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NBC is launching its Olympic website today, ready to stream all 32 sports at the London 2012 Olympics live, before the time-delayed television broadcast. The site will not only live stream content, but also provide users with access to a vast catalogue of archived material. Rick Cordella, vice president and general manager of NBC Sports Digital Media, told the New York Times that "the vast majority of events will be archived immediately," and the only restriction will be on events that will feature prominently in the evening's broadcast, which will be locked down after the stream until some time after the television show has aired. Cordella also said that streaming could increase viewing figures of the time-delayed broadcast, explaining that 'anytime you have a great event that happens before it shows on the air, it increases ratings and generates buzz."
Unlike NBC's Olympic streams in the past, which used Microsoft's Silverlight technology, the London 2012 coverage will be powered by YouTube, although content will only be available via NBC's site. In the UK, the BBC will have twenty four HD Olympic streams available, covering every sport and providing a total of around 2,500 hours of live coverage. Cordella has the same lofty ambitions for NBC's streams. "Whatever is on schedule that day, if cameras are on it, we'll stream it." NBC claims that between the live streams and regular television programs it will offer live coverage from every event in the game.
