Olympic conundrum

A lot of people have been squawking about not being able to see some Olympic events as they are happening (since NBC has delayed them for a prime-time package), and as the New York Times writes today, this has led to ESPN's bid for the next round of the Games including plans to go live with most events if it is awarded the contract.

Many of the concerns about when to air events centers around the problems of NBC being in the "network" category (which, in the up-to-the-minute current world, seems to be more and more of an albatross) while ESPN is a niche, sports-only area where you'd expect constant access.

But the key to venerable media institutions keeping their ground while the world speeds toward vast, changing, niche markets is exactly what NBC is doing. They're not just showing the Olympic games; they're creating a package. Sit down in front of your TV for the two weeks of the Olympic Games, and you will be treated each night with a thought-out plan of the day's best events, complete with solid interviews and interesting stories.

(As a side note, I don't read the Boston Globe's Olympic coverage to know what happened; I read it for its reporting, photos, and good columns. Thus is the role of established, large media.)

I can easily see ESPN botching this: You go home after work and flip on the TV, only to see that you're not going to get the ski event from earlier in the day, because you were expected to watch it when it was on at 11 a.m. Then ESPN cuts from curling, or speed skating, or whatever, to show you the winner, but you don't get to see the full event and all of its suspense (and nationalities, which will be the first thing to go if we're just satisfying consumers' desires). Instead, it just feeds the "I need to constantly know what's going on and watch every minute!" gusto at the expense of getting the cream of the crop. And as the Times article writes, the advertising dollars may go, too.

Yes, NBC has botched some of the coverage this year (ahem, USA vs. Canada hockey), but its approach to the Games is the best way to go: An overall view of a magnificent event, exciting to watch in full even if you already know what's going to happen. (And for goodness' sake, just don't get on the Internet if you don't want to know who won the two-woman bobsled preliminary round in the morning.)