TV Everywhere is still in its infancy but a new offering on NBCOlympics.com illustrates how easily it can - and probably will - be customized and segmented for specific viewers.
People who subscribe to cable, satellite or telco TV service will be able to view live streaming Olympics coverage on NBCOlympics.com. Called "Olympics Online Connect", the service, for which viewers have to register, will provide more than 1,000 hours of live Olympic streaming events and replays, reports MediaPost (via MediaBuyerPlanner).
Most large cable and satellite operators, as well as telco TV providers - including DirecTV, Dish Network, AT&T U-verse and Verizon FiOS - have aligned with NBC to give streaming access to their customers. Cablevision, the country's fifth-largest MSO, has yet to do so, but with the Olympics more than a month away, there is still time for a deal to be inked.
The Concept
TV Everywhere was borne out of the cable industry's need to prevent viewers from dropping their pay TV service as more and more content becomes available online. It would allow viewers to access content via any channel they choose, including online and on mobile devices. It is still early days with providers - such as Comcast’s TV Everywhere initiative Fancast Xfinity TV - still feeling their way on such specifics as ad strategies.
Olympics Online Connect suggests, though, that many of the same demographics that the cable industry targets - sports fans in this case - are likely to be targeted in the TV Everywhere environment with such offerings as live streaming local games.
Additional Fees for Special Content?
If so, it'll complicate pricing and ad placement models even more, if Comcast's deliberations over whether to live stream Sixers games in the Philadelphia area - for an additional fee - is any indication. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, regional sports networks, in general, have been slow to stream local pro games because of fears the internet would cannibalize TV viewing. If such games do wind up on the internet, more than likely consumers will have to pay extra - which contradicts the spirit of TV Everywhere.
That is because the economics of sports is different than general entertainment, and most likely will lead to the extra-fee policy. The National Basketball Association charges Comcast - which also owns local broadcast rights to the Boston Celtics, Washington Wizards, Chicago Bulls, Golden State Warriors, Sacramento Kings, and Portland Trail Blazers - $3,000 per game to stream local games.
Major League Baseball is negotiating with other teams and local broadcast rights-holders to show more live baseball games next year on the internet, the Inquirer also reports. Also, ESPN has been charging broadband providers a per-subscriber fee of 10 cents to 25 cents for its online sports site, ESPN360.com.
