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Why does NBC make it so difficult to watch the Olympics?

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Re: Why does NBC make it so difficult to watch the Olympics?

#101

Post by sofixa »

egberts wrote: post #11

Not to mention that NBC not showing the proper flag for Taiwan as they reached third place overall gold medals. I’ve got better things to do than to watch state-sponsored selective narratives.

Taiwan isn't an officially recognised country, being the successor to the entity that was defeated in the Chinese Civil war. Both them and the other entity, the Chinese Communists, ( PRC) claim full sovereignty over the entirety of Chinese territory, including the island of Taiwan ( formerly Formosa). Almost every country in the world, and the UN, recognise the PRC as the singular China.

One day Taiwan should be recognised as its own independent and separate country due to reality, but the PRC is highly unlikely to allow that anytime soon.

Re: Why does NBC make it so difficult to watch the Olympics?

#102

Post by lotsofpulp »

jessaustin wrote: post #27
BLKNSLVR wrote: post #17

In Australia we have the 7Plus, or 7+, app which works with Android TV and allows you to choose from various sports that are currently live, plus replays. The app requires sign in via email address, which normally would turn me away, but it's worth it to burn a throw away email address for the sake of the Olympics. There's probably a geofence, butt if you can get an Australian exit node VPN then give it a bash. These…

I have signed into the "NBC Sports" app on Roku with my basic package Dish Network credentials, and that allows me to view any event live or on replay. This is in USA. I'm not sure what else we expect NBC to do here. I have watched canoeing, cycling, rugby, equestrian, TKD, sailing, etc. Of course their headline/primetime coverage is shit and doesn't know sports other than swimming and gymnastics exist. They have the…

> I'm not sure what else we expect NBC to do here.

Not tie it up with a Dish network subscription?

NBC (or rather Comcast) wants to get paid from all sides, advertisers, TV channel distributors, online streamers. That is why there is no banner on their website saying “pay $x and stream whatever Olympic event you want with NBC website/app”.

Actually, the answer to the thread title’s question is the fact that Comcast does not want to be reduced to a dumb pipe whose pricing can be easily compared to others.

Re: Why does NBC make it so difficult to watch the Olympics?

#104

Post by cad1 »

TchoBeer wrote: post #43
aninteger wrote: post #4

It's especially difficult to watch without paying. Over the air (or locast) is about the only option but that only provides highlights or coverage of shorter events. No broadcasting of football. There was supposed to be a free tier on Peacock but everything I've seen, outside of 2-4 minute clips, requires Peacock Premium.

Yes, and my experience with the <10 minute clips I did try to watch on Peacock turned me off from the service and the games in general.

It really is a mess. I subscribed to Peacock to watch the Tour de France and planned to the cancel when it was finished. The TdF coverage was good, so I decided I would keep the subscription to watch Olympic events. I wanted to watch USWNT last Saturday morning so I startup Peacock and find out it is not available on Peacock. I do some googling and find out it is on NBC Sports Network. I install NBCSN app and discover I can watch 30 minutes of the game until I must pay to join NBCSN. I gave up, deleted NBCSN and canceled Peacock. As you mention the <10 minutes clips are frustrating. On top of that, I didn't see anything that was streaming live. All of the content was 'Replay on date/time' at least 24 hours after the results were already in.

Re: Why does NBC make it so difficult to watch the Olympics?

#105

Post by js2 »

criddell wrote: post #83
JKCalhoun wrote: post #19

Just let me send you $20 for an Olympics "pass" and give me access to multiple streams so I can pick which events to watch — without commercials. Is that bad business? Because I'm afraid I am sitting out the Olympics this year. :-(

Doesn't the NBC Sports app give you pretty much what you are asking for?

No. There is literally no way to pay for an ad-free experience from NBC. The best you can do is subscribe to Fubo or YouTube TV and record everything using their cloud DVR feature, then forward through the ads.

But some events aren't on any of NBC's channels and can only be found at nbcolympics.com (which is the same as what's in the NBC Sports app) which feels like about 50% ad content.

To be clear: you have to pay to even access the content locked away in the NBC Sports App / nbcolympics.com by having a subscription via an NBC partner (YouTube TV, Fubo, traditional cable) for the privilege of watching an infuriating number of ads.

Worse, there's not even any ad variety. It's the same 3 or 4 ads, and the rest of the ad-space is filled with NBC self-promotional content. In some cases, NBC even shrinks down the live coverage to about 50% of the screen so that they can promote their peacock channel to you.

Re: Why does NBC make it so difficult to watch the Olympics?

#106

Post by lotsofpulp »

yellowfish wrote: post #96
rottencupcakes wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All I want to enjoy the olympics is a schedule of events in my local time and the ability to watch said events LIVE if I choose to. I tried searching for this when the olympics started and I gave up entirely. Is there any ability to get this?

nbc's website has both of those, thats what i've been using anyway

It is not clear to me that even paying for the online streaming option gives you the ability to watch any Olympic event at any time. I assume NBC does not want to give away everything online without a subscription to a cable/satellite TV provider, hence the obfuscation.

https://www.peacocktv.com/sports/olympics

> Can I watch the entire Tokyo Olympics on Peacock, including Opening and Closing Ceremonies?

>Peacock will show Tokyo Olympics highlights, including must-see moments from the Opening and Closing Ceremonies on NBC, as well as original documentaries, series, and specials. To watch more extensive coverage, such as the full Opening Ceremony, please tune in to the live broadcast on NBC.

> Live coverage, highlights, and commentary will also be available on the NBC App, NBCSN, the NBC Sports App, NBC's Tokyo 2020 Olympics App for TV, Olympics Channel: Home of Team USA, NBCOlympics.com, CNBC, GOLF Channel, and on the USA Network.

> *Only available for select providers. Call your cable company to see if you have access.

Re: Why does NBC make it so difficult to watch the Olympics?

#107

Post by mstade »

Discovery is the network broadcasting the Olympics here in Sweden, and they're doing an awful job as well. Especially the app is useless, with very annoying compression artifacts all over feeds with panning camera shots or even medium paced action. Trying to watch the new surfing event with all the white foam and waves was an exercise in patience for sure.

But the thing that really drives me up the walls is that the commentator feed on some (maybe all?) events is a second or so too early. The new skateboarding events were completely ruined by hearing the commentators reacting to falls etc, a second or so before you actually see it.

Re: Why does NBC make it so difficult to watch the Olympics?

#108

Post by matheusmoreira »

effingwewt wrote: post #93
sovnade wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even at an inflated rate of $50 per 1000 impressions (which is higher than most broadcast TV charges), $20 should let you bypass 400 commercials. It doesn't seem unreasonable to me.

Please Gods, no! Black Mirror is almost here. 'Just pay 100 merits to skip..Oh you've used all your skips this hour.' Beeeeeeeeep 'Resume viewing, resume viewing.

Why is this downvoted? This bleak future isn't too far off honestly. Can't wait until the advertisers start literally torturing us as punishment for withholding our attention. When I watched that episode for the first time I was horrified but reality is even worse: these people think we're literal criminals who are stealing from them if we don't watch ads.

Re: Why does NBC make it so difficult to watch the Olympics?

#109

Post by eplanit »

fireball_blaze wrote: post #51

On the modern Olympics: it helps to remember that it is now an advertising event that happens to have sports competitions.

I'm so done with the f-ing Olympics. They're just a vast marketing scam that countries and cities buy into -- often acting against the wishes of their own people. The cities that host them see more negative impact than positive; and, frankly, the coverage is boring.

After the last fiasco in Brazil, I was hoping it would drive a spike into the heart of the old relic -- maybe the tremendous loss on the investments in Tokyo will help it end . The summer games are the only ones any mass audience really cares about anymore, true?

Re: Why does NBC make it so difficult to watch the Olympics?

#110

Post by bdz »

JKCalhoun wrote: post #19

Just let me send you $20 for an Olympics "pass" and give me access to multiple streams so I can pick which events to watch — without commercials. Is that bad business? Because I'm afraid I am sitting out the Olympics this year. :-(

At least Eurosport does that in Europe, I paid €12.49 for an annual pass so it's valid for this Olympics and the winter too in February. And you can watch rewatch every single event

https://www.eurosportplayer.com/olympics

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