August 22, 2008

So, the Pool & Gymnastics events @ Beijing 2008 are over and the Oldympics broadcast from NBC got pointless.

NBC, currently, is frantically rolling some Laura Wilkinson footage foretelling her last five dives in the 10m platform final. This would have been an emotional moment, something to behold and anticipate. But alas, Laura came 9th in the final 12 hours ago. Usain Bolt went 19.30, and NBC’ s Oldympics coverage has the audacity to pretend like it didn’t happen and “protect” its viewers from this groundbreaking news.

If this was 1995, they would have gotten away with this rubbish. But NBC is old school. For them, 70m users on average every night (did you manage to sustain that after day 12?) and making a $350m operating profit from $1BN in advertising sales is key to its survival. NBC is so desperate for validation in its industry and from its giant parent GE, that it will actually go to great lengths to deep six itself and lose the plot.

Yes, NBC played it safe and missed a huge opportunity to take notice of a connected world and respect the sophistication of its viewers. The 2mn videos per day on their silverlighted site and the monster traffic on YouTube and Yahoo sites validates their sophistication. If they had a global view of the world, they would have realized that they could have offered Olympic coverage on a number of delivery channels. Live, OnDemand, Web, Mobile, Print, RSS, Offline. The video could have taken media streaming to a whole new level with custom camera views, custom sport highlights, live feed reminders and more that my mind is surely missing.

There’s nothing wrong with an America standing still for a few minutes to watch a Track final and see something patriotic happen in real-time. It would be nice not to wake up in the morning and see the medals tally and wonder how we have such a bad Gold conversion rate vs. witnessing it live and understanding the heartbreak and nuances that can shatter an Olympic dream. If there’s one thing this country needs right now - it is energy and optimism.

The people of China are showered in their flags, winners & waves of patriotism. And it’s live. And for some insane reason, the IOC gave the Chinese broadcast rights to CCTV for $8.5M. Leaving CCTV laughing all the way to the bank and streaming events live on video on their website. Just like they streaming the final ascent of the Olympic torch onto Mount Everest.

Is this what it has come to? A relatively raw media company from China embracing the concept of the Olympics better than a media powerhouse like NBC? They keep mentioning that they want to preserve their sponsors values. That’s great. I wonder if they asked or even OFFERED any of their sponsors an online only package to “sponsor” a live feed of a particular event. This way Sponsor A can decide to broadcast ads to a live audience on the web and/or the “primetime” broadcast in the evening. Maybe they should have switched ON live coverage when Track & Field started and seen how it went with their audience.

Just like the concept of timezones is eroding in a global world, persisting with the concept of “primetime” is an insult to the American work ethic. People work different hours, days, weeks, months, regions all the time now. Let them stop and stare when they damn well please!

The reality is, without Phelps, Liukin & Johnson - NBC would have been BURIED with this strategy and Zucker would have been on the chopping block with Immelt wielding the knife. GE should wake up to the reality that NBC is a risk-averse monolith that has no intent to be in the top 2 of their industry.

Oh and Conan O’Brien, there’s still time, BAIL THE HELL OUT WHILE YOU STILL CAN! You deserve better.

NBC Lame

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