Watch the Olympics online…sort of
The Olympics are always an exciting time when the world unites in the spirit of athleticism and personal triumph. In recent memory, the spectacle has always been shown via TV coverage, however, with events taking place at various times during the day, how is a TV station supposed to keep up?
I can see it now…
In a stuffy boardroom, scores of executives are pining for a chance to showcase their brilliance amongst their peers and make NBC look even more dreamy to the masses. “Pay-per-view package in HD!” shouts a bald head from the far corner.
Groans, mumbles…
“The Internet Superhighway!” stammers a shy 50-something almost falling out of his chair. Eureka! How about in addition to dreamy Bob Costas’ mind be-numbing insights and commentary every night after 7 PM, the games taking place during the day can be broadcast via the internet? Internet video is catching on, right? What about that YouTube thing that’s so popular?
Brilliant idea, mediocre execution.
When I first heard the Olympics were going to be broadcast over the internet via a NBC-hosted site, I got pretty excited…seriously. Internet video is gaining steam and I really think it will change the face of entertainment in that the majority of it is:
- free
- user-created
- able to be commented on
- increasing in quality
There are so many fine examples of internet video done right:
- Truveo- aggregates video from multiple sources like YouTube and MSN
- The Netflix video player for Netflix subscribers (which will soon be on Xbox)
- Joox- provides DVD-quality streams for hundreds of movies and documentaries
So why then, does NBC’s version of live, online Olympics coverage leave a salty, bitter taste in my mouth akin to swallowing a baby slow loris? Because the potential was so immense and they dropped the ball, corporate partnerships and advertising taking a front seat to ease of use and overall performance.
Going to NBCOlympics.com is like looking at a Cubist abstract. There are so many taskbars and buttons and “Watch the latest blah blah blah” that the whole thing comes off as shoddy. But what about the actual live video, isn’t that the meat and potatoes? Of course. To their credit NBC, does do a fine job of alerting the user when events will go live, but once the event is live, you’d wish for a TV. Here’s why:
- A download of Microsoft Silverlight is required. Why? Because NBC and Microsoft are having an affair and we all have to pay the nanny.
- Every time you click on an additional event, this annoying high-school outcast has to spend a minute to tell you why GE is an innovator. What a cheap trick.
- There is no commentary, but rather a text window that pops up with what appears to be the cue cards for commentators to read. Am I supposed to read the commentary aloud to myself? Is this the supplement to fill the void only a middle-aged, non-regional, perfectly-coiffed host can fill? It looks like NBC is paying some junior varsity coach from Duluth to type in commentary while he has free time.
- Frequently freezes and buffers.
- No full-screen. There’s just no excuse for this, even if it was 2 years ago.
I was hoping for something like Livenewscameras.com. An easy-to-use, light app that delivers high-quality video at the click of a mouse. Instead, we have a ho-hum outing that could have been way better. I do like some of the site’s features though. The 4-screen picture-in-picture was a neat idea and the presence of the Highlights section to give casual viewers (like myself) a quick re-cap of what the big events were is a welcome addition. But ultimately, there are serious shortcomings here that sorely need attention the next time around.
Tags: olympics, online video
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