Do it LIVE! NBC forcing us to wait for Olympics opening ceremony

The opening ceremonies will start around 1 p.m. our time in London, but we can’t watch it until 7:30 p.m. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

This year, the Olympics is recognizing the on-demand
nature of its viewers and is offering several viewing
options. Fans can either watch the event in the tape-delay
format on NBC primetime or fans can watch any event live
online. This live stream will be available for all
Olympic events, with the exception of the opening
ceremonies on Friday.

“How can they do that?” says Dave, who isn’t thrilled
about waiting several hours to see what’s happening in
London.

The opening ceremonies will air “live” on NBC starting at
7:30 p.m. but the actual event will have taken place hours
earlier, around 1 p.m. PST.

NBC released a statement, posted by Mashable, that said,
“It was never our intent to live stream the Opening
Ceremony or Closing Ceremony,” from president of NBC
Olympics Gary Zenkel. “They are complex entertainment
spectacles that do not translate well online because they
require context, which our award-winning production team
will provide for the large primetime audiences that gather
together to watch them.”

Luke points out the opening ceremonies are the most
popular televised part of the Olympics and NBC knows
they’re a “cash cow.”

“They’ll be darned if they’re going to let a bunch of
people watch them on laptops or other cable stations,”
says Luke.

Dave can’t believe they can keep this from audiences in
this day and age.

“Isn’t there a workaround?” says Dave. “I’m betting if we
were on the streets of Beijing, you could already buy a
DVD of the opening ceremonies.” [Which haven’t even
happened yet.]

Dave and Luke aren’t the only ones upset. CBS quotes Guardian editor
Matt Wells is tweeting:

“NBC showing complete contempt for its audience by not
showing or streaming Olympics opening ceremony live”

They have another person, @ohonestly tweeting: “Whoa whoa
whoa, wait a second – NBC is broadcasting the opening
ceremony on TAPE DELAY? It’s 2012! I need to live-tweet!!”

Thinking about how demanding audiences are these days,
Luke says he thinks this is the last year they’ll be able
to get away with this sort of thing.

Dave will be engaged with a prior commitment at the time
of the “live” tape-delayed broadcast.

“That’s why I wanted to watch it early,” he says.

So for those in the audience, he’s reminding them they
could set up a Skype feed from their phone, so we can get
this thing live somehow.

By JAMIE GRISWOLD, MyNorthwest.com Editor