NBC's Olympic video site leaves many out to dry

NBC's decision to go with Microsoft's Silverlight technology to power the NBCOlympics.com video service provided for some fantastic features, as Web Scout reported Friday. But it came at a price: writing off thousands of potential online viewers.

Apple computers more than a couple of years old -- including all iBooks and PowerBooks as well as some iMacs and Mac minis -- will not run Silverlight 2, the software underlying NBC's Olympics player. And computers running the Linux operating system -- an open-source alternative to Windows -- were also left out of the mix. When unlucky users try to fire up the video player to catch a few rounds of pingpong, they'll instead be greeted by a screenful of technical requirements that their computer doesn't meet. Next time you'll call it table tennis...

More widely available video applications like Windows Media Player aren't built to offer the same caliber of high quality streaming videos, said Eric Schmidt, director of media and advertising evangelism at Microsoft, in a video interview with tech commentator Robert Scoble. Time constraints too accounted for the decision to leave some users out, Schmidt said. "We wish we could do more...but at the end of the day, we're trying to serve millions of people. There's only so much you can get done before you just run out of time."

But in dozens of comments on our initial post, unhappy Mac and Linux users thought NBC still should've provided a way for all Web surfers to watch Olympic clips.

"My feeling about Web usability is that when you have something that appeals to a number of people, you kind of want to go with the lowest common denominator," said Gina Cossman, a graphics designer from Texas who uses an iMac. She had expected the site would work with Apple's QuickTime or Adobe Flash, the ubiquitous platforms that power iTunes and YouTube, respectively. In her time of need, she turned to YouTube, resorting to bootleg Chinese broadcasts. "But within a couple hours, they were all gone," she said.

New Coke. (Photo credit: Mike Licht)

Does that mean piracy is the only alternative for desperate Oly fans?  (I mean, besides TV.) Ways to siphon Olympic video content are now being traded online like boosted minks.

A Microsoft spokeswoman wrote in an e-mail that while "a limited number of older systems" aren't able to access the Olympics site, the goal was to offer "the richest online viewing experience based on technologies broadly available today."

Our readers were less forgiving. Stro, for instance, scrawled: "I cant believe they would leave so many computers without access for web video on the olympics.... the guy who came up with this idea must have been the same idiot that came up with the idea to change the coke recipe in the 80s...."

Whoa, buddy, don't you think you're being a little too harsh?  Some of us liked New Coke.

-- Mark Milian

Mark Milian is an intern at latimes.com.

Comments

[David]

No, the idiot who came up with New Coke in the '80s was a fellow named Sergio Zyman. And ironically, he was (and is) an extraordinarily bright guy. Author of several very good books. And what did he take away from the New Coke fiasco? "It's easy to trust your market research waaay too much!"

[Jeff Smith]

NBC Olympics not only cheated iMAC+Linux users it cheated Windows users too. The
video does not play at all. All in the name of quality. NBC and GE will not go free!!

[Coke is it]

New Coke was marketing genius. It gave Coca cola a platform to launch Coke Classic, the original cola formula with brand new hype. No mistakes there.

[pcfriz]

Who gives NBC allowance for coverage of Olympics every time? Their coverage sucks big time. Every Oly its Swimming, Swimming and more Swimming. Where's the rest of Oly? Sure gym is shown but everything else? NBC must be run by someone who tried out for the Oly Swim team once. Lets have more coverage of other sports, eh? I can ney understand why it's the same every Olympics.

[Linux4Me]

It's infuriating to be summarily left out just because I choose to use a superior OS, Linux, instead of the crap M$ puts out. Oh well, I guess NBC doesn't care how many viewers--and, yes, we ARE viewers as well, not just people online--they're alienating by their idiotic decision to go with a Micro$oft only application. What morons...

[Bill]

The comments about "the best streaming experience" are all so much CYA BS.

Fact is, MS is likely underwriting NBC's online coverage to a large degree and in return they get to force Silverlight down users' throats.

Instead users adapt, and will watch their coverage on YouTube or via pirated Torrents, often of NBC's actual coverage.

The only pain this will cause is to NBC as viewers who otherwise would have gone to their site to view "legal" video (and NBC's ads) will instead find their content elsewhere.

Nice job, NBC. Perhaps next time you'll just flat out require anyone who wants to view video to purchase a Microsoft product first and skip the lame PR line.

[jaime]

microsoft and nbc (ge) had close relations.
they sleep together in the shadows.

im not surprised at all.

[bkl]

On day one, I downloaded and installed silverlight, and then was told that I couldn't view any content because I watch tv using an antenna. The message said that I had to use a cable or satellite partner of NBC if I wanted to watch a video stream on the internet.

I haven't watched a single minute of NBC since. No morning show, no news, no olympics, and no promos for their fall shows.

[david]

All I can say is that we have a Mac and two computers with Windows 2000. Let's just say that we're out of luck ... I guess they figure that everyone has the $$$ to buy a machine every year. Thanks NBC and GE ... Even movie websites give the opportunity to see coming attractions to those of us out of step with the "latest" streaming video.

[Jason McCabe]

This is only half the story as only half the Olympic content on NBC is viewable on Microsoft Silverlight. The other,better, full length downloadable half is not viewable at all unless you pay to have one of the newest more expensive versions of vista or xp. Go to http://www.nbc.com/olympicsonthego/drm_check.shtml on your mac or standard PC and you'll get this message "Sorry, NBC Direct currently requires Windows XP (Service Pack 2) or Windows Media Center Edition or Windows Vista." Simply put: You can't watch the Olympics on your Apple or average PC. The motive here is clear. This isn't a disappointment it's an outrage.

Sincerely

Jason McCabe

[gills]

It was just stupid to use a Microsoft plugin for this. Everyone knows their software is flaky. Stupid!

[Christina]

What's worse is I can't stream the videos AT ALL because I'm NOT IN THE UNITED STATES. wow that's like more than 90% of the world population written off as well!

[junihor]

Cut the whining already.

M$ didn't force you to use Linux, PowerPC Mac and so on. You dug yourself in there. Heck, even Apple is giving up on its own PowerPC chips. Why should M$ care then? Grow up, please.

[henri]

This is what happens when companies like nbc get so greedy that all they want is money in exchange to see video. Even though the olympics are universal they managed once again to package it and put a price tag to it. Thanks for nothing NBC

[Destro T. Calavicci]

Yeah, all 10 Linux users.

[janheart]

I would have watched a few of the events if I could have, but I have one perfectly fine (linux) computer already, and I'm not going to buy another system plus a Microsoft license just to watch a bit of the olympics.

[Leon]

At the end of the day, older Mac and Linux users represent < 4% of the population. Why should Microsoft devote money and resources to cater to those users, when clearly, they've already covered over 95% of the market?

Not only that, but Silverlight is far better than Flash. Anyone's who watched a video in Silverlight and seen the DeepZoom technology demo knows that Silverlight is better and more robust.

Give credit where its due.

[Jim McDish]

Wow dude, you gotta be kidding me man!

JT
www.FireMe.To/udi

[Bryn Youngblut]

I think silver light is completely stupid, why add more crappy plugins we need to watch the same videos...

[George]

I don't understand why people think this is a dumb move on Microsoft's part. Microsoft couldn't care less how many people can or can't watch the olympics. All they care about is pushing silverlight. If 70% of the general population couldn't watch the videos but the remaining 30% accounted for a 5 fold increase in Silverlight installs MS would consider it a win.

The quality argument is 100% bs. Do they actually think none of us have watched Apple HD trailers or HD flash video on Vimeo?

[Forrest]

WELL GET A REAL COMPUTER WITH A REAL OS.

Ha Ha .... That Will Get You Fired Up...;)

[Hair]

NBC and Microsoft screwed the pooch on this. NBC moreso. They should've gone with Flash on the website as a default, and promoted the "superior" of Silverlight. People with the specs would've installed, and those without would've still praised NBC for the extensive online coverage. Likewise, they should've gone crazy on iTunes.

Had they just offered Flash, nobody would've complained about the quality (especially with H.264 which is now possible in Flash).

Instead, this will be known as the Summer Olympics that flooded the Torrent Trackers.

Sent from my iPhone 3G which I should be using right now to watch the Games.

[Jared]

The guy who came up with this is probably the same one who arranged for Windows Media Center 2002, the unupgradable one, to be put on my computer only 2 years ago by HP.

[Paul]

The oppressed fight back!

http://newblogonstuff.blogspot.com/2008/08/how-to-watch-live-olympics-on-linux.html

M$ taketh away, but Linux saves the day.

[Steve G]

Why must it be one technology or the other ..., why not support several? Like QuickTime streaming, Windows Media Player as well -- and Flash too (such as what Swarmcast's Autobahn provides). OGG Theora for us free software / open source fans.