The biggest sports event on the planet i.e. the Olympics has came to an end. Most people appear to be generally satisfied with the overall media coverage and other aspects of the event. However, we do hear criticism of the International Olympics Committee’s regressive approach.
The IOC tried desperately to protect the TV broadcasters’ rights with a total disregard to fans preferences. It acted in a way as if there was no Internet or social media platforms. It all started with a bizarre ruling in which the IOC warned all news agencies and “GIF makers” that producing any footage outside the broadcasting network is not allowed. In the warning it was stated that “Olympic material must not be broadcast on interactive services such as “news active” or “sports active” or any other related Video on Demand services, which would allow viewers to make a choice within a channel and to thereby view Olympic material at times and programs other than when broadcast as part of a new program.”
The warning went further: “The use of Olympic material transformed into graphic animated formats such as animated GIFs (i.e. GIFV), GFY, WebM, or short-video formats such as Vines and others, is expressly prohibited.”
In other words, if you were in the games venues, or anywhere within the Olympic village and took a video or a snap covering any part of the competition or the players then, according to the IOC strict rules, you are exposing yourself to legal action for breaching the broadcasting
rules of the games. “Spectators are able to capture footage for their own personal use, and posting still images is fine, however the right to publish or ‘broadcast’ footage is exclusive to the official Olympic broadcasters,” IOC spokesperson Benjamin Seeley told Mashable.
It is very hard to fathom these strict rules even if the justification is to protect the IOC’s only source of income, selling the TV rights that is. Consumer behavior has drastically changed since the 1980s, TV networks are struggling for not being able to dictate specific terms for their programs, particularly for live events and news related materials. They are losing control over their prime-time ratings and consequently, their abilities to sell advertising slots. People are now turning to social media’s live coverage to know what is going on; who won, who broke the world record, who got the gold medals are all hot topics that are tweeted, snapped and shared in real time. Instead of desperately trying to curb those new Internet norms, IOC could have played it differently and benefited from the social content thousands of people produce to endorse its marketing strategies instead of relying on the old rules of the book.
Problems with Olympics’ online coverage
Problems with Olympics’ online coverage
