Quote:
Originally Posted by gstelmack
I understand all of this, but on the other hand that's the responsibility you take on when you agree to broadcast the Olympics. If you don't want to reuse the existing channels, then add some new ones that you provide to the cable operators, don't use this backdoor "cable userid/password" to watch streaming stuff on the NBC site itself.
And if you're losing money, why did you go after them again?
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I think a better argument than a social responsibility one is that by chopping up the coverage and packaging it neatly by time zone, you actually devalue the Olympic franchise. We are able to get results real time, so we either have to settle for watching a glorified replay or avoid communicating with others to have some sort of Olympic experience. While short term ratings may benefit, long term, you're reducing interest in the Olympics as a whole and reducing the value of the NBC Olympic investment.