NBC Universal’s unprecedented multi-platform coverage of the 2008 Summer Olympics, like its successful multi billion dollar bidding to cover future summer and winter games, offer a fairly clear glimpse of media’s transition toward full multi-platform convergence.  NBC’s Olympics rights include broadcast, cable, Internet, video-on-demand, pay-per-view, and other services.  The International Olympic Committee’s preference for NBC is not limited to the financial attractiveness of NBC Universal’s bids.  The IOC cites NBC as “obviously” the “best choice in terms of the audience, the platforms, (and) the reach ….”   

Before and following its merger with Universal, NBC adeptly honed a multi-media presence after having smartly added cable networks to its traditional broadcast network.  With subsequent Internet and digital additions, seven NBC networks are currently airing 1,400 hours of Olympics reporting from Beijing while NBCOlympics.com expects to stream 2,200 hours of real-time events over 25 sports.  For now, online bows to TV as no events scheduled to be televised on NBC Universal’s six TV channels will be available online until after TV broadcast.

So impressive is NBC’s multi-media presence that in 2003 it not only defeated rival Olympics bids from ABC and Fox, but saw supposed digital powerhouse AOL Time Warner withdraw from bidding for failure to meet IOC requirements.  I mistakenly agreed with Fox executives for their “conservative” bid partly tempered out of concern for the uncertainties of future technologies.  With the real time power of the Internet weakening network ratings for prerecorded event telecasts, I never imagined NBC Universal would today be on track to collect more than $1 billion from Beijing Olympics commercials. So highest compliments to NBC Universal for its unprecedented 3,600 hours of coverage on NBC, its cable channels including MSNBC and USA Network, and its website.  Also helping profits is an IOC rule that limits the amount of Olympics highlights other TV networks can show, and another that disallows videos of Olympic events on any website other than NBCOlympics.com.

Article Tags: media convergence | NBC Universal | Olympics

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