There was much ado made about the current Olympics, specifically about how NBC was planning to bring the Olympics into the information age and allow advertisers to get an incredible insight into how viewers were using new media like broadband mobile and web video. I included several articles in the ERA e-Weekly Newsletter written by experts and intelligent pundits who know the space, and can probably rattle off a business plan to justify all of this in less than five minutes.

Of course all of that is very valuable, and as a marketing professional, I can thoroughly understand the appeal of getting more accurate and far-reaching metrics on how my media dollar is translating to eyeballs. It still tells me nothing about sales, but at least I can go to the suits and say that the share for our media buy was X points and that means Y households saw our messaging.

Since I am also a media consumer (and, germane to this rant, a sailor), I assumed that to back up this vast sell of the metrics, there would be a corresponding increase in the quality and breadth of coverage. This was based on the assertion that NBC was becoming a new media company and, while coverage on its broadcast and cable properties would be as it always has been (swimming, gymnastics, sprinting, volleyball and soccer); the doors of the vast media portal would swing wide to reveal a wealth of other sports including judo, rowing, badminton, sailing (of course), and the other 25 odd disciplines out there. Maybe NBC would even have deigned to cut away to the U.S. women’s sweep of the Saber competition in fencing once Michael Phelps had broken the Olympic record in his opening heat, or perhaps found a few seconds to squeeze in a mention that the all powerful Ben Ainsley had finished 10th in the Finn class in sailing. Even the synchronized swimming aficionados would have the opportunity to watch their event in its entirety! That is, if they couldn’t find some paint that was drying (just kidding!).

This would be the most complete Olympics coverage ever undertaken by a media entity since the invention of radio; a shining beacon of media convergence, television, the Internet and mobile, marching in lock step into the New Media Future—a beacon throwing out a light illuminating the Brave New World of convergence, offering consumers unparalleled access to information and a depth of content that would make the mind swim and sate even the most glutinous Olympic appetite! A glowing moment in media history that shows the whole world that America not only embraces the world and enjoys competing in it, but THIS is how you cover the Olympics, damnit! Take that, BBC!

And yet, as is so often true, the execution fell far short of the promise. Looking at the TV listing, I was not surprised to see soccer, volleyball, swimming, beach volleyball…and on CNBC on the Saturday morning of the Olympics’ opening week, believe it or not, paid programming. Meanwhile, the sailing video I watched live at 3 in the morning was just the Chinese media feed (not terrible camera work by the way) without any commentary or added value from NBC. (more…)

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