While NBC has been the clear winner in prime-time TV coverage of the Olympics, its online counterpart hasn’t been so lucky.  Video and technical difficulties may be to blame, but sites such as Yahoo seem to be wooing viewers better than the company that paid nearly $1 billion for sole broadcast rights.

NBCOlympics.com, which streams the lesser-known games of the Olympics such as weightlifting, wrestling, and equestrian events, has been experiencing problems when it comes to its video player.  Seems the player can’t be installed behind a firewall, which presents a huge problem when people want to stream coverage from their desks at work, according to Wired.  If users want anything online past basic photos and news stories, they’re more or less out of luck.  Even if users are able to access the videos, they’re left with a simple video feed of nothing more than people standing around with no commentary what so ever.

That’s where Yahoo is stepping in, and capturing a larger share of the online Olympics audience. Its NBC competitor site, Yahoo Sports, has announced that for the first three days of the Olympic Games, its dedicated Olympics site generated over 8 million unique users, 1.3 million more than NBC’s site received.  Since the popular sports coverage is delayed online until its already been aired on TV, NBC viewers are going elsewhere to get up-to-the-minute news and reviews of the games that are most interesting to them. 

NBC is still not doubting its online coverage, even though internet users have never comprised more than 8 percent of its total viewing audience for any single day since the Olympics started.  Since then, NBCOlympics.com has seen nearly 830.1 million page views, 56.1 million video streams, and 38.9 million users, so its hard to say the site has been a disappointment.  “These record numbers validate our multiplatform strategy,” says Gary Zenkel, president of NBC Olympics. “They drive viewers to share in the Olympic experience on network television in record numbers. And as a result of this unprecedented digital effort, consumers have a destination to watch thousands of hours of video and relive the great moments of these Olympics.”  Still, its clear that NBC had higher hopes for its online coverage, which it spent so much time and money setting up.  Perhaps, Yahoo is just reporting what users would rather have.

I really didn’t see this one coming.  With all the fanfare surrounding NBC’s online Olympic coverage, one would think it would have trounced even its closest competitor.  I think it all comes down to NBC’s priorities, it can make more money with its TV coverage, and it’s sacrificing online viewership because of it.  Yahoo, on the other hand, is more interested in online advertising, so its making the best of its opportunity. 

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Entry was posted on Wednesday, August 20th, 2008 at 2:40 pm under Internet, Opinion, Yahoo!.

Read more entries by Justin Montgomery.
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