut the cord a couple years ago, no cable & no TV even.
Why would it bother me that I can't get the Olympics? I made the decision not to bother with the propaganda machine and the BS "reality" crap on TV, and that would include the games at the "Colosseum" to distract the masses from the collapsing system and criminal "government" around them.
Just watch the OTA content. Even just a simple wire is often enough of an antenna.
And then the comments revert to duck beta, then go away, and no one really cares except for dice. So let it be.
also: fuck the beta
Seems as though some people forget you can still watch this over the air and that yes, in fact, there are DVRs that record OTA TV.
Every time I try to cancel my cable tv they tell me that it is cheaper to keep it.
Well what did you expect them to say. Tell them you are cancelling both services and you'll find that suddenly the price becomes more flexible.
care about the Olympics
hahahahah.. in a communist state, you wouldn't have slashdot because it would give a platform for people to question the will and motivations of state apparatchiks.
Ummm. Beta was the result of planning by a larger institution. In this case it happens to be a commercial institution. How do you expect a government agency to do better? Like all those government websites are so cool. :P
It's easier to be a result of the past, but more fun to be a cause of the future! http://www.spacefinancegroup.com/
Words to remember. If you are getting something for free, you are not the customer. You are the product.
It's easier to be a result of the past, but more fun to be a cause of the future! http://www.spacefinancegroup.com/
A requiem for slashdot...
You can get NBC for free over good old fashioned (actually in HD digital now) over the air free TV.
Greed is the root of all evil.
The IOC abandoned amateur athletics years ago. While I get that most of these sports are only watched once every four years, they are all "professionals."
Not all the sports have people that are paid enough to do their sport as a full-time job, ex. bobsled for most countries. The ones that are big enough, definitely have "professional" athletes. The ones that aren't big enough, are trying to get enough viewers to pay their athletes full-time.
Oh, and the new site sucks. Hate it.
Good will and sportsmanship my ass, the Olympics are all about the money.
As a cord-cutter, I simply decided I have no interest in watching anything that I'm getting snubbed from. I'm too busy anyway, it's a great excuse not to be watching TV. If it eventually shows up on Netflix, I might eventually watch it (but in the case of the Olympics, probably not). Otherwise, I don't care and it might as well not be happening. I didn't watch the Super Bowl, and I won't be watching the Olympics, and frankly, despite years of religiously thinking I always needed to watch major events like these, I don't miss either in the slightest. (Or the Grammys/Oscars, etc.)
If I'm curious about the ads from the Super Bowl, I can watch them on YouTube, if I don't get bludgeoned with them over and over for the next year anyway. (So far I don't care enough to even look, but isn't it sad that the commercial advertisements are like 10x more interesting than the actual event? Oh wait, the ads ARE the event, the whole reason they want you to watch, like with all television, it's just the Super Bowl is the only place that's made blatantly obvious...)
The digital signals don't reach this far (the analog used to), and no cable company serves the area. The only choice is satellite, and both of them are steadily raising prices.
Internet I have. Obviously. Over fiber-optic cable from the local Public Utility District.
The Olympics suck anyways.
Seriously. You can get some coverage OTA. No worries. If that's not compelling, it's not our job to pay NBC more. It's theirs to make the best of the material they signed a deal on.
Seems to me, writing an exclusive means they can deliver. What they are doing is trying to make the most money, not actually delivering the games.
And that's fair, but not my or your problem. And it's up to them to present value to the Olympics. If we don't watch, the games get less relevant, and at the end of the day, NBC didn't deliver.
Besides, the Russian stand on homophobia really doesn't add a lot of value there either. Tons of people aren't going to pay up, but they would watch and support athletes who worked hard to participate.
I'll gladly watch the games and view the ADS they deliver OTA. If they can't do that, they don't have me as a product to sell and I recommend you do the same.
Blogging because I can...
It's the old game all over again: If you have $$$$$ then you can fuck the prettiest girl on the stage.
It seems like there must be a better approach to an economy that creating artificial scarcity.
Proxy and Plex with BBC iplayer plugin or+ XBMC and BBC iplayer to watch on TV or just a web browser and BBC url. I worked from home today on East coast so I could watch the opening live. Took a whole 3 minutes to setup.
$50Billion to people on metal blades skate over the ice, gracefully - and a few other events that could be held in any decent mountain resort on earth. $50Billion that could have gone to improving Russia's infrastructure, or helping Russia's poor. I used to be an Olympic watcher, but I can't bring myself to care any more. No athletic event is worth that kind of money. It's obscene.
How much money can they get from people who subscribe for just one month every 2 years to watch the Olympics?
I've found four rather critical vulnerabilities in your new beta site.
I'm trying to decide whether to use them myself, or sell them and watch someone else wipe out the entirety of Slashdot.
You'd think a site for geeks would know better than to use insecure javascript.
Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
You almost got me there, but I was once tricked into clicking a link to meatspin from a /. link, so there's no way I'm going to click on a link to something called deadspin.
Fool me once, yadda yadda yadda.
Are any free to air satellite stations covering it?
If you couldn't access it before the cable converter giveaway, you lost nothing and deserve nothing.
I used to be able to get 12-18 stations over the air on analog (a few network repeats from different affiliates on there). I live 45 miles from one broadcasting area, 24 miles from another. There are no big mountains or anything like that involved here. But there are some hills, and this is the Plains.
I get zero stations now after the digital cutover. I could probably get some by erecting a really tall mast out back (25 feet or so up). But building laws require that if you erect a tower or anything else like that, it has to be short enough that if it falls over in any direction, it stays on your property. Hardly anyone has a lot that large for their home, and if they do they are using pay TV already.
Just pick an free EU stream http://www.olympic.org/sochi-b...
... is not to pay any attention at all to them.
Not only are there things much more deserving of your attention at the best of times when there are no scandals around "The Olympics" (as if), to support the IOC, their choice of country, their tacit approval of human rights violations in Russia, China, and elsewhere, the clusterf*** of corruption, bribery, waste, and wanton nationalistic tendencies is simply morally wrong and stupid. I feel sorry for some of the athletes who are being used as pawns, but they chose this.
If you have too much time on your hand, there are tons and tons of things you can do with it. If you really want to simply consume content, there is tons and tons of that stuff out there in the form of music, books, movies, tv shows, youtube, etc. -- much of it really quite a lot better than "The Olympics".
The FCC is toothless anyway. No need to involve those folk in folly like this. Well, maybe they need bribes too.
If you're that close and over flat terrain, you likely don't need something 25 feet up. You probably just need something in the attic or, possibly, attached to the side of the house, and the FCC overrides local government laws and HOA requirements for those. Search for "OTARD" on your favorite search engine. Feel free to contact me via the contact info on my website if you want more information on that or on local station availability or antenna recommendations.
And I should care why? I haven't given a rat fart about live sporting events in 15 years. The Olympics even more so.
My idea of entertainment and inspiration does not involve a week solid of constant displays of national, political, corporate, and marketing douche-baggery.
Capitalism is fine and dandy. I bought a TV that picks up digital signal. Now I can watch the OLYMPICS on NBC for FREE from my antenna TV, WHEE!
Who could give a shit if its not online? Geeks generally have only a mild interest in sports, anyway. I dig the snowboarders, but are they judged on tricks or tricks performed after a bathtub-bong hit? I bet they capitalized to get where they are today. Yes, capitalism is fucking awesome, makes me feel bad for the commie chumps who have to share EVERYTHING they work for with any lazy ass Negro who professes Mao. Bet they share their wives too and watch from the closet.
It is for the common good comrad, your wife is fertile and I have strong genes, you will make a good father for my quadroon bastard, FOR MARX, YES, OH MY GOD, SHES SQUEEZING IT, OH, OH, OH, YEAH.
Maybe the people will wake up to the fact that they don't need this crap.
I've made somewhat of a hobby of OTA TV, so maybe the problem is your antenna. It's possible that your local station transitioned to a UHF band and your antenna isn't appropriate anymore. You can check http://www.tvfool.com/index.ph... to see what you should be able to get.
70 miles is pushing it, but a large, directional antenna up in the air should be able to pull in your stations. I'm 31 miles from my NBC affiliate and my roof antenna pulls it in reliably. (I do have a UHF pre-amp on the antenna.) I even split my signal 4 ways to the 1 TV and 3 TV tuners in the house.
Maybe the stations are all UHF now and your antenna isn't? Really 24 miles is nothing in terms of broadcast.
So don't watch the games.
If a supplier sets their price, it's up to the customer to evaluate if the product is worth the money. I dumped my television altogether a decade ago and don't miss it at all (I do pay the ridiculous german fee for my radios though, since I value listening to the radio). Sportsbars and friend's houses are better options for watching sports anyway.
And what is the difference between OTA broadcast, and IP4 multicast streaming over adsl ?
Nothing.
But stupid bald 60year old execs and lawyers know jack.
Liberty freedom are no1, not dicks in suits.
6 live streams in AU
http://tenplay.com.au/sport/so...
No restrictions.
The IOC awarded broadcast rights to the 2014 Winter Olympics to Network Ten for AUD$20 million;
Only double what bigbrother costed. HA
NBC got ripped.
Liberty freedom are no1, not dicks in suits.
Get a usb stick of ebay to watch tv.
You cheap ass.
And you can hack the drivers to turn the stick into a SDR to receive all signals in raw from 54mhz to 1.2ghz and apply your own A-D converters and descramblers to listen to any signals of any type.
Go look it up!
SDR usb tv stick
Liberty freedom are no1, not dicks in suits.
It is difficult to find anything in Europe too. Most of the English-speaking sites give me a black box or a "not in your territory" message. But remember, it's all for the greater good, the community, and the sporting spirit, folks.
use the Stealthy add-on (or any of the host of others) and just stream it from the CBC
In SLC NBC's over the air HDTV signal missing. Rooftop antenna gets every channel but NBC. Made a quick foil and cardboard Yagi antenna and still get every local channel without pixelization, but not NBC. Caved and got Comcast to watch Olympics The Men's Downhill is only online. You must have Comcast to watch it online.
At least Comcast is month to month whereas a dish is 24 months. Sucks, but worth it to watch for us.
Arrr! Scurvy NBC thinks they can hid their signals smartly, do they? Thar be piracy afoot, sure as the tides! Avast!
If you leave near a place that has Aereo you should try it. Aereo lets you watch local over the air broadcasts online.
The coverage of the Olympics is awful. Please stop with the political crap. I want to see the best athletes compete, and am willing to wade through the ads because they pay for my viewing. NBC seems to be obsessed with gays, terrorists, cold war ideology, Putin as idiot, etc. Leave that to the politicos on your bozo station MSNBC. Many are critical of the Olympics for the political overtones. Those overtones are 90% the covering press.
NBC is free! Get an antenna you moron!
is this a thing? what's the reasoning behind this?
Er... wow.
I think the clue is in the word 'beta'. The whole point of this exercise is for users to help Slashdot iron out the kinks in the new design. As far as I'm aware, they are not forcing people to use the Beta site, and you can still use the 'classic' site in the meantime.
From an aesthetic viewpoint, it certainly doesn't look that bad - if it were faux-MySpace, I might be able to understand the anger. As it is, if you're really *that* opposed to change of Slashdot's look, either pitch ideas for a design that improves on how the site currently works, or help identify the problems with the proposed redesign. Clogging up the site with this neo-Luddite whinging will most likely get you nowhere, and if you decide to go elsewhere I suspect you won't be missed.
-MT.
And why is it that you are owed free content?
It's not about not having free access - it's not about having access period. I would have gladly paid for an online-only access, but there is no such option. I've tried signing up for a TV service with Comcast (which owns NBC) - not only I have to pay something like $70/month for huge package of channels I would never watch, but the only way to buy it is to sign up for installation of equipment for TV I do not own, and I would only get access when such equipment arrives - there is no option to sign up for online access and not have their cable equipment shoven down my throat.
P.S. I looked into using a Canadian VPN service, but had trouble getting www.cbc.ca olympic coverage to show up correctly on Linux. Now I am planning to watch Olympics on eTVnet - a Russian-language site in Canada, which, unlike NBC, is happy to take my money to provide me with access to content I want to watch.
who the fuck watches television?
If 30% cut the cord in 1 month, maybe that would the f'ers attention.
As citizens who financed the team and there facilities don't we have a right to the free internet feed who authorized NBC to censor the team feed.Off hand this is an illegal restriction that only the legislature could grant.
This is a play by Comcast to subvert the Internet. You're a twice-paying (and a third time paying by watching commercials). This 'check' to see if you're a paying cable subscriber is an attempt to destoy fundamental Internet freedoms.
NBC does not allow viewers without a TV subscription to pay to watch their Olympic coverage. I live in a rural area and don't have a cable subscription. I watch what I want to via streaming sites, and I pay for that service. As far as I know, NBC has no provision for people in this situation to even pay for watching their coverage of the Olympics.
Have you looked at the BBC, and CBC websites? Not only do the NBC commentator's give personal political opinions, they also think we all want to watch the same crap over instead of showing the Olympic coverage. Compare and share you greedy pricks.
With a 30 minute timer, replete with ads--and my head just exploded. If the Olympics are the world's games, all bidders should be forced to make content available to everyone, especially since the ads have already paid for it. What a travesty that in 2014 we can't freely watch the Olympics online. By allowing any blockage of games, the IOC is violating the following items within its own list of stated roles:
4. Cooperate with the competent public or private organisations and authorities in the endeavor to place sport at the service of humanity and thereby to promote peace
5. Take action in order to strengthen the unity, to protect the independence of the Olympic Movement, and to preserve the autonomy of sport;
6. Act against any form of discrimination affecting the Olympic Movement
15. Encourage and support initiatives blending sport with culture and education
Of course, how much should we expect from an organization that so freely issues DMCA take downs to non-licensed videographers and photographers of events; The IOC does after all play the role model for the brand of censorship which it would like others to follow.
Why is NBC just rebroadcasting in prime time EXACTLY what they showed on NBCSN earlier in the day? Isn't there enough content? I think there's plenty of events to cover.
This cord cutter gets beautiful, free, legal Olympics coverage over the air. The picture is better than cable picture, too! Love my Antenna!
Also I have tried the amplified antennas, even in the attic.
I even purchased a TV tuner card for my PC and tried that. Tried again with antenna in the attic. Tried with amplified antenna in the attic. Even PC cannot get a channel. I am in a little void of nothingness, and there are about 30 or so homes in the same situation (some on the fringes may get a couple of channels if they work at it, but I am right in the middle of purple on antennaweb).
I do live in a relatively flat area, but I had no trouble at almost 50 miles with an indoor antenna and a good amplifier. The indoor antenna was actually a broken outdoor antenna, hiding inside behind some furniture - facing an outward wall. Worked great. You might still have options.
I'd LOVE to pay for content. I'd love to pay NBC some money to see the Olympic events streamed online. But they won't take my money.
What I won't do is pay for 200 channels that I have no interest in so I can get the one or two that I want.
In fact, "channels" are obsolete. I don't want all the other crap that comes with a channel, I just want the particular shows or content I want.
But I would stoop to paying for the whole Olympics, even if I can't buy individual events.
PLEASE let me pay for the content I want!
What's most infuriating for me is that I pay Comcast (a lot) for a basic cable service. I don't really use it, but it makes the cost of internet cheaper. But apparently I don't pay enough because I still CANNOT WATCH THE OLYMPICS without upgrading my service to something ridiculous. What a bunch of greedy corporate @&%#heads.
My complaint is this: I get to watch 'olympians' go sledding really fast and watch people on skis hit a jump and go into full penguin mode, but for the lesser fortunate who can't afford cable, there is absolutely no hockey coverage, by far and away the best sport of the Olympics. 212-664-4444
I suggest calling NBC and voicing your displeasure much like I have.
It's not capitalism that has failed, quite the opposite; it is corporatism that has failed, and it has failed because corporatism is enabled by populist socialist control policies.
No cable where I am. Can't get it installed. (even Bell's excuse for TV over wire)
Can't receive NBC where I live.
Sochi didn't happen.