Cablevision Scrooges Olympics Fans as NBC's Summer Games Triumph On TV and Online

I would like to be able to report that I have watched some portion of the Beijing Summer Olympic Games live on my computer, even though that is not my preferred method of viewing. But that choice hasn't been mine to make. Cablevision is my television and Internet provider, and when I try to access live Olympic coverage via www.nbcolympics.com I receive the following message: "We're sorry. You will not have access to live Olympic video or long-form replays online because the TV service provider you selected is not a partner of NBCOlympics.com." So there will be no streaming for me. Happily, I do have access to short-form replays of events and have been able to enjoy many that I missed on television and a few that I wanted to see again.

It occurs to me that, during those hours when I have watched the Beijing Games on television, I have been engaged in a way I haven't been since my childhood and teen years, when the Olympics truly were something special that only came along every four years (the Winter and Summer Games weren't separated by two years back then). They offered sights and sounds that weren't commonly available on pre-cable (and especially pre-ESPN) television: Live programming from other countries; taped coverage of athletic competitions that were not compromised by advance spoilers; sports that were usually only available on ABC's Wide World of Sports on Saturday afternoons. I believe the reason I am feeling that old excitement of something fresh and new is because this is the first time I have watched the coverage in high-definition on flat-screen TVs. I sit and stare even at sports that I have no interest in and find myself thoroughly entertained. Suddenly, the Games aren't simply fun to watch. They are beautiful to behold.

I suspect that many other people are having the same reaction. This is not the first time that NBC has televised the Olympics in high-definition, but it is certainly the first time that millions of people have watched them in that format, given the mad rush in recent months to prepare for the transition to digital transmission, now just over six months away. If other people are responding as I am, marveling at the sights and sounds of Olympic events as they have never before seen or heard them, then I expect NBC to continue to reap the massive ratings rewards it has enjoyed so far.

Ratings for the first few nights of the Games on NBC, while extraordinary, are not all that surprising when you look behind the numbers. Consider the many additional factors at play (beyond HDTV and all the records that Michael Phelps is breaking) that have combined and will continue to come together to make NBC's coverage of the XXIX Olympiad one for the record books.

The declining economy and rising cost of gasoline and jet fuel have prompted millions of people to take abbreviated vacations this summer or not to vacation at all. That means more people are available than in recent summers to watch NBC Universal's impressive if somewhat overblown coverage (a mind-blowing 3600 hours total), not only on the broadcast network in primetime, daytime and on weekends but also on the company's cable networks and digital platforms. It stands to reason that if one is touched by Olympic enthusiasm via brief exposure through any of these outlets one will look to other outlets for more -- and especially to the NBC mother-ship during primetime. Further, viewers in staycation mode are more apt to stay up late and watch that final hour (after 11 p.m. ET) of NBC's nightly coverage than if they had to wake up at 5 or 6 a.m. the next morning and dash off to work. Some of the most exciting and historic achievements by U.S. athletes in the Games so far (the men's sizzling 4x100 relay, the bronze-worthy performance of the men's gymnastics team) have occurred after 11 p.m., and those late-night jolts have been more than enough to guarantee follow-up viewing the following day.

The Internet is also an important element of this success story. More people have gotten into the habit of watching all forms of television programming online since NBC's last Summer Olympics blast, and it may be that once they get hooked watching the Games on their computers (or phones) they are compelled to also enjoy them in high-tech splendor on bigger screens. There was much talk from many networks throughout the recent Television Critics Association tour about this topic: Even as Internet usage explodes, more people are watching more television than ever before. If the two mediums are now complimenting and supporting each other then NBC's Olympics coverage is a timely beneficiary of this development.

Another likely reason for this renewed interest in the Olympics is that we are all in need of a king-sized diversion, with the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq threatening to continue indefinitely, the escalating economic and energy crises threatening to make the winter months a financial catastrophe for millions of citizens, cities and communities across the nation struggling to rebuild after natural disasters without sufficient government assistance, the infrastructure continuing to weaken, concerns about climate change growing and tens of millions of people suffering without medical care, among so many other concerns. The Olympics surely take peoples' minds off their problems and the problems of others, if only because it's tough to feel bad when you find yourself cheering someone on to success.