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TV’s Finest Hour
7/23/2012
In researching my
comments for this
column, I went back
and re-read my first
editorial covering the
Olympics, in 2002. Back
then, “file-based workflows,”
and “tapeless
production” were just
PR terms and HD was
still in its infancy.
Fast forward to 2012 and when it
comes to television’s biggest event, HD
is now a given, production capabilities
have expanded exponentially
with the adoption
of solid-state recording
and fiber distribution,
and concerns over accessibility
and copyright
have abated enough that
online streaming is now
becoming more acceptable.
In fact, this could be the
first Olympics in which the second
screen could, for the first time, effectively
compete for the majority of
eyeballs, at least in the U.S., with NBC’s
launch of “NBC Olympics Live Extra.”
The free app, available for smartphones
and tablets, will allow viewers to watch
every event of the Olympics live (more
the 3,500 hours), with full event replays,
alternate camera views and DVR capabilities
(along with pre-Games video on
demand, previewing the London Games
and reviewing Beijing 2008). The usual
caveats come into play—access to some
live streams and full event replays may be
determined by a subscriber’s cable, satellite
or telco TV subscription—
and viewers may have issues
with video quality during
high-profile events, a
sobering reality of
today’s broadband
environment. While
such an online service
was most likely
possible as recently
as two years ago with
the Winter Games in
Vancouver, one major element
was missing then—the
iPad.
And don’t forget social media. As recently
as two years ago, social media was
still considered an afterthought when it
came to allying with major media companies,
but this year, NBC is recognizing
the power and influence that goes with
having an audience of nearly 900 million,
teaming up with Facebook to produce
exclusive social media segments, news,
polls and images to engage Olympics fans.
The collaboration will mark the launch
of “Talk Meter,” a new Facebook tool that
will inform viewers about stories, results,
athletes and events that other Olympic
fans are talking about on Facebook.
The social media angle plays up an
important fact about the Olympics, something
forgotten in this age of on-demand,
time-shifted media consumption—like
any sporting event, the Olympics is at its
best, an experience shared with the rest
of the world in real time.
Nevertheless, it’s in the opinion of this
editor that, when all is said and done, the
Olympics is a television event, first and
foremost, in glorious high definition. And
that’s where I’ll be for the next fortnight.
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