2008 Olympics - Defining Moment for Video 2.0 or Opportunity Lost?

Every four years I look forward to the summer Olympic games. It's not so much that I'll sit down and watch the coverage non-stop, but there are a few sports that I look forward to watching and the occasional event that catches my attention by surprise (beach volleyball, anyone?) This year, with so many hours being produced by NBC, I waited in anticipation for what could be the defining moment of video 2.0. Was this going to be the moment in time, where traditional Television and the Web fused together to give us a blended experience like never before? An experience that allowed us to both lean back and watch the NBC drama unfold AND lean forward to self-produce our own Olympic channel? An experience that provided the right amount of live-action coverage, video-on-demand, commentary, tear-jerking athlete profiles, game history and statistics? An experience that makes us stop and say, "Wow, now this is what we've been waiting for”? Don’t get me wrong, the sheer ability to watch over 2000 hours of coverage is great and the lessons NBC learned from the past (see 1992 Triplecast debacle) allow us to watch it all for free. I was just hoping that the 2008 Olympics would mark the turning point for the online video EXPERIENCE.

Instead, we have two distinct experiences a traditional TV broadcast directed by NBC and a website that is a tribute to online video 1.0 – short clips, a cluttered UI and more links than there are stones in the Great Wall of China. Sure, I can watch lots of live streaming video on the web and easily swap between multiple feeds, but there’s nothing inventive about the online experience and there’s no continuity between it and the broadcast feed. To NBC, it appears as if the website is seen as a delivery vehicle for carrying more live video content than what could be handled over the broadcast channels. It gives NBC a way to stream on-demand videos while cramming banners and sponsorships into every nook and cranny of available white space. Hey, I’m not against the ad-supported notion, I even enjoy watching the creative ads produced just for the Olympics. Just don’t insult me by turning off the player options such as “Enlarge Video” while pre-roll ads are playing. Believe it or not, I just might want to watch the advertisement in a larger window or perhaps even in Hi-Def. They’ve even gone to great lengths to recreate a gimmicky TV feature on the website: PIP. I didn’t use it on my TV and I still won’t use it now.

OK, so enough negativity. The sheer magnitude of it all is impressive, but I thought I’d make some specific suggestions on how to improve the Olympic viewer experience.

• Use the on-line medium to enhance the TV broadcast and vice versa. Drive viewers from the broadcast to specific upcoming events and programming on-line. On the website, clearly identify programming that’s occurring on TV.
• Let viewers predefine their ideal Olympic coverage online, then build a personalized, printed schedule so viewers know when and where to tune-in to watch their events.
• To maximize the TV broadcast audience, let viewers vote on what the TV channels will air instead of choosing the coverage for them.
• Let viewers define their sport or athlete “watch list” and automatically build a personalized library of video highlights.
• Invite former athletes or even broadcasting students to provide audio commentary for the on-line videos instead of watching in silence
• To enhance the ad experiences, provide an on-line video library for advertisers to tell their stories in MORE than 30 seconds (not less).

For all the money that is spent on video production and delivery, I just wish a fraction could be spent on transforming the video experience into something more integrated, more personalized, more enjoyable and more remarkable. Perhaps it is a case of funding, where the advertising dollars for the website are dwarfed by those of the broadcast network. Or perhaps it is a case of an organizational divide, where the suits who run the network don’t mingle with the jean-wearing nerds who build websites. Regardless, until viewer needs are put first, we’ll have to put our Olympic 2.0 dreams on hold until Vancouver, 2010.

Matt Kaplan
VP Solutions and Chief Strategy Officer, PermissionTV