nbcolympics.com streaming (USA)

[Conor Dary]

Well I take back what I just said. Freezes regularly on Firefox.

[Jackaloupe]

"For some of the big name events, I read that the archive will be delayed until after the regular NBC broadcast. But I have not tested this."

I can't get the Replays, either of SP or 400m H up, but it may be a function of my local connection. Live Hammer Qual. came across fine (I was up too late to catch SP). NBC TV is already showing fulltime coverage of Morning and Afternoon, but that entails switching between selected Heats (Americans or Favs) and the likes of Beach Volleyball.

[Spickard]

I've got it running through the laptop to a 42" HD TV with only minimal freezing, and another feed on my iPad, which has an app that is easier to use than anything on their website. I've got excellent internet in my area, though.

[bruce3404]

Took about an hour to get the main feed to work but now running quite well on Firefox with no glitches. Damn, those Brit announcers are really good. Watched on Lemon until it crashed and then when I tried NBC all was well. Hope they've resolved earlier issues.

[guru]

One thing that makes a BIG difference is the video resolution setting. The busier the site gets, the less recommended a 720 or 1080 quality setting will be to avoid buffering. While I spent all morning at 1080HD with no problem, the highest I could set the evening session was 480

[bushop]

Well I take back what I just said. Freezes regularly on Firefox.

Firefox was great for me. Safari was no good.

This morning's SP and HT qualifying ::
<http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/track-and-field/mens-shot-put-mens-hammer-qual-rounds.html>

[Marlow]

Good news. Looks like NBC listened after all.
Apparently, the Olympic stadium has several streams one of which was the “raw feed”. The stream titled “Main feed” however did have commentary with the BBC commentators and they were very good in setting up the heats of the womens 100m.

Indeed. I switched from the Hep/SP feed to the w10000 feed and kept Sportlemon on my other monitor. No problems.
NB: the Sportlemon feed is 1 minute ahead of the 'live' NBC feed.

[Pego]

I had no problems except about half hour of buffering in full screen mode but working fine with a small window. It was the same with Chrome and IE.

[sprintzfan]

One thing that makes a BIG difference is the video resolution setting. The busier the site gets, the less recommended a 720 or 1080 quality setting will be to avoid buffering. While I spent all morning at 1080HD with no problem, the highest I could set the evening session was 480

Thanks guru, that sounds like good advice. I'll try it for Saturday's sessions.

There is an option on the resolution settings that says "Auto" I think. Does "auto" actually make the necessary resolution adjustments by itself? Or do we need to do it manually whenever there is a video quality problem like you suggest?

[guru]

There is an option on the resolution settings that says "Auto" I think. Does "auto" actually make the necessary resolution adjustments by itself? Or do we need to do it manually whenever there is a video quality problem like you suggest?

I think when you log in it defaults to the best resolution setting at that time

[tracknut2012]

One thing that makes a BIG difference is the video resolution setting. The busier the site gets, the less recommended a 720 or 1080 quality setting will be to avoid buffering. While I spent all morning at 1080HD with no problem, the highest I could set the evening session was 480

Thanks guru, that sounds like good advice. I'll try it for Saturday's sessions.

There is an option on the resolution settings that says "Auto" I think. Does "auto" actually make the necessary resolution adjustments by itself? Or do we need to do it manually whenever there is a video quality problem like you suggest?

The "Auto" option automatically tests your connection speed and adjusts your video settings automatically. Thus, if you have a very fast internet connection, it automatically sets your connection to the highest quality and vice versa.

[sprintzfan]

There is an option on the resolution settings that says "Auto" I think. Does "auto" actually make the necessary resolution adjustments by itself? Or do we need to do it manually whenever there is a video quality problem like you suggest?

I think when you log in it defaults to the best resolution setting at that time

thanks again. You too tracknut.

[bruce3404]

Helpful stuff, guys. I've had good luck switching my browser to Chrome on one computer (a Vista) and Firefox on another (XP); Firefox seems to work best for me on my W7 machines. Now if I could just get them to stop playing that annoying BMW commercial. I'm ready to burn down my local BMW dealer if that's what it takes.

[tracknut2012]

The http://www.nbcolympics.com website struggled to keep up this morning. I switched between both Chrome and IE and both crashed at some point

I have a fast fiber optic internet connection and the connection to the site wasn't great.

Initially, I was using my tablet(I get excellent wifi at home) but the picture kept freezing.

I eventually used my laptop which was a little better. Picture froze a few times and picture frames got quite slow at times. I worry about what might happen tonight and especially tomorrow with the 100m men and women final.

[bruce3404]

Some of this stuff defies logic. I had a great morning running four computers, with nary a crash.
Things seem to have improved since resetting resolution to automatic. I'm hoping the evening session will be as good, but that's probably optimistic since there will probably be 10X (or more) people watching.

[ATK]

The http://www.nbcolympics.com website struggled to keep up this morning. I switched between both Chrome and IE and both crashed at some point

I have a fast fiber optic internet connection and the connection to the site wasn't great.

Initially, I was using my tablet(I get excellent wifi at home) but the picture kept freezing.

I eventually used my laptop which was a little better. Picture froze a few times and picture frames got quite slow at times. I worry about what might happen tonight and especially tomorrow with the 100m men and women final.

Yea I had the same issue, random freezes, but it wasn't bad enough to bring frustration or anything. It was consistent enough to watch.
But these commercials are crazy, they keep cutting out of some good comentary just to stith through 30-45 second of commericals

[polevaultpower]

I was just watching the pole vault feed, and the buffering and commercials got more frequent toward the end, but it was manageable.

[jeremyp]

When it's good it's very, very good. When it's bad it is HORRID.

[Marlow]

Two monitors going, nbc and sportlemon.
Both freeze up occasionally, not too bad, about the same amount, not at the same time.
Usually end up watching sportlemon, because it's one minute ahead of the nbc feed.

[sprintzfan]

Not sure where I should post this. Because there isn't a thread I can see devoted to NBC television coverage. But for those who don't know, NBC [in the Eastern Time Zone] showed LIVE, the 10K that immediately preceded the women's 100. Then the moment it was time for the 100, they quickly left Track and Field and went to some other sport.

I mean WOW! I knew they were deceitful, money grubbing whores at NBC who have no respect whatsoever for the traditional sports audience. But even this move surprised me. It's like they just bent over backwards, to make sure that the most popular event of the day was not televised live. Like they wanted to make sure, that anyone without internet access or a good connenction, would have to endure that bore Bob Costas all night, just to see the premiere Track event of Day 2. (Thank goodness my stream cleared up longed enough, to not buffer at all during the race.) I knew they were low at NBC. Manipulative. But this is even lower than I thought they would ever go.

Actually covering live right up until the women's 100, then coyly bailing out then as though they were not switching away from anything significant.

Pathetic. What a whorish sports division they are.

[bruce3404]

I've been fairly lucky with NBC, but mostly only at 480p for the evening stuff. Had to throttle one down to 360 at times, but still very watchable. For safety, I keep the main feed on one computer and the track feed on another. During the 10,000, they ran commercials on the main feed, but went commercial free on the track feed.

[bruce3404]

I mean WOW! I knew they were deceitful, money grubbing whores at NBC who have no respect whatsoever for the traditional sports audience.

Pathetic. What a whorish sports division they are.

It's business, man. You were expecting anything different? You can count that no big T&F event will be shown live. They've gotta cover that huge expenditure to pay for the rights.

[Conor Dary]

I mean WOW! I knew they were deceitful, money grubbing whores at NBC who have no respect whatsoever for the traditional sports audience.

Pathetic. What a whorish sports division they are.

It's business, man. You were expecting anything different? You can count that no big T&F event will be shown live. They've gotta cover that huge expenditure to pay for the rights.

Exactly. They did stream it live. Blame the IOC for sucking as much money as they can without regard to what NBC shows live on TV.

[tracknut2012]

Not sure where I should post this. Because there isn't a thread I can see devoted to NBC television coverage. But for those who don't know, NBC [in the Eastern Time Zone] showed LIVE, the 10K that immediately preceded the women's 100. Then the moment it was time for the 100, they quickly left Track and Field and went to some other sport.

I .

Did you honestly expect NBC to show the womens 100m final this afternoon at 4:55pm?

As we have been discussing all week, NBC is not going to show any major sprint event live since it is not happening in their preferred prime time.

I figured if they didn't show the semi finals earlier, why would they show the finals a little later.

I did not watch the race on nbcolympics.com feed since it kept freezing up. I watch the BBC which did not freeze at all.

[sprintzfan]

It's business, man. You were expecting anything different? You can count that no big T&F event will be shown live. They've gotta cover that huge expenditure to pay for the rights.

Yeah I am. You know what I expect? I expect for coverage of the Olympics to somewhat resemble what I get in EVERY OTHER SPORT that I watch. (Don't take the capital letters as though I'm screaming at you bruce3404. My anger is solely reserved for NBC. lol)

I follow a lot of different sports. As I assume most of you guys do too. And what other sport or sporting event is treated this way? With all the vagueness about what is coming on when? What is live and what isn't? I don't have to deal with this kind of crap while following any other sport or sporting event that I love. (I don't recall having to deal with it back in the day when ABC was the home for The Olympics. Not deal with all this dishonesty and misleading crap.)

Admittedly. I don't believe I understand the economics of the Olympic games, as well as some of you do. From a few posts I glanced over, several of you are much better informed on this topic than I am. But does covering the 10k live from London, then NOT merely switching away before the 100 meters starts, but very slickly doing so, in a manner that plays the audience for a fool, without one word acknowledging 1.) what event was just about to start and 2.) where and when the viewer can see the event for himself, is behavior I don't notice in any other sports programming. NFL football. NBA Basketball. Nascar or Indy Car racing.

NBC handles the Olympics, like it's American Idol, not a sporting event. And so you guys are telling me that not only having major events shown tape delayed, but all the childish manufactured cliff hangers and other "reality t.v.-esque" things they do, really is helping their bottom line?

If this approach to sports helps NBC make money, how come it isn't replicated in any other sport I see? Boxing. MMA. Figure skating, whatever.

No there is just something really nonsensical and really odd, and really irriating to me how NBC handles this.

[sprintzfan]

One of the things I thought I saw some of you post a few days ago, is that NBC usually loses a ton of money on these Games. Is that correct?

If so then, how can all this nonsense they do every 4 years, be justified in terms of profit margin? That is counterintuitive to me.

[bruce3404]

One of the things I thought I saw some of you post a few days ago, is that NBC usually loses a ton of money on these Games. Is that correct?

If so then, how can all this nonsense they do every 4 years, be justified in terms of profit margin? That is counterintuitive to me.

Not unlike countries that sponsor the Olympics or the Worlds, they expect residual action e.g. they will get a lot of publicity, people will watch more of their non-Olympic shows, people will think of NBC as THE sports network. Or in the case of countries, they feel its a good way to put their best foot forward, attract tourists, perhaps investment, etc. If it were strictly about the bottom line for this single event, the bids to carry the games would probably be half of what they are. Call it a loss leader and it may make more sense.

[Conor Dary]

Yeah I am. You know what I expect? I expect for coverage of the Olympics to somewhat resemble what I get in EVERY OTHER SPORT that I watch. (Don't take the capital letters as though I'm screaming at you bruce3404. My anger is solely reserved for NBC. lol)

If you think of the Olympics as a 2 week reality show, instead of a sporting event, you will understand NBC's intention.

[Blues]

Nada on NBC stream - cannot get past the screen where I am supposed to tell them who my provider is. It is seeded with the correct provider but I can click on the thing a million times and nothing happens. Also picked the provider from the drop-down list, but that did not work either. Both IE and firefox.

Same here... If the clicker on my laptop wears out from me clicking on "Comcast" a thousand times in a row to try to make something happen, I'm sending the repair bill to the weasels at NBC. I finally ended up watching someone else's feed today after missing a few events while trying in vain to register on the NBC site.

[tracknut2012]

Nada on NBC stream - cannot get past the screen where I am supposed to tell them who my provider is. It is seeded with the correct provider but I can click on the thing a million times and nothing happens. Also picked the provider from the drop-down list, but that did not work either. Both IE and firefox.

Same here... If the clicker on my laptop wears out from me clicking on "Comcast" a thousand times in a row to try to make something happen, I'm sending the repair bill to the weasels at NBC. I finally ended up watching someone else's feed today after missing a few events while trying in vain to register on the NBC site.

I was initially using Chrome and I also couldn't get past the provider log

I eventually used Internet Explorer and it worked. Feed wasn't all that great and thus, I switched over to the BBC and it worked fine.

[tracknut2012]

It is now 10pm on the east coast and NBC TV is just now showing the womens 100m semi final.

I guess we may have to wait until midnight to see the final. Pathetic.

[sprintzfan]

Okay then Bruce3404 and Conor. I hear you guys. And I'll try to be more rational about this then. If I'm being impractical with my griping.

Thanks for letting me vent with you guys.

Maybe it's a pipe dream of mine. But I can't help but think if only ESPN along with ABC could get these games, it might at least begin to get treated like a sports event again.


Hey Tracknut. Women's 100 final finally coming on NBC now. lol Seriously. It's comin' on right now.

[sprintzfan]

...I switched over to the BBC and it worked fine.

Where can you get BBC? BBC television you're saying?

[tracknut2012]

...I switched over to the BBC and it worked fine.

Where can you get BBC? BBC television you're saying?

There are loads of free internet links to BBC TV that is showing the Olympics live. Unlinke the NBColympics website that cuts to ads every two minutes, these feeds don't have ads.

[sprintzfan]

Okay I'll look for them then.

Are you in the U.S. tracknut? Because I am and I was figuring I'd be IP blocked from seeing anything BBC. Like I've been blocked in my attempts to get anything CTV (Canada.)

But if you're in the U.S. I'll get to work on that. I'll know it's possible for me.