Ebersol Says NBC Prepared To Offer ’08 Games Live Online

Ebersol Says NBC Should Be Ready To Offer Live ’08 Olympic Coverage Online

NBC Universal, which is about to begin a “new round of negotiations” with advertisers for the ’08 Beijing Games, “will offer the first real-time coverage of the games, streaming up to 1,000 hours online,” according to Claire Atkinson of AD AGE. NBC Universal “has not decided which distribution streams to use; NBCOlympics.com is where the network typically locates its online Olympic highlights packages.” NBC Universal Sports & Olympics Chair Dick Ebersol said, “We’re not prepared to make the hard announcement, but we’ll be in a position to live-stream between 800 and 1,000 hours of coverage in addition to 800 hours on cable and 200 hours on the network.” Ebersol said that NBC Universal “might work with ‘others outside the family,’” to stream some events. Atkinson notes no decision has been made about “whether the streams would be largely ad-supported or subscription-based” (AD AGE, 11/6 issue).

MORNING SICKNESS: The Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) “demanded the [IOC] reconsider its decision” to hold all swimming and most of the gymnastics finals at the ’08 Beijing Games in the morning “to cater to US prime-time audiences.” NBC had been “lobbying hard for early finals to coincide with peak evening viewing hours” in the U.S. IOC Coordination Commission Chair Hein Verbruggen has “denied that they bowed to pressure from NBC. Verbruggen: “There can never be a perfect ‘one size fits all’ solution which suits each and every stakeholder equally.” ABU, which has 160 members in 56 countries and regions, said that the move “could cost Asian broadcasters millions of dollars in lost advertising revenue.” ABU Secretary General David Astley: “We want to see a true partnership of equals regardless of commercial muscle” (AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, 11/7).