
If the Olympic motto is “Swifter, Higher, Stronger” than surely the motto for IOC broadcasting standards is “Slower, Lower, Weaker”. If the digital age has taught us anything, it’s that technological freedom has allowed individuals to shun the paternalistic attitudes of global media conglomerates, that is, until Uncle Media decides to enact a totalitarian broadcasting regime worthy of Kim Jung Il upon the masses.
The IOC has a shitload of power, frankly in Olympic sports Jacque Rogge has more control than the Pope over Catholics and only Sepp Blatter can compete. So why am I not surprised that every 4 years, even with the changes in social culture, advancements in digital technology, social networking etc, the IOC still comes out guns a blazing with a policy of CONTAINMENT. Selling geo-protected broadcast rights and bloody well making sure that they are adhered to, under the threat of pain, death and the likelihood that should broadcasters not toe the line, they can say goodbye to ever holding the rights again.
NBC paid $820 million for the Vancouver games, and frankly they are set to lose $250 million, because no matter how much we think the Olympics are still important, professional & amateur sports have evolved to such an extent as to mitigate the absolute importance of this one event every 4 years. Therefore yearly events such as the Super Bowl, US Open etc, have probably far more advertising revenue attached than the Olympics. So NBC, how the fuck do you earn all that money back? Frankly the IOC is ripping you off honey, time to rethink your Olympics strategy.
So all these media broadcasters pay so much yet are reaping less and less rewards. So instead of saying, fuck it, let’s just share everything, they become even MORE protectionist, more concerned about their assets. Basically they’re going about it the wrong way, if no one sees the actual footage, how do you expect to make money?
Which brings me to my actual qualms about the broadcasts themselves: I’m in fulltime work at the moment which means the luxury of staying at home watching sports live across the globe is gone, gone like the health of my and Rafa’s knees. But instead of coming home nightly and sitting through 4 hours of Eddie Maguire talking to me, in between showing me Aussies skiing in the heats of some event and 2 hours of ads, I would like to see highlights or replays of events I actually care about, you know watch the best in the world? Shit, I even want to see the bad stuff as well; I want to see figure skating to ridiculous music choices like an instrumental version of Numb by Linkin Park.
Look I do understand that it’s important to support “our” athletes no matter what level but at least give the rest of us workers a choice to view highlights online, I’m not even asking for full replays (that’s way too much to ask of ninemsn) but instead what do we get? Inane interviews with half drunk Aussies, reviews of après hangouts and 1000 highlight reels of Canadian Dale Begg-Smith winning silver.
Ch9 can’t even be bothered with “real” highlights; it’s sad and indicative of the shite broadcasting we have to deal with in this country. But LJ, some annoying people may ask, why not subscribe to Foxtel? They’re showing everything, they have a significant amount of digital online stuff. Yes indeed, they do, and I can probably pay for a similar thoroughly comprehensive online service as well.
But the argument is, I shouldn’t have to. It’s the Olympics, a huge monolithic event which happens every 4 years. It’s not some random tennis tournament in Dubai. I shouldn’t have to subscribe to watch it; FTA broadcasters should be throwing the material at me, as well as the copious amounts of ads and trying to sell me everything from jeeps to Nike shoes. The question is, why aren’t they?
I can live with ads, shit if you had the online coverage NBC had for the 2008 Olympics, I would gladly sit through 30sec ads for every 10min of footage I watched. I will gladly let you sell me anything, sham wow, Nike, Coca Cola, I’m addicted to the last 2 anyhow.
But what I don’t want and frankly the majority of people, wealthy and smart enough to use the internet (those are the people you’re targeting your ads to) is to be fed random tidbits of events and extended interviews with people we don’t care about.
See back in 2008, online flash streaming was still getting started, but now ubiquitous services such as Justintv & Ustream are in total cohorts with TPTB. The minute a stream is put up, bang, gets taken down. SO much for the internet breaking down geographical barriers, as long as you’re NBC/IOC you’re still allowed to erect the walls.
NBC made a HUGE leap with its Beijing 2008 coverage. Unprecedented live streaming of something like 90% of events. It was revolutionary, extraordinary, and frankly I was lucky enough to be technologically adept enough to experience some of it first-hand.
But now (perhaps with the lack of time difference) NBC has restricted 95% of streaming and full replays to US Cable subscribers. For fucks sakes, it’s hard enough to find a working US VPN, but now you’re asking me to find a username and password for a cable service? Well fuck you very much.
It’s like we’ve taken 10 steps back since 2005 (the year which heralded YouTube) instead of fucking awesome digital broadcasting, watching stuff when we want and choosing how we want it, broadcasters and the IOC in particular still want to tell us what to do and how to do it.
It seems that Europe is still the place to be for good all round sports coverage without the crap and pomp. Frankly I do envy you, Europe but I don’t envy your VAT. Whilst Eurosport gives great online and traditional coverage (In superb HD as well), we in Australia are left with he most dismal excuse for a television broadcaster. You know people actually hoped this time Ch 9 would be slightly better than the often lacklustre Ch 7. No, instead Olympic coverage in this country just got 10 times worse with Eddie the Eagle Maguire spending way too much time talking, crap highlights of even crappier Aussies coming 40th in the downhill, daily live coverage only from 9-2pm. On Sunday, the coverage stopped at 2pm which meant they missed out on the men’s 1500m short track final, which was fucking ace btw, thank god for Sopcast and Eurosport in Czech.
Along similar protectionist media strategies, claiming YouTube videos is another strategy which pisses me off as much as it boggles my logic. Tennis Australia the latest culprit in a myriad of media corporations who don’t have a fucking clue about digital business. Anything remotely related to the Australian Open 2010 has been removed from the Tube. Interviews, matches, ceremonies, every last fucking titbit. And for what? Are they going to sell me all the matches (other than the final) including interviews with Jim Courier? On DVD or on iTunes?
So obviously it’s not to protect their vested material interests, since they’re not selling me any of that material they’re pulling. Okay well, perhaps they are trying to protect Ch7’s broadcast interests. Okay so will ch7 ever repeat any of those matches, interviews or ceremonies? Nup!
Then why the fuck would you be pulling off those videos? Isn’t it more of an incentive to claim ownership and reap the ad revenue instead of ripping everything off the interzwebz and actually making no money off it? Oh and instead of using an outlet such as YouTube to further the cause of Tennis Australia itself and the Australian Open, it takes the hardline of, I’m going to PROTECT ALL my ass(ets), well, that’s your extra revenue going down the drain. People (especially those hardcore fans) will continue downloading and sharing in the crevasses of the internet where you’re too fucking stupid to look.
I just find this entire situation demoralising, as a teen the internet was like the saviour of mankind, finally something to bring us all closer together, the ability to share, to create, an open discussion forum, no longer did I have to wait 8 months for the latest X files season, I can watch and discuss with my fellow fans the day after the episode went to air in the US.
What Facebook, twitter, YouTube had achieved to bring us closer together, a community of humans gathering, watching and discussing and in this case the achievements of some of the best winter sportsmen and women is now frequently overshadowed by a mob of greedy protectionist white middle aged businessmen, keen to protect their own vested interests, to the detriment and development of global culture and in essence the human race.
Shame…real utter, fucking shame.
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P.S.
Roger Mosey has written a brilliant piece on how the BBC plans to tackle digital broadcasting through creative & innovative measures for the 2012 Olympics. It seems so hopeful on paper, but I can’t help but think in 2 years time we’ll be back again, hands tied by the IOC and sitting through another abysmally broadcasted Olympics.
So we really have 2 choices if we want to watch good coverage for London 2012:
- Move to the UK
- Introduce a TV tax in Australia, give all the money to the ABC, let them have 6 channels and give them the broadcasting rights and let the TV Multiplatform people go crazy online.
LJK television Channel 9, digital broadcasting, digital business, IOC, Media Strategy, olympics, online broadcasting, sport, tv