Ebersol Says Net Ready For Games, Lauds Relationship With BOCOG

Ebersol Says NBC Ready To  Cover Olympics, News

TEST CASE: Pilson Communications President Neal Pilson, in a Q&A with MEDIA LIFE MAGAZINE's Diego Vasquez, was asked about what the impact of streaming thousands of hours of Olympic coverage online will have. Pilson: "NBC sold the entire thing as the package. They're giving most, if not all, of their advertisers broad exposure over all of the platforms. But then you talk about the challenge of measurement. It's still growing, and the Olympics are a great place to start." When asked if NBC's Olympics rights deal makes "fiscal sense for the network," Pilson said, "I frankly think the media misses the point when asking if NBC Sports [is] going to make a profit on the Games. The fact is the Games are a very valuable property for NBC's parent company" (MEDIALIFEMAGAZINE.com, 7/31).

SILVERLIGHT: CNET NEWS' Ina Fried wrote the Internet "has seen some big live events in recent years," but the Beijing Games "could be the biggest test yet." NBC Universal Sports & Olympics Senior VP/Digital Media Perkins Miller, who is heading the net's online efforts, said, "It does keep me up at night." Fried noted as part of the streaming, an enhanced player, "powered by Microsoft's Silverlight, will also allow picture-in-picture viewing of two events and a 'control room' experience where true junkies can watch four events at a time." Those that either "can't get or don't want Silverlight will still be able to watch video from the NBCOlympics site, just without access to some of the cool features, such as the control room." Fried wrote Microsoft "is hoping that its role in the Olympics will both prompt downloads of Silverlight in the short term, as well as help give the video streaming technology a needed boost" (CNET.com, 7/31).

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