Incontinent_dog_and_monkey_rodeo: NBC's problem is that they are utterly unable to reconcile the idea of a tape delay with the need to be first to break news to people. If you are trying to have any drama in your broadcast at all, you can't go around spoiling the ending for people first.

I think these Olympics have shown that there are a ton of people out there who just. don't. care. They just want to watch the events, regardless of whether or not they know the outcome. avoidingMany events were shown live in primetime in Beijing. I know the swimming finals were all moved to the morning at 8 or 9 (rather than the evening when they're usually held) specifically so they could be aired live at 8 or 9 pm EST. But this year's ratings have been higher, so far, despite every single event being aired on tape delay.

There are also a surprising number of people who are capable of avoiding spoilers. My wife and I watched Olympic coverage for most of the day yesterday, with me cruising Fark and Deadspin and other sports sites while she was on Facebook and Pinterest and whatever else she does. She wasn't intentionally avoiding spoilers, she just doesn't frequent the news and sports sites like I do.

I think the internet (especially Fark and Twitter and the like) often serves as an echo chamber where like-minded people come together to biatch about things and then they begin to believe that "well, if everybody here hates it, so must everybody else" without realizing that the vast majority of Americans DON'T spend all day on Fark and DON'T spend all day on Twitter and are perfectly oblivous to what's happening in the world until they come home. And, as it turns out, that group of people is, if not the majority, than certainly the plurality when it comes to this type of event.

Sure, NBC's decisions are going to piss off those people who either can't avoid spoilers or who can't enjoy the event once they know the end. But those people are in the minority. And if NBC did try to keep results off of its sites, people would just laugh at them for trying to ignore the news and they would lose page views/revenue. Once they've decided to tape delay, they're in a no-win situation when it comes to reporting the results.

consider this: Carth: Thank god I'm in Canada for this olympics and don't have to deal with NBC

CBC isn't showing the games at all and TSN is showing 9 hours of coverage per day. Go ahead and tell me how that's even close to what NBC is offering.

I can watch every single event live without a cable subscription online or through ATV.

Passive Aggressive Larry: To any Americans out there dissatisfied with NBC's coverage, or just wanting to watch the games online without having to farking sign in, I have the solution. Install Expat Shield(which assigns you a UK IP address), and watch everything for free on BBC.com.

You're welcome.

Until we overload BBC's streaming capabilities and they decide to cut off ExPat Shield's IP address ranges, of course.

The fun part of hearing NBC scream "WE GOT RATINGS, SO SUCK IT!" is that, as more folks figure out how to escape NBC's "strap the rat cage on your face" exclusivity, their ratings will continue to drop. Their ratings have already dropped, actually, but they will continue to fall as hostility mounts over NBC's dinosaur business model.

This farce goes on for three weeks. Let's see what NBC has to say in week 3.

consider this: Carth: The problem is they don't show certain big event during their "live coverage"

All events are available live online.

If you pay for a cable subscription.

NBC is now reporting that the Germans have surrendered... We won!

consider this: MSNBC - Olympics 9am to 6pm
CNBC - Olympics 5pm to 8pm
Bravo - Olympics 7am to 3pm
NPCSP Olympics 4am to 8pm
OSOCC - Olympics 12 am to 12am
OBASK - Olympics 12am to 12am

How horrible, right?

CNBC - only taped boxing
Bravo - only tennis
NBCSP - don't get it depsite getting all the other channels on this list
OSOCC - yesterday was showing repeats of soccer games all day long on the off day and I'm assuming will continue doing so, doesn't start live until 9:30 AM, cool shiat goes down before then, ends 4:30 PM, still a few things going on then
MSNBC - doesn't start until 9AM, often shows the exact same thing that's on the soccer of basketball channel
OBASK - doesn't start until 8:30 AM

Passive Aggressive Larry: To any Americans out there dissatisfied with NBC's coverage, or just wanting to watch the games online without having to farking sign in, I have the solution. Install Expat Shield(which assigns you a UK IP address), and watch everything for free on BBC.com.

You're welcome.

Honest question. You don't find that a little bit skeevy? I mean, the BBC is a service that is paid for by British citizens. They have to have a TV license ($240/yr) to watch it (on TV or online) or they can be fined $1,500. Spoofing your IP to watch BBC programming is basically the 21st century equivalent of stealing cable.

4NSpy: Oh, and NBC needs to stop doing this....

That was unreal to watch. I still watched the event, sports fanatic that I am, but still.

TheJoe03: They were honoring the victims from Britain's worst terrorist attack which happened in 2005. That's like asking why someone would care if the UK refused to show a 9/11 tribute, get a clue.

Maybe he/she was thinking of one minute of silence --very common at English football matches-- to remember the deaths of the Israeli athletes in Munich 1972, which was ixnayed by the London 2012 people, allegedly under pressure from Arab countries.

My boss is really cool and I had a tab on my browser showing the rowing events (men and women's). When I had nothing to do, I'd watch, then when work came in, I'd tab out. The stream was crystal clear, only a few iffy moments and since I don't listen to announcers in any sport and always turn the sound off when watching sports, it was win-win.

Is it me, or are there less "Melissa caught a cold when she was 12, this is her inspiring story of triumphing over adversity!!!" type things on the main NBC coverage?

Being a big Track and Field guy my fear is that NBC won't allow ANY coverage of T&F during the day. Then at night, all i'll get is 3-4 heats of men's and women's 100's and 200's.

Carth: If you pay for a cable subscription.

Well I guess only 85% of the country is covered then.

consider this: Well I guess only 85% of the country is covered then.

Oh the cable subscription must include MSNBC and CNBC. And not all do.

consider this: Carth: Thank god I'm in Canada for this olympics and don't have to deal with NBC

CBC isn't showing the games at all and TSN is showing 9 hours of coverage per day. Go ahead and tell me how that's even close to what NBC is offering.

Sure but you also have TSN2, CTV, Sportsnet, OLN, plus the fact that overnight CTV shows things LIVE. Not to mention all the French stuff etc if you are into that.

consider this: Carth: If you pay for a cable subscription.

Well I guess only 85% of the country is covered then.

MSNBC is considered a higher tier channel on many cable subscriptions. if you don't have MSNBC you don't get access to the online streams. Cutting off millions of Americans because they don't want to pay $80 a month for cable is ridiculous and NBC is the only carrier in the world who is doing it.

consider this: Carth: Thank god I'm in Canada for this olympics and don't have to deal with NBC

CBC isn't showing the games at all and TSN is showing 9 hours of coverage per day. Go ahead and tell me how that's even close to what NBC is offering.

Why would you lie like that? You know full well that CTV and Sportsnet in addition to TSN are showing Olympic coverage from the beginning to the end of the the day.

carnifex2005: consider this: Carth: Thank god I'm in Canada for this olympics and don't have to deal with NBC

CBC isn't showing the games at all and TSN is showing 9 hours of coverage per day. Go ahead and tell me how that's even close to what NBC is offering.

Why would you lie like that? You know full well that CTV and Sportsnet in addition to TSN are showing Olympic coverage from the beginning to the end of the the day.

Maybe he's just really into Little Mosque on the Prairie and doesn't know a channel other than the mother network?

carnifex2005: Why would you lie like that? You know full well that CTV and Sportsnet in addition to TSN are showing Olympic coverage from the beginning to the end of the the day.

Are they showing more than NBC? If you're going to claim that they are, be prepared to provide proof.

consider this: carnifex2005: Why would you lie like that? You know full well that CTV and Sportsnet in addition to TSN are showing Olympic coverage from the beginning to the end of the the day.

Are they showing more than NBC? If you're going to claim that they are, be prepared to provide proof.

They showed diving, gymnastics and swimming live today. NBC didn't.

consider this: carnifex2005: Why would you lie like that? You know full well that CTV and Sportsnet in addition to TSN are showing Olympic coverage from the beginning to the end of the the day.

Are they showing more than NBC? If you're going to claim that they are, be prepared to provide proof.

http://www.ctvolympics.ca/viewers-guide/day/2012-08-01/timezone/mdt/i n dex.html here you go, you will notice the large amount of LIVE programming. on various networks.

Passive Aggressive Larry: To any Americans out there dissatisfied with NBC's coverage, or just wanting to watch the games online without having to farking sign in, I have the solution. Install Expat Shield(which assigns you a UK IP address), and watch everything for free on BBC.com.

You're welcome.

Muchas gracias, danke, y gratis. Oh, and thanks!

Carth: They showed diving, gymnastics and swimming live today. NBC didn't.

Yes they did, I watched it.

consider this: Carth: They showed diving, gymnastics and swimming live today. NBC didn't.

Yes they did, I watched it.

how much were you able to see live?

consider this: Carth: They showed diving, gymnastics and swimming live today. NBC didn't.

Yes they did, I watched it.

The Olympics thread today was full of Americans complaining NBC wasn't showing swimming and gymnastics live on tv and they were forced to watch online with a 30 delay and no HD. You must have different television channels than everyone else which is great for you not so much for other people.

Why is it so hard for you to admit that other countries are covering the Olympics better than NBC?

BTW you can watch replays on NBC's site of everything. Except gymnastics and diving, even though they claim you can watch any replay at any time.

Carth: Why is it so hard for you to admit that other countries are covering the Olympics better than NBC?

Sounds like a shill to me.

Successful troll may be successful, but one of the big deal-breakers is that CTV's online streaming coverage is available to everyone in Canada - not just those with a cable subscription.

rugman11: Passive Aggressive Larry: To any Americans out there dissatisfied with NBC's coverage, or just wanting to watch the games online without having to farking sign in, I have the solution. Install Expat Shield(which assigns you a UK IP address), and watch everything for free on BBC.com.

You're welcome.

Honest question. You don't find that a little bit skeevy? I mean, the BBC is a service that is paid for by British citizens. They have to have a TV license ($240/yr) to watch it (on TV or online) or they can be fined $1,500. Spoofing your IP to watch BBC programming is basically the 21st century equivalent of stealing cable.

Oh I know full well that it's not ethical. But I just want to watch the damn Olympics. I don't have cable, or access to a TV that gets NBC.

So unless you can point to somewhere else I can watch the games live online, and legally for free, I'm going to use this program for another two weeks to enjoy these wonderfully hosted Olympics through BBC's enjoyable and comprehensive coverage, paid for by the United Kingdom and it's friendly, generous people. When the Olympics are over, I will uninstall it and never use it again, that's a promise.

Passive Aggressive Larry: rugman11: Passive Aggressive Larry: To any Americans out there dissatisfied with NBC's coverage, or just wanting to watch the games online without having to farking sign in, I have the solution. Install Expat Shield(which assigns you a UK IP address), and watch everything for free on BBC.com.

You're welcome.

Honest question. You don't find that a little bit skeevy? I mean, the BBC is a service that is paid for by British citizens. They have to have a TV license ($240/yr) to watch it (on TV or online) or they can be fined $1,500. Spoofing your IP to watch BBC programming is basically the 21st century equivalent of stealing cable.

Oh I know full well that it's not ethical. But I just want to watch the damn Olympics. I don't have cable, or access to a TV that gets NBC.

So unless you can point to somewhere else I can watch the games live online, and legally for free, I'm going to use this program for another two weeks to enjoy these wonderfully hosted Olympics through BBC's enjoyable and comprehensive coverage, paid for by the United Kingdom and it's friendly, generous people. When the Olympics are over, I will uninstall it and never use it again, that's a promise.

That's cool. I just saw Lifehacker post an article on how to do this today and it left me with a bad taste in my mouth as if, like I said, they had written article on how to steal your neighbor's cable.

I'm a Canadian who gets both NBC and good coverage.

When you watch American coverage it's almost like the piped in idiot broadcasters don't know it's not the American nationals, that's how little you see or hear of non Americans.

Representative of the unwashed masses: how much were you able to see live?

I only watched for a short time but the all of the events were shown in their entirety.

propasaurus: consider this: Representative of the unwashed masses: how much were you able to see live?

I only watched for a short time but the all of the events were shown in their entirety.

[img4.imageshack.us image 408x307]

almost perfect...





ah that's better

propasaurus: consider this: Representative of the unwashed masses: how much were you able to see live?

I only watched for a short time but the all of the events were shown in their entirety.

[img4.imageshack.us image 408x307]


Nice!

/I'll admit, having NBC on my channel list is nice for when there are breaks in the live marquee events (on CTV, TSN, V), since they're usually showing Americans competing in less popular sports (Handball, waterpolo, etc...), so it's a fun change of pace.
//CTVOlympics.ca is kick-ass, though, since everything is Live on-demand for free, w/o sub

I like the fact it's on tape delay. Just like it has been since 2000 (when most people? started having access to the net) for every winter or summer Olympics when needed. Even if I wanted to watch it during the day, I'm not going to get more than a few minutes before I have to work again. Who are these people complaining about what amounts to a Broadway production not being live? Besides, I would rather watch on my big screen than on a computer or a mobile phone. But then again, I am an old fart.

ole prophet: WhyteRaven74: downstairs: From what I've heard Neilsen and all that is pretty behind the times.

They are hugely behind the times. And TV networks love to whine that they can't track online viewing. Even though they can record every IP address that connects to their servers to watch a program, which means they can know exactly how many people are watching. This in comparison to using statistical extrapolation to figure out TV viewers. It's not an issue with the ratings system being flawed, it's that the people at the networks are complete idiots.

If they did that, they would have to actually admit how many people were (or more likely weren't) watching. That would drive down advertising dollars.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

rugman11: Passive Aggressive Larry: rugman11: Passive Aggressive Larry: To any Americans out there dissatisfied with NBC's coverage, or just wanting to watch the games online without having to farking sign in, I have the solution. Install Expat Shield(which assigns you a UK IP address), and watch everything for free on BBC.com.

You're welcome.

Honest question. You don't find that a little bit skeevy? I mean, the BBC is a service that is paid for by British citizens. They have to have a TV license ($240/yr) to watch it (on TV or online) or they can be fined $1,500. Spoofing your IP to watch BBC programming is basically the 21st century equivalent of stealing cable.

Oh I know full well that it's not ethical. But I just want to watch the damn Olympics. I don't have cable, or access to a TV that gets NBC.

So unless you can point to somewhere else I can watch the games live online, and legally for free, I'm going to use this program for another two weeks to enjoy these wonderfully hosted Olympics through BBC's enjoyable and comprehensive coverage, paid for by the United Kingdom and it's friendly, generous people. When the Olympics are over, I will uninstall it and never use it again, that's a promise.

That's cool. I just saw Lifehacker post an article on how to do this today and it left me with a bad taste in my mouth as if, like I said, they had written article on how to steal your neighbor's cable.

I would be willing to pay the equivalent of the licensing fee to be able to get full BBC services in America. I'd like to be able to watch Doctor Who and F1 live and commercial-free. But there are so many farking rights issues that it can't happen, so I will continue to put on an eyepatch and watch things through other means.

Passive Aggressive Larry: To any Americans out there dissatisfied with NBC's coverage, or just wanting to watch the games online without having to farking sign in, I have the solution. Install Expat Shield(which assigns you a UK IP address), and watch everything for free on BBC.com.

You're welcome.

Thank you, belatedly.

I less than three you.

Can't wait to watch the tape-delayed highlights of Janet Evans' gold-winning swim...tonight on NBC!

pisceandreamer: Guess no one should be particularly shocked that NBC is more concerned with shareholders than customers.

The problem is, we as consumers are not NBC's customers. Advertisers are NBC's customers and the viewers are simply decorations to show off. Their business plan is actually kind of genius because they require exactly zero approval from the public at large to continue doing business however the fark they want. The only way to get back at NBC is to stop watching it. Forever. And I know people don't have the discipline to do that with any continuity.

I'll say it again, VPN using ExpatShield or TunnelBear, visit BBC site and click on the London 2012 section, enjoy the iPlayer coverage of everything in all its non-NBC glory. Soon my fellow Americans...soon we will have stuff of our own like this that doesn't suck.

consider this: Representative of the unwashed masses: how much were you able to see live?

I only watched for a short time but the all of the events were shown in their entirety.

I guess when you work at NBC, you can watch it live.

I wonder how Apple or Google would have broadcast it.

That question alone should get this dipshiat to change his tune. If you are going to force us to "enjoy" one of the worlds great spectacles with 20 year old formats and delivery vehicles, you might want to actually PRETEND to care about something other than yourselves.

These are NOT NBC's olympics, they don't belong to them.

/ "its not everyones right to get whatever they want" has no business in any entertainment company's mindset. Its kind of the goal. And it is possible.
// Then again, NBC isnt really into entertaining anyone, now, are they?

eh just download the ctv olympics app

i watched fencing live on it the other day

Watch.

After the Olympics, NBC will admit to messing this up, and the ONLY solution will be PPV next time around to help pay for improvements.