The Way The Olympics Were Meant To Be Seen

Good news for people who actually watch the Olympics for the competition: All events will be available live online for the first time. From The Associated Press:

NBC executives decided to shift from their longtime philosophy and make every event available as it happens, convinced that the plan will build interest in the Olympics and not siphon off viewership from the traditional nightly broadcasts. That means the Internet streams will be fairly minimalistic, a move aimed at tempting fans to re-watch the competition in a more stylized presentation on the network that evening.

“You’ll be able to live the moment,” said Rick Cordella, the vice president and general manager for NBC Sports Digital.

The online coverage will use the world feed instead of NBC camera angles. That’s what viewers in many smaller countries see on their local networks, so the production is high quality, if less specialized than Americans are used to for the Olympics. There will be basic graphics and, for some popular sports, announcers from the Olympic Broadcasting Services.