2012 Summer OlympicsMedia Monster

NBC Will Live Stream The Olympic Closing Ceremonies, Which Means You’re Not Dumb Anymore

Remember NBC’s half-assed explanation for tape-delaying the Olympics’ most anticipated events and completely ignoring the opening ceremonies in real time, refusing to even stream it live online? It went something like this:

“We are live streaming every sporting event, all 32 sports and 302 medals,’ an NBC spokesman wrote in an email to Show Tracker. ‘It was never our intent to live stream the Opening Ceremony or Closing Ceremony. They are complex entertainment spectacles that do not translate well online because they require context, which our award-winning production team will provide for the large prime-time audiences that gather together to watch them.”

Well, the critical backlash during these Olympics has been extreme, and NBC has finally caved: they will be streaming the closing ceremony live on NBCOlympics.com. John Ourand over at Sports Business Journal has the full statement:

“It’s part of our continuing effort to innovate, experiment and learn. This is not precedent setting, but rather another chance for us to gather data about how live streaming and television complement each other.”

So, what does this mean, exactly? Well, for one, the closing ceremonies aren’t that complex, apparently. At least not as complex as the opening ceremonies, so you’re ill-equipped intellect might just be able to handle the glitz and glamour. It also means that you’ll get to see The Spice Girls, Queen, The Who and others performing live. You’ll still have to through NBC’s annoying proof-of-cable process, though, but at least it’s something. Still, NBC’s money-hoarding broadcast plan leaves us without a live television feed. Not that I’ll be watching anyway, because I already got to see Team USA basketball wearing berets.

h/t @John_Ourand

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