Here Is The End Result Of The USOC And NBC's Over-Protectionist Olympic Nonsense

from the nice dept

When it comes to intellectual property bullying, the unholy alliance between the USOC and NBC seems to be trying to see exactly how far it can push things. Between NBC's "most live ever" broadcast of the games that still has unnecessary delays in both its television and streaming product and the USOC's strange belief that companies that sponsor athletes year-round somehow can't tweet out factual results or news images of those athletes as it relates the games due to trademark law, it's enough to make you laugh.

But it's not only the antics of the USOC and NBC that is chuckle-worthy. Local sports coverage of the Olympics is too, thanks to the laughable restrictions NBC has put in place. Here's my hometown sports anchor, for instance, who came up with a creative way to cover the Olympics by not covering them at all in protest.

Yes, instead of actually reporting on the games at all, Pat Tomasulo of Chicago's WGN decided to relay just how insane NBC is with its demands for how its footage is used and how other news groups are allowed to cover the Olympics. He decided to cover a different international competition run by "one of the most corrupt organization's in the world", whose logo is a series of interconnected triangles and whose theme song is Bump and Grind by R. Kelly. Then he read some Olympics results over footage of his own high school wrestling days, fully crediting his own mother.

Now, this isn't just funny, it's also a wonderful little push back against NBC for its frankly insane restrictions on Olympics coverage. As a reward for being that restrictive, at least one local news organization decided not to report on the Olympics at all. So, NBC... mission accomplished?

Hide this

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

Filed Under: fair use, olympics, pat tomasulo, sports coverage, wgn
Companies: usoc, wgn


Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  • icon
    Paul Renault (profile), 10 Aug 2016 @ 12:23pm

    Yay for individual sports!

    As a former HS wrestler myself, I applaud Pat Tomasulo's refusal to be a 'team player' and to think for himself.

    The CBC usually covers Canadian athletes plus the important/medal competitions even when no Canadians are involved. Right now I'm streaming Judo 90Kg men's repechage, Japan vs. China. I don't know if it's available outside of Canada - it's worth trying.

    http://olympics.cbc.ca

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      PRMan (profile), 10 Aug 2016 @ 12:39pm

      Re: Yay for individual sports!

      1. cbc.ca has the rights to the games in Canada.

      2. It's not available outside Canada (without using a smart DNS service).

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Capt ICE Enforcer (profile), 10 Aug 2016 @ 12:25pm

    Creative

    God dang it. Copyright has led to someone being creative in a whole new way. Now he should copyright that and shut everyone else out of the market without paying him a license fee.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    BentFranklin (profile), 10 Aug 2016 @ 12:31pm

    Nice to see knowledge of the corruption reaching mainstream.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    DogBreath, 10 Aug 2016 @ 12:48pm

    Great Job, Pat Tomasulo.

    We need more reporting on the Olympics like this.

    Reminds me of this opinion on Olympic Badminton vs "Real" Badminton:
    Mary Carillo's Badminton Rant - Athens 2004

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 10 Aug 2016 @ 12:48pm

    Yesterday or earlier today a commentator on Dutch TV noted that there were longer breaks between the swimming matches than normal. He then explained that that was because room had to made for NBC to show commercials.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      JoeCool (profile), 10 Aug 2016 @ 4:58pm

      Re:

      Not that they need ANY breaks considering NBC isn't showing anything live. You're lucky if the delay is only hours.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 10 Aug 2016 @ 1:01pm

    The more NBC and the IOC and regional committees become ass hats the more people are going to write the entire Sport-Event-Not-To-Be-Named off entirely as too much of a bother to watch, report on, or even participate in. And frankly, that would be a shame from a societal point of view.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 10 Aug 2016 @ 1:11pm

    10 for difficulty, 8 for execution

    Only one question, why did he get a song by a kid toucher?

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 10 Aug 2016 @ 1:22pm

      Re: 10 for difficulty, 8 for execution

      Only one question, why did he get a song by a kid toucher?

      HS wrestling - 'nuf said...

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 10 Aug 2016 @ 2:46pm

    Olympics is pointless anyway.
    Just like the Eurovision song contest, medals are pre-decided based on who has trade agreements with who.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    David (profile), 10 Aug 2016 @ 3:25pm

    Well playes and lipsynced.

    Thanks for that bit of good news. I have ignored the Rio Swimming in Da Feces Games, because of their incredibly ridiculous attitudes.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 10 Aug 2016 @ 4:46pm

    Is anyone even watching?

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      JBDragon (profile), 10 Aug 2016 @ 5:07pm

      Re:

      I watch a few of the things Yesterday for the first time. being a Cable cutter, all I get is NBC and my TIVO is recording everything. Then I look and see what's on each day and then I FF through most of the stuff that I'm interested in quickly. I didn't watch the Opening Ceremonies, and so far I've watch about 5% of what's been on NBC. They can have all their commercials and other crap, I'm blowing past it all. Full Speed Fast Forward. It's the only way to go.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Tanya Feelgoods, 10 Aug 2016 @ 5:38pm

        Re: Re:

        Who is providing your TV service to your Tivo?? Then you are not a cable cutter.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

        • icon
          Jeremy Lyman (profile), 11 Aug 2016 @ 5:20am

          Re: Re: Re:

          You can hook your Tivo up to an antenna and record Over The Air Broadcasts. As long as your antenna wire isn't too long...

          link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    z! (profile), 10 Aug 2016 @ 5:56pm

    Only the Old Ones remember

    Am I the only person that first read "USOC" as Uniform Service Order Code, and was confused about the article's title?

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      orbitalinsertion (profile), 10 Aug 2016 @ 11:09pm

      Re: Only the Old Ones remember

      I'm sure AT&T would find a way to bill you for the Olympics in your phone bill.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Williuam, 10 Aug 2016 @ 6:09pm

    Not only NBC

    CBS and the NCAA is tgwe same with the basketball tournament in March.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Chris Jude, 11 Aug 2016 @ 3:59am

    Thanks giving

    Your efforts in bringing information about end results and its after effect is highly appreciable. Great research though.....

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Jeremy Lyman (profile), 11 Aug 2016 @ 5:28am

    What is this "olympics" you speak of?

    As far as I'm concerned the modern olympic revival is dead and should be burned to the ground. Maybe a post-modern olympics could be reborn from the ashes after a break but the current machinery needs to stop.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 11 Aug 2016 @ 6:09am

    Thou shalt not murder.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Sarkari Recruitment, 29 Dec 2016 @ 2:42am

    As a former HS wrestler myself, I applaud Pat Tomasulo's refusal to be a 'team player' and to think for himself.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    jntu fast updates, 8 May 2017 @ 3:06am

    jntu fast updates

    Congratulations for this really good and galvanizing submit!.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    exam results, 23 Apr 2018 @ 9:12pm

    exam

    thank you for helpful Artikel

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Sainik School kunjpura, 24 Apr 2018 @ 3:32am

    exam

    Your efforts in bringing information about end results

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    cashback offers, 27 Apr 2018 @ 3:58am

    deals

    Thank for the information. I am really looking forward for your upcoming posts.

    link to this | view in chronology ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.