| If you intend to watch the Vancouver 2010 | | | | become increasingly popular as the proliferation of |
| Olympics online, you'd best start training now | | | | online TV has made it all the more important to |
| since it will require the gymnastics of a true | | | | cable companies to protect their bottom line. |
| Olympic medalist to be able to get around the | | | | MLB.TV, which is a pay site for example where |
| odd plans that NBC has for letting you do so. The | | | | you can see all MLB baseball games online now |
| kind folks at NBC, who own the rights to show | | | | asks you to log in as a Cablevision subscriber if |
| the Olympics on television in the United States | | | | you live in one of their areas and want to watch |
| have decided to demand that viewers prove that | | | | a local game. |
| they subscribe to a pay TV service such as a | | | | Frankly, it really makes little sense to me that |
| cable or satellite and only then will they be allowed | | | | NBC should be quite so obstinate about this. No, |
| to see the games. As if that wasn't enough to | | | | it's not cheap for them to purchase the rights to |
| give you a headache, seeing the Olympics online | | | | broadcast the Olympics and they need to make |
| will also require your cable or satellite operator to | | | | sure that they get the maximum revenue, but |
| agree to let you do it. If they decide that they | | | | still, we're talking about watching the Vancouver |
| don't want to allow people in their market to | | | | 2010 Olympics online. This is meant to be a time |
| watch the Olympics, NBC will block you from | | | | for people from all over the planet to get |
| doing so. Cabelvision customers for example were | | | | together and put aside their differences in the |
| not able to watch the Olympics online in 2008 | | | | name of friendly sports competition. |
| because that company chose to block their | | | | Not only that, if you want to watch the |
| subscribers from seeing it. | | | | Vancouver 2010 Olympics online and you're lucky |
| If you don't already pay for the privilege of | | | | enough to be a Canadian, then you can do so |
| seeing free TV from a cable or satellite provider, | | | | without a problem. Frankly, if the Canadians are |
| expect to be blacked out from any live stream | | | | capable of offering this service for free without |
| online and instead, be prepared to simply watch | | | | the ridiculous need to wring every last nickel and |
| some archives footage after the fact. | | | | dime from their consumers, why can't NBC do |
| Of course proving that you are in fact a | | | | the same for Americans? |
| subscriber to some kind of pay TV service has | | | | |