High-Def Olympics Underwhelming

[Chris Blount]

Those who have invested the most to see NBC's coverage of the Olympics will get the least -- and they'll be watching most of it a day late.

It's a sort of high-definition Olympics, an alternative Olympic universe for the small but growing high-definition-TV-viewing population. The underlying notion: People who get HD will enjoy watching it so much they won't care if the event took place 24 hours ago or if the broadcast has little in common with the big show on NBC.

During the Olympics, NBC HD will take the place of the network's usually simultaneous digital channel. The network touts it as a 24-hour channel with 399 hours of high-definition programming; it's actually about 135 hours of original programming from six venues shown most days on an eight-hour loop.

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[Cyclone]

The article's author is a whiner. The HD Olympics are going to be great and we are all going to love it. I won't care if the Swimming or Diving that I'm watching on Wednesday actually occured on Tuesday. Heck, when I watch any Olympic coverage at 8pm, I know that it actually about 2 or 3 am in Greece. I expect there to be some "time adjustments" to the schedule.

[invaliduser88]

Call me a whiner, but it's still lame that the only HD will be delayed even more than the SD telecast. Would it have been acceptable for the Superbowl, NBA finals, World Series or Stanley Cup HD broadcast to be delayed a day over the SD telecast?

[JAXDAVE]

You have got to be kidding me! If I want to watch Olympic coverage in HD, I have to watch an entirely different broadcast with announcers no one has ever heard of? This a Joke! I tuned in to my OTA NBC affiliate's HD feed expecting to get Bob Costas and the usual opening ceremony coverage and I am looking at repeats of figure skating from Salt Lake City. I cannot tell you how pissed I am right now!

[bluegreg]

I agree this sucks so far. put it up live on hd feed.....2002 skating. who cares...

[bluegreg]

maybe the satelite feed has been a problem becuase this is all wrong seeing the 2002 winter games?

[Nick]

The reason the NBC-HD feed is delayed, and that we can see it at all is because the NBC affiliates have exclusive rights to NBC's regular programming. Because the rights to the delayed HD feed, which mirrors the network's real-time Olympic programming, belong to NBC, they can do what they want to with it.

Don't gripe. Having it delayed is the price we pay for getting the Olympics in HD in the first place, plus it's availability in a lot of additional DMAs.

[invaliduser88]

Just finished watching the HD Opening Ceremony. Much better than the SD that started an hour earlier.

One gripe, who every told the world that Bob has a HDTV needs to be shot! That Sony WEGA commercial is going to get real old, real quick!

[BobMurdoch]

Ah, that's what the 921 is for...... One press of the Commercial skip button and I'm back to an ALMOST commercial free Olympics feed. This is like going from "free" radio to XM.... It's almost jarring how few commercials there are....

What is ALSO jarring is that same Postcard esque travelogue 5 minute bumper which nicely shows off HDTV but is shown more often than the E* HDTV HD Demo channel. C'Mon guys! How about mixing things up a bit more. (Discovery HD is just as guilty with their Circuit City commercial of the guy TV shopping by laying on the floor endlessly being on after recorded shows on my 921)

[Slordak]

Grrr... Yes, the HD feed is very irritating, unless I happen to want to watch what happened the previous day. If I want to watch what happened today in high definition, I can't. I have to either wait a day and avoid the news or discussing it with anyone (to avoid inadvertently spoiling it), or I have to watch it in standard definition.

In my mind, this practically defeats the entire purpose of having HD. Why can I watch today's events on the standard definition or analog versions of WMAQ, but not watch the same programming on WMAQ-DT received OTA? I think granting NBC a waiver so that they don't have to do analog and digital simulcast was a mistake, since they're abusing it to make us watch older coverage (with that damned Sony commercial!).

[JM Anthony]

The reason the NBC-HD feed is delayed, and that we can see it at all is because the NBC affiliates have exclusive rights to NBC's regular programming. Because the rights to the delayed HD feed, which mirrors the network's real-time Olympic programming, belong to NBC, they can do what they want to with it.

Don't gripe. Having it delayed is the price we pay for getting the Olympics in HD in the first place, plus it's availability in a lot of additional DMAs.
I'm with Nick on this one. While I wish the HD was current, that's just not the way things are for these Olympics, now next time around. . .

In the interim, flipping back and forth between today's programming and yesterday's HD aint that bad. And the HD is awesome.

[SimpleSimon]

I just heard a voice-over during one of the helicopter rides that encouraged you to watch the 'current' events on your local affiliate.

[garypen]

Very little coverage is on the local affiliates. The majority is on MSNBC, CNBC, Bravo, USA, etc. They should simulcast the HD feed with the NBC "cable" networks, and only show the delay stuff during affiliate times.

Also, there is no credible reason not to have the regular announcers for the HD feed. None.