2008 Olympics: The digital games

Two years ago, watching the Olympics live via the Internet was limited to a single gold medal game of a popular sport. This year, everything from preliminary table tennis matches to team handball will be available both live and on-demand directly to the PC.

In all, more than 2,000 hours of live content and 3,000 hours of on-demand video will be available from the PC via NBCOlympics.com.

While a huge opportunity for Olympics fans, it is also a big test for both Web video and for the companies behind the site, in particular for NBC Universal and Microsoft, whose Silverlight technology is being used in the video player, and for Limelight Networks, whose network is being used to route all of those streams to Internet service providers.

To be sure, the Web has seen some big live events in recent years, including CBS Sports' streaming of March Madness games, but this could be the biggest test yet.

"It does keep me up at night," said NBC Universal Senior Vice President Perkins Miller, who is heading up the network's Internet efforts.

That this much content will be available over the Internet is a testament to just how much progress has been made in everything from video streaming to online advertising in just the past two years, as well as a change in attitude among consumers, who now slurp up 3.5 billion videos a month from YouTube.

"I don't think anybody could have imagined that in 2006," said Miller. "You look at something like March Madness on-demand. You look at what's happened on MSN with Live Earth. This is what we think the trend is for online."

One of the other things that made it possible is the fact that, as part of buying the TV rights for the Olympics, NBC gains access to an HD broadcast feed of every Olympic sport.

"There's no incremental cost in terms of covering the events," Miller said. "They were available before. We just had not been broadcasting them."

The Internet provided an opportunity that just wasn't possible on TV, even with several cable channels augmenting NBC's network coverage.

Picture-in-picture viewing
Not only will Olympics fans be able to watch nearly any event live, but the enhanced player, powered by Microsoft's Silverlight, will also allow picture-in-picture viewing of two events and a "control room" experience where true junkies can watch four events at a time.

NBC originally imagined it would use Adobe's Flash, the de facto standard for Web video, but ultimately was convinced by Microsoft earlier this year that Silverlight would allow it to stream more high-quality video than would have been possible using Flash.

Microsoft is hoping that its role in the Olympics will both prompt downloads of Silverlight in the short term, as well as help give the video streaming technology a needed boost. However, those that can't get or don't want Silverlight will still be able to watch video from the NBCOlympics site, just without access to some of the cool features, such as the control room.

What you won't find is a lot of help if your computer runs into trouble during the games. NBC is putting up online FAQs and other help, but there won't be e-mail or phone technical support. The good news is you can try things out now, with the video content already on NBCOlympics.com.

Also, while Microsoft is making thousands of hours of content available live, you won't be able to watch some of the marquee events, like women's gymnastics and track and field, until after they have aired on the nightly TV programs.

While much of the early attention has been focused on the live streams, Miller notes that many of the site's visitors will be looking for a more casual experience.

In fact, many people historically go to the Web site just to find out what's going to be on TV and when. Others, will be looking more for highlights than full streams, so a team of people will be watching the live feeds for memorable moments, chopping the segments, and serving them up to the casual Olympics fans that come to the site.

On the results front, NBC won't be holding back on scores for those who want them. That means those who tune in to watch an event that has taken place risk seeing the score before they can get to their video stream.

"You will have to be somewhat disciplined in your navigation to avoid scores," Miller said. "We have found that, on balance, people want to know the scores quickly. If you hide the scores and results, you run the risk of disappointing the people that are using the Internet as a utility."

Other ways to watch
The TV and PC aren't the only ways to watch Olympics content. A smaller range of programming is also being offered through cell phones, video-on-demand services, and as "on-the-go" content that can be downloaded to a laptop or bought via Amazon.com or Microsoft's Zune service.

Organizers are being somewhat coy about how much traffic they are expecting, though an executive at Limelight Networks, the company streaming out the video to the world, said he wouldn't be surprised to see a million users or more for the video feeds.

Miller said the overall effect could be noticeable at workplaces.

"We really hope that we give every employee in the U.S. a time to take a deep breath before putting a shoulder back into the economy," he joked.

Disclosure: CNET News is published by CBS Interactive, owner of CBSSports.com and NCAA.com.

Click here for more stories on tech and the Beijing Olympics.

[n3td3v]

The shameful Chinese have a dreadful human rights violation history, plus journalists won't have full access to the internet while in Beijing.

[alstatr]

It is also shameful that people continue ruin the spirit of the Olympics with political issues. The human rights violations by China and many other nations are terrible but the Olympics is not the stage where they are to be discussed. People that are so passionate about fixing the different human rights should be working towards solutions instead of smearing the Olympics with political issues.

[sanenazok]

Re:alstatr

Don't be naive. No event, be it small or large is free of politics. The very selection of an Olympics host country is nothing but politics. Pretending otherwise is just like Fox news saying it's fair and balanced. I'm not even criticizing Fox news really that much - it's OK to have partisan news (in fact it's better in a political season) but pretending it's not politicized is silly. Same with China - the PRC fluffs up its feathers about "Olympic spirit" and how it should trump human rights atrocities since politics doesn't belong in the Olympics while making back room political deals even with the IOC itself...

[alstatr]

I may be naive to believe that the Olympics can be free of all politics but it was never conceived as a place to discuss political issues. I love watching the Olympics, I am inspired by the achievements of all the athletes. It shows me that there is hope for humanity; it shows me that when we forget about race and nationality we can get along and if we can get our politicians to figure that out maybe we can start figuring out the human rights issues among many other things.

[sanenazok]

Oh come now, if the Olympics were about individual athletes then they would not be representing countries. It's countries that get medal counts and by proxy the ideologies of the countries. As such, I really hope China doesn't come first this year, the PRC would use it to showcase the strides they've made and of course while there's been progress it's been at a tremendous human cost. The Mormons used the Salt Lake City Olympics to showcase their normalcy...China wants the Olympics to show the many benefits of a capitalist dictatorship.

[AlbooMED]

@sanenazok

I'm thinking you should just skip the 2008 Olympics and wait for the next one. I'm that will be held in a country much more approving of democracy and human right and animal right and immigration rights and gay rights and same sex marriage rigths and blah blah blah.

Oh get over yourself.

[sanenazok]

The PRC wants any critic to just skip the Olympics. The Commies always have the same solution: if you don't agree, just leave why don't you or go to a few years' re-education through labor camp! You know that's happening *right now* in China, to a guy that questioned building practices post earthquake:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7532813.stm

Yeah God forbid I should use my brain and let it get in the way of a good time. Yipeee! You blah blah rights but I bet you were never arrested for taking a photo or asking your government to investigate the deaths of thousands of children. When you spend a year in a labor camp over doing something that's right then you can talk. I sympathize with the prosecuted Chinese more than I'm willing to "just have fun" with the Olympic spirit like the PRC wants everyone to do. I also don't need to spend a year in prison to appreciate my rights...apparently you're willing to blah blah them away but not me.

[AlbooMED]

You know that's funny, I love when I hear westerners talk about how much you care about the poor people under the communist rule and how they are being denied their rights. How they can't take a picture, can you believe that a frigging picture, without being arrested and sent to jail.
Listen here buddy, I was raised in a communist country (eastern europe) and know better than anyone here in the west (US/EU) what it means to live under communism or dictatorship. Lectures from people like you are almost insulting. Olympics may be politicized, but only if you let them.
Like I said before, if you're so repulsed at the olympics being held in china, skip them. No need to **** everyone else who is interested in the games. You really think people would want to watch you protest china's rule or watch who won that last swimming competition or who set a new record in track. During olympic's time, the games matter more than petty politics.

Again, GET OVER YOURSELF !

[sanenazok]

I guess you and I disagree over what it means for there to be "petty politics." I think petty politics is what happens in Chicago during budget time (the mayor bs' all over the place). Now that's petty politics. People getting put in prison or sent for labor without a trial isn't petty politics. It's an abuse of human rights.

Hahaha, I've got news for you buddy, I was born in the early 70's and lived in Poland until 1992. If the US had stood idly by (as Europeans did) and "let politics take its course" during Poland's martial law the repression would have been 10x worse. China should be forced to modernize and the games are an avenue to do it. It's not going to happen if we do what the Chinese Commies want the world to do, i.e. close eyes to their atrocities.

In any event some of the strongest Olympic memories are ones with political overtones. For example, look at the Black Power salute in the 1968 Olympics. Nobody remembers *anything* about the '68 Olympics other than this event.

It's extremely important to continue to engage China on its human rights record and so boycotting the Olympics is counter-productive. Getting people caught up in the moment and to forget the victims is exactly what the Commies want...will you give it to them?

[corsodean]

@ sanenazok

what "atrocities" did you refer to?

[sanenazok]

Ask what the participants of Tienanmen Square thought about their treatment, or look for Falun Gong practitioners in a labor camp. There's one atrocity of the CPC for every few years of existence...and those are the ones the West knows about. Gawd only knows what's been happening in inner villages during the 50's through 80's.

[Kev Orng]

I don't have extremely high hopes for this, for two reasons:

1. I'd rather watch it on TV than download Silverlight. I've had two false starts with Silverlight, and I've lost interest. Besides, Microsoft themselves are still using Flash for their own propaganda (mojaveexperiment.com). Frankly, I'd be happy to be able to avoid Flash as well.

2. I'd rather watch it on CBC and hear about my own athletes. I haven't heard a word about Microsoft partnering with international content providers and providing separate streams; so any intention of making this an international online broadcast is going to flop. Because NBC is going to produce content of interest to US viewers. And while we all like you guys very much, we'd prefer our Olympic coverage to focus on our own athletes during the games.

So yeah, Microsoft, don't expect the rest of the content-producing world to be downloading Silverlight in droves next week.

[AlbooMED]

What does that have to do with MS. NBC is the one providing the service and coverage. MS is only providing the technical help and silverlight technology. Also since the internet is available anywhere you can watch whatever you want from anywhere in the world. The live coverage is going to be from NBC hence likely US-centric, but the on-demand videos you can select what you want to watch.
I checked out the site the other day and was quite impressed with the service. They have some old Olympic videos now. Being able to watch/follow 2 videos/events at the same time was great. Also the speed and smoothness of silverlight was great as well.
I don't care who makes the technology or who provides the service as long as I can get what I want, where I want it. You should probably consider that instead of "I hate MS, so not silverlight for me".

[Kev Orng]

Did I say I hated MS? I don't think much of Silverlight, but I've tried to give it a fair shake. And I don't think much of proprietary web standards, which is why I also don't care much for Flash.
And everything I've read about this online Olympic service has involved Microsoft hoping for an international audience and international Silverlight adoption. If I'm mistaken here, then my apologies.

[AlbooMED]

All I'm saying is if you get hung up on things like that (i.e. no proprietary standards) you're going to miss out on a lot of things (i.e. youtube, hulu). It's better to use what works and what gives you what you want then just wait for an open standard.
I'm sure MS is hoping for a lot of things, but that doesn't mean it'll get it. In this case though, it looks like they've done a good job. Do you really think all the money they're spending is just for fun. No, but if I can get this crazy amount of information/video provided to me in such a convenient place at no charge, I'm not going to complain. A 2-3mb install of silverlight, is not going to kill your computer. Don't know what happened to silverlight in your particular case, but I haven't had any problems with it on XP or vista in 3 computers so far.

[open-mind]

You don't need Silverlight. From the article above:

"However, those that can't get or don't want Silverlight will still be able to watch video from the NBCOlympics site, just without access to some of the cool features, such as the control room. "

[plapic]

I was disappointed to discover that the video streaming is only available in U.S. I'm an Australian and would have liked to have had a preview of the technology to assess its promoted features. Perhaps Microsoft can encourage foreign media outlets to trial Silverlight.

[facerw]

I still wonder why they changed their policy from a few years ago. Back then any major sport event was forbidden to be shown on the web. I guess now the sports industry realized the power of the web and will embrace it.

[shadowself]

"NBC originally imagined it would use Adobe's Flash, the de facto standard for Web video, but ultimately was convinced by Microsoft earlier this year that Silverlight would allow it to stream more high-quality video than would have been possible using Flash."

Meaning Microsoft convinced NBC to restrict access to MS Windows users rather than allow it to be cross platform -- Linux, UNIX, MacOS and others need not even try. It's just another means of MS to make as much MS Windows exclusive as possible.

[sanenazok]

Silverlight is compatible with Mac OS X. Hey if Silverlight gets better quality for the same bandwidth I'm all for it. Did you also know that Windows accounts for 90%+ of web users? They're putting forward the best system for the most users. I'm all for it (also I use Vista and love it).

[Me--]

"Meaning Microsoft convinced NBC to restrict access to MS Windows users rather than allow it to be cross platform -- Linux, UNIX, MacOS and others need not even try."
wouldnt world be a better place if Microsoft stopped promoting THEIR technology?!! Just open your eyes! everybody does that (not a good excuse but we're not living in ideal world). Just borrow a pc once and try to access apple's me.com with an IE (havent tried Opera yet but I imagine it'd be the same).

[corsodean]

to my understandings, only those hatefull, at least to chinese, sites related smearing campaign on china are blocked. the question is why NBC or anyone inside of olympic communities need to access to those sites, such as amnesty international, etc. secondly, don't expect majority of these sites to be read by chinese, unless they are in chinese. i am not sure the percentage of chinese who can read in english. further, china is much bigger than poland, in term of terretial or population. unless chinese gov can find an easy and affective way to monitor, blocking access is the most affective and easiest way for them. so why not?

[sanenazok]

You're confusing criticism with hate. Oh yeah Amnesty International is the center of hate websites!!! These are not for the Chinese to read, they're designed to influence foreign opinion. The Chinese have no say in their government and would needlessly get in trouble for viewing materials which criticize the CPC. By the way, the CPC isn't the same as China, so if a website, like Amnesty International is criticizing CPC policies, it's not "hating" China, just the policies of the ruling party.

[meshcount]

China may target specific sites, but it also restricts entire IP sectors. Essentially, blocking out hundreds of websites because one customer of a web host has porn. One of my clients develops LED lighting with the Chinese government, yet nobody in China can access the website because someone else in the Yahoo-hosted IP block has a website China is censoring. Yahoo says they have no solution, China can't help, we can't mirror, we just ended up building a whole second website just for the Chinese engineers to peruse on another ISP.

[cnet_lover]

re: "those who tune in to watch an event risk seeing the score before they can get to their video stream"
Why not add a second site or part of the site that hides the scores/results for those that do not want to see them? Seems like a good addition and shouldn't be too difficult to pull off...

[UConnBBall]

Silverlight is OS X compatable and Moonlight in Linux is coming along nicely. I'm a Linux user and I am OK with this as long as MS keeps the multi-platform option open.

Apple is the only OS brick wall left.

[jimmy5578]

Congratulations to MS and other suppliers to bring enhanced experiences to the internet. Please keep going.

[pbedoya]

I am a big fan of the summer olympics; however, since moving out of the USA I have found that most developing countries' coverage is spotty at most. I regret that the NBC content is ONLY for US viewers (I was shown a turn-down message instead of a video!).

[bigjuliefromchicago]

...unless you're a Cablevision subscriber. This from the geniuses who bring you the New York Knicks:

Cablevision and NBC Universal have not come to an agreement for Cablevision to carry 2,200 hours of live online, broadband Summer Games coverage from Beijing that will be streamed to computers. The failure to make a deal also means that Cablevision subscribers will not receive NBC?s new Olympic basketball and soccer channels.

[Kee Hinckley]

Yes, Silverlight runs on MacOS X, but only on Intel machines. Furthermore, even on Windows it's a dog. On an older laptop I was lucky to get 1 frame per second off the NBCOlympics site. Flash movies work fine on that machine. A lot of people who show up when the Olympics start are going to be very disappointed.

The IOC should never have relinquished so much control that NBC could use a barely tested, still-in-beta product as the delivery mechanism.

[SCAZMarketing]

As impressive as yesterday's performance was, it is a reminder that extremists are waiting in the wings as China proclaims itself a technological world leader, with their sites set clearly on world domination:

http://www.socoolaz.com/article.cfm?articleID=30230