Best columns: Web watching, Google's gobbling

“NBC’s boffo TV ratings,” says the Los Angeles Times in an editorial, suggest that streaming the Olympics over the Internet actually boosts TV viewership. Google has a reputation as an &l

For TV, the Internet is not a foe

NBC paid an “exorbitant” sum for the right to broadcast the Beijing Olympics on TV, says the Los Angeles Times in an editorial, but for the first time it’s also streaming the games over the Internet. And despite NBC’s Web-viewing restrictions, and those imposed by the International Olympics Committee, “avid sports fans” have been able to find and share video of the games online. “Is that a bad thing for broadcasters? NBC’s boffo TV ratings suggest the opposite.” NBC is getting more Web traffic a day than it did during the entire 2004 games, but lots more TV viewers, too. The lesson here is that the Web is actually “the route to more viewers, online and off.” If networks don’t take advantage of that, someone else will.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us