So TV is a waste of time and money, except when there’s something on you want to watch, and then, you want it for free?
commentators
I liked the British commentators:yes:, of course, they have far more experience 
announcing events, every weekend/ month? hearing about the Heraldik horses, also cruising was nice; in addition, the Swedish horses’ daughter was:cool: also competing NBC needs to get an eventer, past or present :yes:to do it, not just a gold medalist:no: who who was in a different discipline:sadsmile::yes:. though she has learned a great deal about the sport since, first commentating at Rolex;) and:mad: Barcelona
[QUOTE=Appsolute;6471571]
Couldn’t tell you. Being as I am not a cable subscriber – NBC blocks me from watching any of the live coverage. I am allowed to see a few choice clips (Japan’s winning dressage ride – Zara Phillips cross country) but they will not allow me to watch any live coverage, or full replays.
I think it is terrible that Americans cannot watch their county compete – and cheer for our athletes unless you are giving a cable company $$ every month.[/QUOTE]
I pay for cable and when I had Comcast, I’d be seeing all this equestrian coverage, but I now can ONLY get Astound, and if I want the “other” NBC channels, more $$$$ please. Not happening. So I get the minimal coverage on MSNBC and standard NBC. Thanks for nothing, NBC. and my middle finger to my cable company.
Appsolute,
Are you aware that NBC paid substantially over One BILLION dollars for the rights to broadcast the Olympics in the US?
And you are grumpy because, instead of getting cable/satellite for a limited period, you are forced to wait 48 hours to see each event in its entirely? PLUS you have the 4 hour freebie which would have allowed you to see most of the x/c live.
C’mon. There is nothing in the Constitution which includes the right to watch the entirely of an event as it streams online. NBC has to recoup one BILLION dollars and it has to come from somewhere. We pay for our service which must include 2 NBC owned channels, and we are subected to commercials, as happens watching any commercial station.
I am thrilled at the ability to get full streaming of the Equestrian events and think that the money I spend on Cable and the short periods of time that commercials are inflicted on me, is a very good trade off.
You cannot expect to get something for nothing and no one said that life was fair. As I am typing, I hope you are watching FREE replays of the entire x/c.
Please stop whining and be happy that, for FREE you are able to see everything you want to see, just not as it is happening.
Please?
[QUOTE=BabyGreen;6472314]
So TV is a waste of time and money, except when there’s something on you want to watch, and then, you want it for free?[/QUOTE]
No, I would be willing to pay for it! I WOULD PAY to watch the Olympics… but it is not an option unless I want to sign up for a year of cable…
Which, actually isn’t even an option unless I wanted to pay to have lines dropped to my property $$ - Direct TV doesn’t work either - too many trees.
I would be HAPPY to PAY to watch online. I have limits, but would be willing to pay around $50… but it is NOT an OPTION. You have to sign up long term.
And yes, for the most part, TV is a HUGE WASTE of time - and is mostly garbage.
[QUOTE=Lord Helpus;6472359]
Appsolute,
Are you aware that NBC paid substantially over One BILLION dollars for the rights to broadcast the Olympics in the US?
And you are grumpy because, instead of getting cable/satellite for a limited period, you are forced to wait 48 hours to see each event in its entirely? PLUS you have the 4 hour freebie which would have allowed you to see most of the x/c live.[/QUOTE]
Just learned about the 4 hour pass - they do not make it known on their website - other poster had to contact them to find out about it. I will try that, now that is an option.
I have never heard of cable provider (at least in my area) that did not require at least a one year contract - or huge early termination fees - there is no signing up for a limited period.
As I am not a subscriber - I can not watch any of the events in their entirety - 48 hours later or not. That is for people with premium subscriptions - I will try to squeeze it all in during my 4 hour “pass”. The clips one may watch without a subscription are VERY limited (like Zara’s ride as shown on the morning show)
I would be willing to PAY to watch the replays - I don’t even need the live stuff … but that is NOT AN OPTION. One time 4 hour pass (if I can get that to work) or sign up for a year. Those are the options.
[QUOTE=Appsolute;6472380]
Just learned about the 4 hour pass - they do not make it known on their website - other poster had to contact them to find out about it. I will try that, now that is an option.
I have never heard of cable provider (at least in my area) that did not require at least a one year contract - or huge early termination fees - there is no signing up for a limited period.
As I am not a subscriber - I can not watch any of the events in their entirety - 48 hours later or not. That is for people with premium subscriptions - I will try to squeeze it all in during my 4 hour “pass”. The clips one may watch without a subscription are VERY limited (like Zara’s ride as shown on the morning show)
I would be willing to PAY to watch the replays - I don’t even need the live stuff … but that is NOT AN OPTION. One time 4 hour pass (if I can get that to work) or sign up for a year. Those are the options.[/QUOTE]
Yep, same here. Minimum contract period for cable/telco/sat pay TV subscription is a year and the cheapest package ain’t cheap!
I would pay to watch live streaming of the Olympics or full replays, but there is no option for that. It’s pretty clear that the setup is not about recouping their investment, but about the deals and contracts NBC has with pay TV providers and possibly trying to strongarm some households back on to pay TV.
I have a REAL problem with pay TV, it’s ridiculous…1) I don’t watch that much and 2) there is very little that I want to see, yet they force you to get all kinds of dumb channels, and pay for them, to get anything.
The handful of things I do want to watch (say Mad Men or something), I can pay for that show, by itself, on iTunes. Why not do that with the Olympics? Sell a subscription to watch that, and only that, online, just like happens with some cable shows.
I’d have absolutely no problem paying NBC to watch their coverage, I don’t look for something for nothing and I know they’ve made a big investment, but I’m not allowed to pay them to watch it, I have to subscribe to a year of crappy cable channels I don’t want to watch. No thanks.
So, I won’t be watching at all, or more than the handful of clips out there.
Agreed – I too would be happy to pay. I pay to watch other things online.
The cable companies are seeing a big shift away from TV – to online only (none of my friends pay for cable any more).
Like Canaqua – I see this as a strong arm tactic to force people back into cable contracts.
And I think it sucks! Because I would like to watch the Olympics! I would PAY to watch the Olympics! But I am not willing to pay out the nose for a YEAR to watch the Olympics!
I thought it was fabulous- not only could I watch everything live but eventing got something like 8 hours of coverage on TV- never had anything close to that before.
I do disagree, however, with the folks who liked Melanie. She is really not all that educated about eventing and made quite a few errors (including identifying the same rider by different names while they were on course so it was not all a lack of knowledge and research although that was some of it). There are lots of people who would not only be good commentators but know eventing and eventers (Jimmy W did a great job commenting for NBC for Rolex one year). This however is a very small beef and by no means affects how happy I am that NBC gave us so much coverage.
I know when I logged on for the livestream, it showed the number of people watching the different events live that you could choose to watch and people watching the eventing video way way outnumbered those watching anything else (on the jumping days, I did not livestream dressage). Hopefully NBC was watching those numbers and knows if they show it, we will come
Appsolute- the email about 48 hours (I received it too) says that everyone, not just subscribers, can watch replays 48 hours after the event
Ok - I will try the replays tonight! Tried to watch some last night (dressage - cross country) - but I had to give my cable info to do so. Maybe things will be different tonight!
Thanks for the tip - again - info not clear on the website.
i agree coverage is fantastic!!!
[QUOTE=cyberbay;6471745]
Anyone know how to contact NBC to let them know our appreciation and how to encourage them to continue, given just how many horse lovers live in this country, too, just like England??:D[/QUOTE]
I tied to email NBC but got hung up when they required that I enter a numeric security string of numbers. I swear I typed it exactly as it appeared! I so want to communicate my appreciation for the vast air time eventing received.
Appsolute. I know you get Comcast there. You do NOT have to sign up for a contract for a period I time. If they tell you that, they’re lying. I fight with them all of the time. Just call and make sure you get a local person to help, usually in Morgan Hill or Sacramento, and tell them you JUST want to be able to watch on your computer for a limited period of time and you do NOT need equipment.
I know they tell you you can’t do it, but they can. You might have to spend some time on the phone. I have a minimal non-covered contract ($48 for high speed internet and cable) and that did not include being able to see the Olympics. I am signing up for the “basic” cable for a few weeks to get the Olympics on my computer and then going back to my old program. It should cost $20. Then I go back to my old deal and they pro rate. Just tell them what YOU want and insist, otherwise they give you a speil and a lie.
I cannot watch live, because I cannot get up at 3 and do that, so I’m watching everything on replay. It’s actually very nice because you can fast forward through all of the breaks.
I live in the sticks… cell phones do not work here – high speed internet arrived just last year. Neighbors have Comcast – but to get it to my (rented) house, it will involve having engineers out – mapping routes - digging trenches across roads – and paying for it. Not going to happen!
I am really hopeful I will be able to watch the replays now that it has been 48 hours – The hubby is a cycling buff, I think he will be happy to watch replays as well – fingers crossed (again – they do NOT make this clear – rather just ask for your cable info at every turn!)
I DO get NBC for free. I don’t pay for cable because I don’t care for most of what’s on TV and don’t see the need to pay for that garbage.
So if NBC is a free TV station, and I pay for internet access, why must I have a Comcast account to stream video on my PC?
I’m remembering back in the day when we had the schedule from the newspaper on our family fridge with the sports we wanted to watch highlightened. Even then you got, what, 1/2 hour to an hour of coverage. If you wanted the entire thing you had to buy it on VHS (from the Miller’s catalog perhaps, lol).
Yes, we pay $50 a month for basic cable. If I lived alone I probably wouldn’t have it, but it’s a must have for my husband. In exchange I get to watch the full coverage outside of NBC of the Olympics. But that’s really not unlike having to buy the tapes back in the day, it’s just faster.
The nice thing is the NBCSN is NOT on our cable package but I can watch the replays online since we have the others.
Love the CC commentary, he let the horses speak for themselves. Love the “oh, but she got away with it.” I feel like this should be recorded for every time I jump my horse, lol.
I think the coverage stank. I have cable- every NBC channel but NBC Sports. I downloaded the NBC Olympic app and I saw maybe an hour of eventing. And what I saw was blurry most of the time or the app kept crashing. I’ve just given up watching any equestrian events this Olympics. :mad::mad::mad:
[QUOTE=Appsolute;6471571]
Couldn’t tell you. Being as I am not a cable subscriber – NBC blocks me from watching any of the live coverage. I am allowed to see a few choice clips (Japan’s winning dressage ride – Zara Phillips cross country) but they will not allow me to watch any live coverage, or full replays.
I think it is terrible that Americans cannot watch their county compete – and cheer for our athletes unless you are giving a cable company $$ every month.[/QUOTE]
I am with you, Appsolute.
I will just add that the OP should just hire someone to do the mucking out and other work while she sits inside and watches her TV or IPAD or whatever other gadget she has. If you can afford all that, you can afford to hire a mucker for the day.
It’s like a jerk in the mouth sometimes, to be reminded how much money some horse people have and take for granted.
To me that OP just sounded like “Gloat, gloat, gloat.”
I couldn’t believe I watched five hours of cross country. It was insanely great after the lifetime of 10 minutes of equestrian broadcast sometime between midnight and 4am. Thank you NBC!
Maybe they should also let people just buy the streaming video if they are not subscribers, seems they lost some money that way. And though I did watch the entire thing, I still mucked my own stalls, as per usual.
We wont discuss whether or not my NBC coverage password is mine or not.
That said, the coverage is EXCELLENT. The camera angles for XC were superb and at times reminded me of Lord of the Rings when Arwen was escaping the ring wraiths, (it was really that breathtaking in parts) but I digress. The commentator (who was he?) was excellent as well. I agree, the coverage is great.
I did not realize how lucky we are in Canada. I pay for cable and i pay for internet access… CTV is the broadcaster for these Olympics. I can access all the live streaming that CTV offers without having to enter any password and prove that I have cable. If I did not have cable, I could not watch on tv, but i could still watch on line!! I could have cable with one company and internet with another one…
Your Olympic coverage sounds as complicated as your health coverage!
That said, I still prefer the BBC coverage for equestrian sports; all the other sports I am pleased with the Canadian coverage.
