NBC Olympic Coverage... or not?

So I’ve officially been glued to the TV watching endless coverage of the Olympic Games. I can’t help but emphasize the large role that technology and new media have taken in this year’s games. I will address the beauty and intricacy of the opening ceremony last night later on, but I would first like to bring up the issue of how modern technology has redefined how viewers will be watching these games. NBC, which owns the exclusive rights to broadcast the Olympic Games in the United States, created quite the uproar in deciding to delay the broadcasting of the opening ceremonies by 12 long hours, unlike any other coverage across the globe. From a business perspective, this makes total sense—airing the ceremonies live instead of waiting until nighttime coverage would limit the audience size and also waste potential advertising dollars. Yet, in doing so, NBC neglected the importance of the whole world joining together to view the beginning of these games… at the same time. There is something almost spiritual about viewing these opening ceremonies and the notion of everyone viewing the games starting at the same time only adds to this special feeling. Had this delay happened four years ago, Americans would not have had much choice, but today, NBC’s delay sent people all across the country to their computers to access foreign broadcaster’s web sites and YouTube clips. Interestingly, knowing that the 4-hour coverage was already delayed, I figured what’s another 2 hours… let’s DVR the opening ceremonies and fast forward through the commercials, another impossibility from the last Summer Games. And on top of that, I received a New York Times email alert while watching the ceremony declaring that the U.S. had already won its first gold medal in saber fencing. It’s funny—even with all this technology, how are we still finding ourselves falling behind?