NBC lays out 2008 Beijing Olympics coverage plans

Just in case it didn't really sink in last August, NBC is gearing up to air 3,600 hours of Olympics coverage this year. Yeah, 3,600 hours. So, how are mere plebeians supposed to watch that much content? With a couple HD DVRs, you ought to have no troubles at all. Hailed as the "most ambitious single media project in history," NBC Universal will be broadcasting across seven different NBC networks: NBC, USA, MSNBC, CNBC, Oxygen, Telemundo and Universal HD, as well as NBCOlympics.com. Granted, this is speaking strictly of coverage here in the United States, but there's no denying that nations across the globe are doing their best to snatch up as much of the Games as possible. For a complete rundown of what to expect just under a month from now, bookmark the links below.

Read - NBC announces Olympics plans
Read - Coverage listings

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 9th 2008 11:13AM]

"With a couple HD DVRs, you ought to have no troubles at all." Well, only if that 3,600 hours includes a LOT of repeats (which I'm sure it does). Fortunately I'm really only interested in a fairly small set of events, so I'll be able to manage with my one HD TiVo.

[Big Wizz Posted Jul 9th 2008 11:15AM]

I don't know if my work's network team is going to like all the bandwidth I'm going to eat up in August...

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 9th 2008 3:10PM]

I've always wanted to see Chinese smog in HD!

[RiversideGuy Posted Jul 9th 2008 3:13PM]

Crime Warner has just announced that it's contract with Universal HD is up and it could be dropped at any point.

Meaning that this up-until-now-part-of-the-digital package channel will undoubtedly be put on a pay tier.

Except in Manhattan, NYC, where I anticipate it will be dropped completely.

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 9th 2008 7:05PM]

Who cares? HD or not the Olympics are a F'ing joke IMO!!

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 9th 2008 9:35PM]

My interest in the Olympics has dropped to almost nil. The inability to guarantee drug-free winners took all the fun out of it for me back in the 90's.

Plus, the increasing reliance on the pre-made soap operas about the athletes bores me to tears. Most top-notch athletes are obsessive jerks. The less I know about them, the greater the chance I might actually root for them.

And with the totalitarian-loving IOC putting the Olympics back in a nasty dictatorship again, I'm not really in the mood for a giant NBC-run Chicom love-fest. How many stories will they run about the wonders of the People's Liberation Army's earthquake relief efforts? And how friendly those Chinese cops are -- at least when no nasty Tibetans or freedom-loving Chinese protesters are around?

I can't even get excited about Phelps either -- the new swimming suits render any new world records as meaningless inflation.

Unless there's another Tienamen Square beatdown or the pollution starts killing tourists and athletes by the hundreds, I won't watch anything with one exception. The marathons might be entertaining just to watch runners bleeding from their lungs in the second half of the run.

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 10th 2008 1:31AM]

Wow that is crazy, if you look at the schedule, there is only one half hour period every 24 hours when no Olympics are being televised!