NBC Lawyers In Panic Mode, Scrambling To Stamp Out Web Olympics Feeds (Dinosaur Media DeathWatch™)

Silicon Valley Insider ^ | August 8, 2008 | Henry Blodget

[abb]

We view the Olympics as a global sporting tradition and consider ourselves citizens of the world, so we don't have much patience with country-specific broadcasting rights. Thus, we're happy that we (and you) can watch the Olympics live right here on on SAI.

(Frankly, we wish we could watch the Olympics on NBCOlympics.com, because their feed is marvelously crisp, but of course NBC is doing everything it can to prevent that. Specifically, NBC is trying to make us watch tonight, on tape delay, when the opening cermonies will be as stale as yesterday's bread. And when they do broadcast events on NBCOlympics.com, of course, they're not about to let us embed them.)

NBC views the 2000+ year-old global Olympic tradition as its own personal entertainment show and is therefore doing everything it can to prevent you (and us) from watching them live. For example, check out these takedown notices on veetle.com:

[abb]

"By the end of this decade or shortly thereafter, television networks as we know them today will cease to exist. They will be just another url on the world wide web competing against millions of others."

"Network evening newscasts will go dark after the '08 elections and their news divisions disbanded."

Walter Abbott, 1950 -

[abb]

ping

[1rudeboy]

I don’t know if broadcasting the Olympics is in danger of extinction, but the “American” model of broadcasting the Olympics is as doomed as a dinosaur wondering what that flash in the sky was all about.

[Texas Songwriter]

Shouldn’t Mr.Obama, self-described Citizen of the World, be in Bejiing to see his constituents. He could stay there for the 3 weeks of the games.

[lafroste]

Mrs. Lafroste was apoplectic about this. She got up to watch the Olympics at 5:30 AM and could not believe that NBC would do such a callous thing. She is actively searching for any kind of feed to get around those idiots.

[abb]

Check out the sites listed on Blodget’s blog.

[TomGuy]

Another link that has a few video feeds from other countries is:

http://watch-olympics-online.co.cc/

==

I checked the NBC schedule. Their coverage, again, seems to be pathetic.

I got aggravated at their last 2 — they would show some events up until the finals, then cut away.

Several times, they only returned for the winners receiving the flowers. We missed the actual finales of the events.

And, their delayed broadcasts made events ‘old news’.

Maybe there will be more internet feeds showing events in real time.

[Dr. Sivana]

Shouldn’t Mr.Obama, self-described Citizen of the World, be in Bejiing to see his constituents.

Constituents, heck, he has family there too! He can catch up with his brother who lives in Red China!

[Enchante]

I haven’t tried this yet myself - but it looks like a way to get a lot of coverage that might not all be televised - but you have to install a plug-in for Windows Media Center?

http://www.tvtonic.com/olympics/install/

[Coffee200am]

I haven’t watched NBC in years. Nor cBS or ABC.

[Enchante]

hmmmm..... says it requires MS Vista and is for the USA only.... those are pretty big restrictions!!!

I’m on XP Professional so I guess I won’t be trying this......

[hotshu]

I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if he turned up there. It’s awfully suspicious for him to “vacation” at this particular time.

I mean, from his perspective, what would be better than a worldwide stadium of adoring followers giving him his new “I’ve accomplished ZERO, bur elect me anyway” salute.

[Milhous]

"Bugler's Dream" soundtrack for any new media netizens who want to produce their very own Olympics.

[Texas Songwriter]

wouldn’t be a bit surprised if he turned up there. It’s awfully suspicious for him to “vacation” at this particular time.

That is one thing that makes me believe Mr.Obama, and the DNC, and the comments of Don Fowler, that the timeing of this release was coordinated for minimal politial impact. The problem is, Mr.Edwards has not been candid, thorough, and continues to lie about this sordid affair.

[RoseofTexas]

Oh hell I saw the Olympics opening ceremonies LIVE this morning on the AZTEC channel....heehehehe TAKE THAT STUPID NBC!!

[UB355]

I was curious and signed up on NBCOlympics.com for a limited number of sporting events. Of course everything will be fed after the broadcast events. I am curious if I can escape all the personal story non sense

[longtermmemmory]

can we have a list of all the links and a real time schedule?

I remember watching the 2004 olympics free of the NBC manure and it was fantastic. Just sports no mouse abuse.

[BigSkyFreeper]

NBC on the one hand is behaving as badly as the host country's government, while putting a positive spin on that behavior as to suggest nothing wrong is going on. While the rest of the world watches the Olympics in the 21st Century with all the technological advances to go along with the time changes, NBC insists on staying in a time warp in the mid-20th Century ca. 1950.

[BigSkyFreeper]

I also find it irresponsible that NBC’s lawyers think that NBC and Universal Pictures owns the internet by stamping out anything that threatens their cash flow.

[petitfour]

I should have been more enterprising last night and found a Live feed for the Opening Ceremonies LIVE. I was so ticked off with NBC for not offering a LIVE feed via the internet. I watched the women’s gymnastics podium training live the other night, and it was great. No commentary. Just the camera guys and the gymnasts doing their thing. I thought that NBC had finally gotten it and that they would be showing lots of events live via the website. No such luck. Tonight, I watched the LIVE results of the men’s gymnastics qualification round. They won’t be showing the actual film footage on NBC until Saturday night. By that time, the women’s team will be about to compete in their qualification round. We won’t be able to see that until Sunday night.

Oh well. I won’t be watching their coverage on television. Who wants to see a sporting event that happend half a day before?????? (unless it’s Alabama football, and I confess that I have watched a few games after they were over.)