NBC's Olympic Proportions

摘要

In past summers, when the Olympic Games hit television airwaves, die-hard fans of niche sports like archery or fencing were usually left out in the cold. Such so-called "minor" Olym-pic sports had trouble delivering audiences large enough to justify airtime. But in a radical shift reflecting a more tech-nologically savvy era, fans of all 35 Olympic sports will be able to view their favorite events at the upcoming Beijing Games. For the first time, NBC-which has televised every Summer Games since 1988-will provide coverage of every sport on either the network, its Spanish-language outlet Telemundo, five of seven major NBC Universal-owned cable channels, or by streamed video on NBC's Olympics Website, NBCOlympics.com. Fans won't have to miss a single epee thrust. "This is the first time the Olympics will have an on-demand feel to it," says sports business analyst David Carter, executive director of the Sports Business Institute at the University of Southern California. "Instead of the broadcaster pushing events, you'll have consumers pulling it themselves."