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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?

#191

Post by wombat-man »

ryandrake wrote: post #156
wombat-man wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah even watching gymnastics last night, they pretty much only show US competitors. At least with swimming they were forced to show other countries.

Even in events where they are forced, by the nature of the event, to show competitors from non-US countries, the announcers spend the entire event fawning all over the US competitors without pause or silence. While a non-US athlete is up there setting a new world record, NBC aims the camera at the US guy and says things like "It's a race for bronze, folks!"

yeah, I watched a swimming heat where the announcer was speaking as if it were even possible for the US swimmer to win and they got like 5th.

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

#192

Post by dtparr »

nrjames wrote: post #179
tedajax wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And if you don't have cable?

This is the problem I'm experiencing. The best I've found is fuboTV and it's not great. I don't have cable in my house. I'd be willing to pay NBC $100 for access to all of their live and on-demand olympic coverage (what's available through the website, etc.), but that's not even an option.

Can you not login to the nbc olympics site/app using your fuboTV login and get access to exactly what you're looking for? [0]

They also list youtube TV and Sling TV as login options.

[0] - Literally asking, as I can see they're available as sign-in TV Providers, but can't test it without a sub.

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

#193

Post by dehrmann »

lotsofpulp wrote: post #71
bko wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The "competition" isn't other broadcasts of Olympics. It's netflix, xbox, twitter and other sports options. It definitely does matter how well they do their actual job, and right now they're failing.

ATT is not comparable to NBC. ATT has a structural monopoly, without which society cannot communicate. NBC is a glorified ad broker, and they could fall off the face of the earth and no one would notice. Of course, they are owned by Comcast, who is in similar position as ATT, so I assume Comcast is just milking these legacy companies for all they are worth. My solution is to simply not watch. If consuming entertainme…

In the case of a single program that's broadcast, they're somewhat comparable since NBC has a monopoly on the Olympics.

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

#194

Post by jazzyjackson »

egberts wrote: post #169
UncleMeat wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd wager that the "complaining about downvotes generates downvotes" effect is a bigger cause at this point.

We have a phrase for that: “Streisand Effect”.

That’s when people want to see something you’re trying to hide. The downvote effect is when your content is hidden because you want it to be seen. So I might dub it the Anti-Streisand effect.

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

#195

Post by jessaustin »

lotsofpulp wrote: post #181
jessaustin wrote: post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, sure, we all wish we were living in the future. In the meantime, someone has to pay for the cameras and streaming. I agree that no one should pay for some of the "personalities" involved in some of the NBC coverage. You've implied that the currently available terms of payment are not appealing to you. However, lots of real people still have subscriptions to cable, satellite, Hulu, Sling, etc.

The only way we get to the future is if sufficient people stop rewarding the unnecessary middlemen. I am just trying to do my part.

Olympics is already on thin ice. Everyone involved is losing big money on it this time around, and the locals are in revolt. If they can't find more cities foolish enough to host, Olympics will be toast. Future host cities will demand more money from networks up-front. At some point they're just going to drop the whole thing and fill the airtime with minor league women's soccer or rollerblade lacrosse or something.

Sure, Olympics started without television networks and it could continue without them, broadcasting over YouTube or whatever. However the show would be very different. We'd still have track and field, but basketball would be played without pros, many fewer "weird" sports and many fewer events in some of the overdone sports like swimming. Which could be OK...

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

#196

Post by giarc »

secabeen wrote: post #188
giarc wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But aren't most sporting calendars built around the Olympics? I'm not talking MLB, NBA etc, but all other sports (athletics, swimming, gymnastics etc) have their World Cups and qualifying etc scheduled specifically to prepare for the Olympics.

The US pro sports are the tail that wags the dog.

Sure but let's look at a few.

NBA - just finished season, many players, even those that played in the playoffs have made the trip to Toyoko. So seems like the NBA could continue to supply players for the Olympics.

Golf - they could continue to play at the Olympics since an event could easily be scheduled for a Thursday-Sunday as usual.

MLB - no event

NHL - winter event that has supplied players, but it is an issue as the Olympics occur right in the middle of their season.

NFL - no event

Tennis/ATP - super long season normally, could make it a Grand Slam event, or a 1000 event and schedule into season every 4 years. One difficult thing is that doubles teams aren't always from same country. So they would need to mix and therefore affect rankings.

I think it could easily be done for most leagues. The issue is money. The NBA/NHL/PGA/ATP have no immediate financial motivation for sending their players but carry risk in that players can get injured. However, if they see the Olympics as a new source of fans (and therefore income) it could be a win-win.

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

#197

Post by zeruch »

Parent firm Comcast sets the bar for abject trash customer care; given NBC was never well managed for at least the last 15-20 years, its surviving on a back catalog of content, and periodic strangle holds on stuff like the Olympics, which it strip-mines for ad rev.

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

#198

Post by kuraudo »

Very interesting; I wonder if the reported viewership dropoff is because the numbers come from cable viewership numbers only, drop in interest in the Olympics in general, or what this article is talking about regarding making it so hard to actually watch.

For myself, the only reason I was reminded the Olympics were a thing was because of articles like this.

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

#199

Post by Spare_account »

tedajax wrote: post #162
lake_vincent wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed - just log into app via cable provider and voila, Olympic paradise.

And if you don't have cable?

VPN to the UK and watch BBC coverage?

I'll admit that I don't know if that works or not, I'm in the UK so I'm spoiled by wall-to-wall BBC coverage.

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