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Can NBC Stage a Leak-Proof Olympics?
Competition at this summer's games will not only be between athletes on the field, but between the old and new media for control of the sights and sounds of this feverishly watched global production. It seems the Web -- and the immediacy and enhanced control it gives users over when and how they receive information -- was more than the International Olympic Committee wanted to deal with this time around.
By
Nico Detourn (TMF Nico)
August 21, 2000
Question: What do you get when you cross the Internet -- the world's most pervasive communications medium -- with the International Olympic Committee (IOC), sponsor of the world's largest regularly scheduled spectacle?
Answer: Another demonstration of the clash between business as usual and new technology as increasingly commonplace.
At this summer's Olympic Games in Sydney, the competition will not only be between the athletes on the field, in the pool, and at the tennis tables, but between the old and new media over control of the sights and sounds of this most-watched global production.
And when it comes to new media, the IOC and NBC Sports -- which has exclusive broadcast rights to the Games -- are hoping the Internet will follow the rules of information-exclusivity that work well offline but that the online medium has shown itself quite resistant to.
Television coverage by NBC, a unit of General Electric (NYSE: GE), will surely offer a high-tech, pulse-quickening extravaganza of sound and vision. But if things go off as planned, official coverage on the 'Net will be limited to the NBCOlympics.com site, which has been developed by online sports network Quokka (Nasdaq: QKKA), with no live online coverage, and delayed online coverage limited to high-speed connections.
"The Internet is a different medium."
The reasons for the online restrictions are no mystery. With NBC having paid $705 million for the right to air the games first and in their entirely, any Olympic coverage that leaks out through other channels becomes old news by the time it hits NBC's prime time airwaves. As a result, the 15-hour time difference between Australia and the U.S. means substantial delays (in some cases up to a full day) between events Down Under and their broadcast to Stateside sports fans.
In contrast, print media have essentially unrestricted access to cover the games. Competing television outlets can also show highlights -- after NBC, that is. But, "The Internet is a different medium," says the IOC's director of new media. "We have to define a new set of guidelines to this that conform to the medium."
It seems that the Web -- with its blurring of text, images, and live action, and with the enhanced control it gives users over when and how they receive information -- is another matter. And although the IOC has issued over 20,000 international press credentials, none have gone to online media organizations, including such leading sports sites such Disney's (NYSE: DIS) ESPN.com, CBS's SportsLine.com (Nasdaq: SPLN), and CNNsi.
Credentials? We don't need no stinking credentials!
But that's just the official media. Everyday people don't need credentials to use digital cameras and cellular phones to beam news from Sydney to anywhere in the world. And this year's games are sure to offer new demonstrations that, when it comes to information, the Internet is nothing if not leaky.
Sassy Olympics-goers are no doubt making plans to surreptitiously scoop NBC, Quokka, and the IOC, perhaps enlisting stay-at-home accomplices to publish their fresh pics and commentary within seconds of the event, the URLs flashing across chatrooms and newsgroups.
The IOC is reportedly considering easing its restrictions on dot-com coverage for the Winter 2002 Games. But just as the record industry has learned over the last year with free music downloads, the IOC might discover with this summer's Games that the Internet moves with its own pace and logic, and that while they're considering whether they want to go this way or that, the Internet itself is in the driver's seat.
Your Turn:
Should the International Olympic Committee and NBC have allowed more extensive online coverage of this summer's Games? Does the Internet really threaten to undermine the way they've been doing things? Share your thoughts on our Quokka discussion board.
Related Links:
NBC/Quokka Ventures Chosen to Produce Salt Lake 2002 Olympics Site
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