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ESPN to bid on 2014, 2016 Olympics -- promises no West Coast tape delay

by Richard Lawler posted Aug 20th 2008 at 9:39AM

It's certainly strange that with several networks, online video, on demand, cellphone and any other way NBC has provided to view the Beijing Olympic Games, U.S. HDTVs had to wait 13 hours to show Usain Bolt make history in the 100m dash -- and another three hours to catch it on PST. For those frustrated by NBC's arrogant mishandling of its broadcast rights, there exists one slim ray of hope (other than living somewhere lucky enough to get Canadian television so you can actually see the events before reading about them in the paper or on NBC's own website), ESPN. That's right, with Brett Favre finally on an NFL roster, the sports giant has apparently found enough free time to consider taking a run at broadcast rights for the 2014 Winter Games and 2016 Summer Games. While we don't yet know where they'll be, if ESPN gets the Games, VP of content John Skipper pinky swore that it would "never" put an event on tape delay, calling it a disservice to sports fans. Our support for this plan goes without saying, and since it's already too late to give them this year's broadcast rights, our only remaining issue is finding out what it takes to get John Skipper on the '08 presidential ballot.

Poll: Due to HD, have you tuned into the Olympics more?

by Darren Murph posted Aug 16th 2008 at 12:00PM


One masochist notwithstanding, we're pretty sure you haven't sat down for days straight to watch the Summer Games from Beijing, but we're wondering if the superabundance of high-def Olympics programming has changed your perspective on the entire spectacle. Here at Engadget HQ, we've found ourselves captivated by more Olympics footage in the first week than we can ever remember in Games' past, and there's no question that having the events in high-definition caused us to keep flipping back. Is the same phenomenon happening at your house? Are you inexplicably anxious to come home and check out some of the world's greatest athletes in beautiful high-def? Tell us how the HD onslaught has affected your Olympics viewing (if at all).

[Image courtesy of Yahoo! Sports]

Due to HD, have you tuned into the Olympics more?

Masochist sits through 24 straight hours of Olympics, writes about it

by Darren Murph posted Aug 13th 2008 at 10:05AM


Just because there are 3,600 hours of Olympics coverage being beamed out in one form or another this year doesn't mean you actually need to watch all 3,600 of them. For one particular pain lover, however, he consumed 24 straight, and thankfully, he had the decency to write about it. Starting at midnight ET on August 12th, he flipped on NBC just in time to catch Alexander Artemev save the bronze for the US in men's gymnastics. 24 hours later, he watched the women's team disappointingly snag a silver in the same sport. Nearly every minute in between is chronicled in the read link below -- seriously, this is a read you can't afford to miss.

NBC Olympics on the Go adds 64-bit Vista Media Center support

by Richard Lawler posted Aug 9th 2008 at 4:13PM


Looks like Wavexpress heard your complaints, adding a 64-bit version to its free NBC Olympics on the Go Windows Vista Media Center application. Personally, we'd have been checking out the Opening Ceremony for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games last night, but the TVTonic developers were still cranking away, so get with the downloading. Already available are soccer clips and the full opening in SD, with HD highlights of the IOC prez speaking last night.

DISH offers Interactive TV mosaic for Olympics overload

by Steven Kim posted Aug 8th 2008 at 5:28PM

Olympic rings bike
One look over our 2008 Beijing Olympics guide will tell you that there's just too much content to absorb; even just the NBC coverage is enough to induce HD OD. But DISH customers might be able to drink more comfortably from the fire hose thanks to Ensequence, which is bringing the Interactive TV mosaic to the games. As seen at the U.S. Open, this will montage feeds from six NBCU channels into a single screen. Viewers can then soak all six channels in at once or zoom in on a single channel. Even this six-fold reduction might not be enough, so various news and digest services will also be made available on DISH channel 100 -- especially appealing is the compiled highlights of the day's events. DirecTV has shown that it can play the multi-screen game, too, so don't be surprised to see it there as well.

[Image courtesy ChinaDaily]

Ready to watch the 2008 Beijing Olympics?

by Richard Lawler posted Aug 7th 2008 at 3:22PM Featured Story

There's no doubt about it, no matter what the air quality -- or the political climate -- is like, these will be the best Olympics ever to watch from home (maybe 2012, eh Oscar?) With every moment captured in high definition and available right away, viewers will have their choice of sports to watch at all times, on a number of different platforms. Whether you're new to HD -- and are absolutely sure your HDTV is set up properly -- in the last four years or still have nightmares punctuated by "We've got chips...and salsa" (we've formed a support group for the survivors of 2004) we'll do our part to make sure you're equipped to get the most possible out of the 2008 Olympic Games.

Continue reading Ready to watch the 2008 Beijing Olympics?

Comcast and Charter tout enhanced Olympics 2008 coverage

by Richard Lawler posted Aug 5th 2008 at 4:39PM


Just in case you thought only AT&T and DirecTV are the only ones lining up HD video on-demand offerings for the Olympics (scheduled to kick off tomorrow with women's soccer ahead of the August 8 opening ceremonies), as Comcast and Charter just dropped some details on their plans for the Beijing Games. For the most part HD VOD plans seem identical to the offerings from other providers, with 15-20 daily updates and highlights sorted by sport, while Comcast promises more than 700 hours of HD on NBC HD, Universal HD and USA HD, plus multiple live NBC feeds on Comcast Central. Charter however has highlighted a few different features , with plans to carry the NBC Olympics Soccer Channel and NBC Olympic Basketball Channel in HD on top of the NBC and Universal HD feeds, plus foreign language TV coverage. Since no one person can hope to keep up with all the coverage (and don't forget the 2,200 hours of streaming video planned for the NBC website), plan for HD VOD to be the lifeline keeping you updated with your sport of choice.

Read - Comcast PR
Read - Charter PR

It takes plenty of equipment to produce the Olympics in HD

by Ben Drawbaugh posted Jul 30th 2008 at 1:50PM

Olympic Control room

As self proclaimed HD junkies, we are almost as interested in what it takes to produce HD as we are into watching it. So when we ran across these pictures of all the HDTV and switching equipment setup for the Olympics, it really got our blood pumping. It's not that we didn't think that it was going to take a ton of equipment to produce 3600 hours of HD, but it's one thing to read it, and another to actually see it. One thing's for sure, 08.08.08 can't get here fast enough.

CBC plans 282 hours of HD Olympic coverage

by Richard Lawler posted Jul 19th 2008 at 10:02AM

Our friends in the Great White North can expect some great HD coverage of this summer's Olympic games, as the CBC recently laid out its broadcast schedule, planning 282 hours of high definition coverage, while TSN promises 150 hours of HD coverage. CBC will also throw in 400 hours of SD coverage, which, may not equal NBC's numbers, but anyone who's viewed both can tell you without a doubt their presentation has trumped NBC's in its ability to satisfy sports fans (with the exception of their curling obsession during the Winter Olympics) with live action for many years. Online streaming of 1,500 hours of event coverage including live events will also be available, so we don't expect Canadians will miss a minute of the action from Beijing.

European broadcasters rushing to add HD ahead of the Olympics

by Richard Lawler posted Jul 8th 2008 at 11:40AM

Despite word from France Television's director of sports programming that HD wouldn't be available for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, France 2 HD has already launched on CanalSat DTH and Numéricable. Unlike the Versus broadcast here, French viewers are also getting the Tour de France in HD and can expect the same from their Olympic coverage. Meanwhile Belgians can thank TV Vlaanderen for adding VRT's Eén HD temporarily to its DTH platform, delivering both events in HD, along with Belgacom TV adding Eén HD, France 2 HD, Eurosport HD and TF1 HD for a total of 13 high definition channels. Really, we can't see watching the Olympics any other way.

Read - Belgacom TV
Read - France 2
Read - VRT Eén HD

NBC Olympics on the Go brings the Games to Vista Media Center users

by Darren Murph posted Jun 23rd 2008 at 3:35PM


We've got this sneaking suspicion that we'll be forced to digest bucketfuls of Olympics news as the run-up to August continues, and Wavexpress is making sure our thoughts are accurate. Said outfit has just announced a partnership with NBC that will see the former "develop, host and support a service for viewing NBC's coverage of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games in Microsoft's Windows Vista Media Center." The NBC Olympics on the Go will utilize Wavexpress' TVTonic internet video application to enable Media Center users to "watch channels of NBC's coverage of Olympic events in up-to-HD quality on the go on their laptop." As expected, the service will be free to all who choose to take advantage, but this time you'll actually need to download the TVTonic application (versus just logging in via the web portal).

Spain preps HD channel for 2008 Olympic Games

by Darren Murph posted Jun 15th 2008 at 8:36PM

Good news, Spain. The president of the Radio Televisión Española has just announced that high-definition coverage of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing will be available in your country. After a meetup with the Directors Board of the Association of Olympic Sports, Luis Fernandez asserted that details were being finalized for a TVE channel that will carry the events in HD and will likely be broadcast by Canal+ HD. Outside of that, details were scant, but considering the dearth of time before the Games get kicked off, you probably won't be waiting long to hear more.

China preps new HDTV channel for the Olympics

by Richard Lawler posted Apr 28th 2008 at 9:37AM

CCTV is getting ready for the 2008 Beijing Olympics by launching a dedicated high definition channel May 1. Viewers in the eight cities currently covered (Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Shenyang, Qingdao, Qinhuangdao, Guangzhou and Shenzhen) can expect a variety of HD content broadcast 24 hours a day until the Olympics, when it will morph into the Olympic HD Channel and broadcast of all events and ceremonies. Have USB dongle, will travel.

Terrestrial HDTV programs coming to eight cities in China before Olympics

by Darren Murph posted Mar 24th 2008 at 11:28AM


No doubt about it, the Olympics are spurning interest in HDTV programming in the Far East, and it looks like a handful of cities won't have to wait until summer to start enjoying the spoils of being this year's Olympic host. Apparently, a senior Chinese official has announced that "terrestrial high definition television (HDTV) programs will be broadcast in eight cities on the China Content Broadcasting Network in 2008 before the Olympic games commences in August." For those curious about specifics, citizens of Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Qinhuangdao, Shenyang, Qingdao, Guangzhou and Shenzhen will be able to catch HD programs on China Central Television (CCTV) in the not-too-distant future. So, how's about that flat-panel demand over there?

[Image courtesy of BusinessWeek]

HDTV sales to surge in China, not due to Beijing Olympics

by Darren Murph posted Jan 26th 2008 at 2:32AM


Couple the fact that the standard of living in China is set to rise substantially in the coming years with the perpetually dropping prices of flat-panel HDTVs, and it seems quite easy to see how some analysts are predicting huge HDTV sales in said nation this year. According to research firm DisplaySearch, LCD shipments to China are set to jump 70-percent this year to nearly 15 million units while plasma sales nearly double to over 1 million. Interestingly, the looming Beijing Olympics aren't being pinpointed as the main driver, or even a passenger, to be honest. For starters, the Chinese government canceled May Day holidays this year, "a major shopping season," and Lehman Brothers' James Kim even went so far as to note that the "Olympics can help sales, but it won't change the market fundamentals." If only they knew how fantastic the long-jump looked in 1080i...




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