Olympics embrace Internet - but not in Canada

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American and British viewers will be able to watch Internet video streams of events at the Turin Winter Olympics. Canadians will not.

The BBC will offer its broadband customers five channels showing simulcast BBC television coverage, plus "all the best bits on demand."

In the U.S., NBC will post video clips of events only for U.S. viewers. These clips will be available after the event has finished.

In Canada, the CBC will not offer any video clips of events on its website. Internet coverage will be limited to schedules and written pieces.

The allocation of Internet broadcast licences reflects the way the International Olympic Committee has acknowledged the Internet's growing importance.

At the 2000 Games in Sydney, the IOC imposed a blanket prohibition on any Internet video of events, claiming the television audience was more than 3.7 billion people, while the Internet audience was only 20 million.

The IOC was also concerned that allowing any video over the Internet with worldwide access would undermine the broadcast rights it grants on a county-by-country basis.

The same prohibitions were in place at the 2002 Salt Lake City Games. The IOC felt the effect of the Internet, however, when the Sale-Pelletier figure skating controversy resulted in a flood of e-mail to the television networks and the IOC.

Entire discussion forums and chat rooms were devoted to the issue and the IOC's reaction. Viewers' reactions over the Internet played a significant role in the IOC's move to review the judges' decision.

The IOC offered Internet licences to broadcasters for the 2004 Athens Games. The BBC and other European broadcasters offered simulcast coverage, while NBC offered video recap clips.

Now the IOC has embraced the Internet wholeheartedly.

Athletes in Turin will have Internet access throughout the residences. Media points will be set up where athletes will be able to get immediate results. A custom network has been implemented where broadcasters will have instant access to information via touch screens.

Things may change in Canada at the next round of Olympics. Sun Media reported last year that for the first time, Internet video streaming and wireless rights were part of the negotiations for Olympic broadcast rights in Canada for the Beijing (2008) and Vancouver (2010) Games.

This raises an issue the IOC may not yet fully grasp. The broadcast rights licences for Beijing and Vancouver were negotiated in 2005. This means that by the Vancouver Games, broadcasters will be bound to a licence agreement that is five years old.

In terms of the Internet, five years is a lifetime. In the five years since the Turin licence was negotiated, for example, we have seen the rise of wireless video and podcasting.


Source
lfpress.ca

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