Olympics 2.0
Aug 16th, 2008 | By James Lewin | Category: Commentary, Internet TV, Streaming Video, VideoApophenia’s Danah Boyd has an interesting post on wanting Olympics 2.0:
Everything about how NBC has covered the Olympics has been abysmal.
I want an Olympics where the “best” is broadcast on TV, like now. But I also want an interactive version. Take gymnastics. I want to know on each apparatus who is up live. And I want to be able to switch between different cameras and choose my own view through the stadium so that I can watch whichever competitor I want. I want to be able to watch live, all day, on ALL sports (even judo and the other weird ones where Americans are not so present). I want interactive live and I want to be able to pull down and follow any individual Olympian or team through their events at a later point. I want the Olympics to be treated as a bunch of spliceable objects that I can remix live for my own viewing pleasure. And I want to be able to see it ALL. Is that that hard to ask for? Hell, I’d be willing to pay for such interactive watching options. And I’d certainly be willing to watch ads to see things LIVE. But boy does it annoy me to watch a “live” NBC broadcast that is already well reported on in the NYTimes.
So can I please have Olympics 2.0? And dear International Olympic Committee, please don’t sell exclusive rights to the next Olympics to an organization who is doing more to curtail and configure access than to engage the market the way that they want to be engaged. And NBC, would you stop being so antiquated and leverage new media for what it’s good for?
Boyd hits the nail on the head, and addresses the same concerns we’ve had about Olympic coverage – and the same things that are driving young people away from the Olympics.
We want the long tail. We want to filter the content ourselves. We want it on demand.
And frankly, if we can’t have that, we’re going to watch something else.
Did you check out TvTonic.com? Their plugin allows you to choose your sport, and you can view it at your leisure. Granted, it’s not every qualifying round of the more obscure sports, but it’s a start.
I have been shocked at the negative feedback you guys have been giving NBC for their coverage. I am Canadian and I have not been able to see anything on NBC, however the Canadian broadcaster has (from what I can see) a very similar setup and I’ve been loving it.
What really gets me is the New Media Expo was just held and unless I missed it, I did not see one post from you about how evil they are to charge for their audio archives or for not providing live streaming. Did I say this was the “New Media” Expo?
I love what you do here, but at least have some realistic expectations for the traditional media.
James –
You should check out the discussion on this post, then:
Is It Too Early To Declare NBC’s Online Olympic Coverage A Failure?