# Why didn't NBC stream the Olympics for all? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 22, 2016, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-nbc-stream-the-olympics-for-all/763658 "2016-08-22T18:58:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Deeg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deeg/32/2955_2.png) [@Deeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deeg)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2016, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-nbc-stream-the-olympics-for-all/763658/1 "2016-08-22T18:58:11Z")
I don’t have cable and a couple of times I tried to watch some events but NBC required a cable account to stream them live. What was the reason? They were streaming with ads so I would have thought they would have received some ad revenue from someone (me) they otherwise wouldn’t. Is it because they have a deal with the cable companies that prevent this? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2016, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-nbc-stream-the-olympics-for-all/763658/2 "2016-08-22T19:01:12Z")
More than just a “deal” with the cable companies; NBC is owned by Comcast, one of the biggest cable companies. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2016, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-nbc-stream-the-olympics-for-all/763658/3 "2016-08-22T19:18:32Z")
I was hoping they’d follow CBS Sports’ lead with their streaming of the Super Bowl, but alas… Thanks Comcast. I have now deleted your completely worthless NBCSports app from my Roku. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2016, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-nbc-stream-the-olympics-for-all/763658/4 "2016-08-22T20:29:47Z")
The relationship between a network and its affiliates is routinely on shaky ground. If a major network put its programs up on the web for streaming free (complete with ads), the affiliates would rebel big time. Some ways the affiliates would demonstrate this (as warning shots) would be replacing low rated network shows with syndicated shows. (As it is, ABC has a hard time getting Kimmel to air in the “right” time slot on some stations, if at all.) In some markets, an affiliate will even switch to another network. Cable TV gets in the picture since a good chunk of TV stations revenue now comes from selling rebroadcast rights to the local cable companies. (The rules on this are Byzantine. They can either force the cable companies to air them free or negotiate a fee. Cable companies need the major network stations, so the fees are pretty good.) If people started watching networks online a lot, this dynamic would start falling apart and both interests lose. OTOH, it is the future and it’s time these companies adapted. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2016, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-nbc-stream-the-olympics-for-all/763658/5 "2016-08-22T21:28:50Z")
It’s a shame and we were fortunate in the UK that the BBC just about managed to buy the rights to broadcast the show. It did pretty much take over their schedules but even we, as nom sports enthusiasts, didn’t mind. Makes the licence fee (£145.50 per year) good value IMHO. BTW - is it true that successful American contestants have to pay tax on the ‘value’ of their medals? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2016, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-nbc-stream-the-olympics-for-all/763658/6 "2016-08-22T21:46:42Z")
Note that NBC _did_ stream the Olympics (supposedly every event (more than 4,500 hours of streaming content). They just limited access to those with a cable or satellite subscription. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2016, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-nbc-stream-the-olympics-for-all/763658/7 "2016-08-22T23:10:12Z")
And the _right_ cable access. I couldn’t stream what I’ve been waiting four years to see again - handball - but since I have basic cable, I couldn’t. So I didn’t watch any of the Olympics this year. I have no tolerance for businesses that are so contemptuous of their customers. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2016, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-nbc-stream-the-olympics-for-all/763658/8 "2016-08-22T23:37:27Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > It’s a shame and we were fortunate in the UK that the BBC just about managed to buy the rights to broadcast the show. It did pretty much take over their schedules but even we, as nom sports enthusiasts, didn’t mind. Makes the licence fee (£145.50 per year) good value IMHO. > > BTW - is it true that successful American contestants have to pay tax on the ‘value’ of their medals? Yes. And not only that, they receive a cash bonus for each medal, which is also taxable. Each U.S. medalist receives $25,000 for a gold, $15,000 for a silver, and $10,000 for a bronze. It’s believed that Michael Phelps could face a $55,000 tax bill on his medals and earnings. > **[For US Olympians, gold medals come with a hefty tax bill](https://www.bbc.com/news/business-37099066)** > > US athletes are leading in the Olympic medal count but when the winners return home they will be welcomed with both national pride - and a hefty tax bill. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2016, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-nbc-stream-the-olympics-for-all/763658/9 "2016-08-22T23:41:13Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > … OTOH, it is the future and it’s time these companies adapted. All true, but I would note that I don’t have cable and the entire Olympics was available free and in high definition on my large-screen TV. The enabling technology is as old as television itself and is called “an antenna” ;), specifically a medium-gain outdoor UHF antenna. There is the future, and there is also “back to the past” which many folks are rediscovering because it’s particularly awesome with digital HD, and is technically higher quality than typical cable or satellite feeds that are subject to additional video compression. Of course you have to be reasonably close to an urban area and in a position to mount an antenna in some suitable place so it’s not for everyone, and there are potential complications if transmitters are in significantly different directions, but in principle it’s a simple low-cost option that’s easily overlooked by cable-hating cord-cutters! ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2016, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-nbc-stream-the-olympics-for-all/763658/10 "2016-08-22T23:44:33Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > All true, but I would note that I don’t have cable and the entire Olympics was available free and in high definition on my large-screen TV. The enabling technology is as old as television itself and is called “an antenna” ;), specifically a medium-gain outdoor UHF antenna. There is the future, and there is also “back to the past” which many folks are rediscovering because it’s particularly awesome with digital HD, and is technically higher quality than typical cable or satellite feeds that are subject to additional video compression. Of course you have to be reasonably close to an urban area and in a position to mount an antenna in some suitable place so it’s not for everyone, and there are potential complications if transmitters are in significantly different directions, but in principle it’s a simple low-cost option that’s easily overlooked by cable-hating cord-cutters! Yup. If you’re in the middle of an urban area, you might not even need an outdoor antenna. I get good reception with a relatively simple set of rabbit ears on top of my TV. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2016, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-nbc-stream-the-olympics-for-all/763658/11 "2016-08-23T00:04:43Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > All true, but I would note that I don’t have cable and the entire Olympics was available free and in high definition on my large-screen TV. The Olympics were being broadcast on at least 5 different channels, not all of which are available over the air. It was on NBC, NBC Sports, The Golf Channel, USA, and Bravo. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2016, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-nbc-stream-the-olympics-for-all/763658/12 "2016-08-23T00:15:31Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > The Olympics were being broadcast on at least 5 different channels, not all of which are available over the air. It was on NBC, NBC Sports, The Golf Channel, USA, and Bravo. I’m in Canada and was referring to the coverage on CBC, but what I was really thinking of is that every major event was covered and overall there was much, much more coverage than anyone could reasonably watch, but I shouldn’t have said the “entire Olympics” as I’m sure that wasn’t the case and that the specialty channels carried more. The point being, there was more than enough free over-the-air Olympic coverage in both countries to satisfy just about any Olympic fan. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2016, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-nbc-stream-the-olympics-for-all/763658/13 "2016-08-23T03:29:37Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Note that NBC _did_ stream the Olympics (supposedly every event (more than 4,500 hours of streaming content). They just limited access to those with a cable or satellite subscription. I have Comcast Xfinity. All attempts to live-stream ended in failure. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2016, 10:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-nbc-stream-the-olympics-for-all/763658/14 "2016-08-23T10:12:13Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > The Olympics were being broadcast on at least 5 different channels, not all of which are available over the air. It was on NBC, NBC Sports, The Golf Channel, USA, and Bravo. Also CNBC and MSNBC. Bravo only had tennis, I think, and you can guess what sport was on the Golf Channel. > [@wolfpup](#): > > I’m in Canada and was referring to the coverage on CBC, but what I was really thinking of is that every major event was covered and overall there was much, much more coverage than anyone could reasonably watch, but I shouldn’t have said the “entire Olympics” as I’m sure that wasn’t the case and that the specialty channels carried more. The point being, there was more than enough free over-the-air Olympic coverage in both countries to satisfy just about any Olympic fan. Not if you’re picky sports fan. There’s some Olympic sports I can’t stand and others I don’t hate but don’t care much for. So I was constantly flipping between channels or even turning the TV off if there was nothing of interest. One advantage of having so many channels is that it was very common for them to show competitions where there were no Americans involved. That was rare when there was only a single channel. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2016, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-nbc-stream-the-olympics-for-all/763658/15 "2016-08-23T21:01:04Z")
Yes, CBC streamed a lot of different parts of the Olympics. Not sure if they required a Canadian IP address, but I’m suspecting they did. (VPN, anyone?) My wife wanted to watch the closing ceremonies while working on the PC, but we don’t have cable feed into the office room - so she streamed it onto the other computer monitor - a 43" 4K-TV. Funny Canadian story - some TV events were restricted (like hockey) unless you had a Rogers (cable TV company) sign-on. My sign-on was for my cellular service - not their cable service - but the signon still worked to watch tv… that is, until I was visiting New York. Tried to get a play-off game and my IP was restricted - it did not work because I was in the USA and the broadcasts in that area were covered by a different agreement. VPN to a European address and it worked. But I do have the same complaint. My wife likes to watch a soap opera, and when we are traveling we would be able to watch the last 5 episodes online. Then a few years ago, ABC switched their policy so that they required a cable company’s login to watch. I assume the local stations would be complaining that allowing online viewing would suck away their viewers. That’s not surprising, considering the majority of the network’s money still comes from affiliate revenue? Probably 99% of the TV I watch is DVR’ed, including most of the Olympics, so I really would not care whether it comes from cable or the web. The web just does not have the selection (legally) that cable does - yet. The only live TV we tend to watch is CNN, since it’s our go-to choice for background talking wallpaper. ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2016, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-nbc-stream-the-olympics-for-all/763658/16 "2016-08-23T22:14:18Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > I’m in Canada and was referring to the coverage on CBC, but what I was really thinking of is that every major event was covered and overall there was much, much more coverage than anyone could reasonably watch, but I shouldn’t have said the “entire Olympics” as I’m sure that wasn’t the case and that the specialty channels carried more. The point being, there was more than enough free over-the-air Olympic coverage in both countries to satisfy just about any Olympic fan. I only had the main NBC feed and it sucked big time … all that touchy-feelly human interest bullshit and WAY TOO MUCH Bob Costas … 20 minutes of interviews and 20 minutes of commercials for each 5 minutes of actual sports coverage … Luckily I has some paint that needed to be watched while it dried …