Sochi Olympics Running Thread.

If you watched it live online, you would have heard a lot of the BBC audio.

 

I think CBC.ca did some streaming, too. Not sure if they are archiving it or not.

In 2010, NBCOlympics.com put all the events online archives, even some stuff that never made the air. So if you wanted to watch a curling match between, say, Norway and Britain, you could do so. They left it up for several months (I went back and watched a few events I missed.) Not sure what the plan is this time around. But they did have alternate English-language audio (or in some cases, no commentary at all, just nat sound) for events their own announcers didn't call.

Some people may not know that at every Olympics there is an organization called Olympics Broadcasting System (OBS) that provides video and graphics of every competitor in every event. It's the world feed, so to speak, and that's what part of what you buy when you bid for the right to air the Games. Obviously, there's far more content than can fill a dozen channels and the graphics have gotten light years better than they were 20 years ago. (That's one reason the graphics you saw on NBC were different than what they use in their own regular telecasts.) Of course, rights holder have the right to do their own graphics and supplement the feed with their own cameras if they want to.

 

The closing montage (aired during the afternoon) was good, but I missed the Dragonheart theme (the song they used sounded like a cruise line jingle) and hearing announcers excitedly announcing an American bronze or silver didn't exactly raise goosebumps.

 

That's been the closing montage song/arrangement for ages now - at least dating back to 2002. I think it's a movie soundtrack. Here's the 02 version with non-diseased Bob Costas intro:

Unless your talking not-NBC broadcast. Then I'm pretty clueless.

 

The aired a long-montage (with credits) at the end of the afternoon. A more condensed version (w/o credits) at the close of the closing ceremonies with the Remember The Titans theme.

 

Mixed feelings on the next winter Olympics being in PyeongChang, South Korea. I'm sure they'll build fine facilities and spend plenty on security to keep those mean old North Koreans from messing with things.

But about the only sports South Korea competes in are speed skating (short track and long track) and figure skating with Yuna Kim and a little bit in curling. Maybe they'll amp up their programs in other sports between now and then. It would seem they have the potential to be successful in freestyle skiing and snowboarding, at the least.