NBC goes all in for online coverage at Sochi

By Cole Kennedy

Screen shot of the NBC Olympics website Feb. 7

This past Friday, at 10 a.m. CST, the Opening Ceremonies of the Winter Olympics kicked off in Sochi, Russia. NBC won't broadcast the show until primetime in the U.S., as the network has done for every Olympics in far flung timezones.

But with the advent of social media, the audience is no longer unaware of the events as they happen. NBC had been hesitant to live stream many events in the past. The network had concerns the stream would cut into primetime ratings. However, the online audience made very vocal complaints about the tape-delay strategy, according to an article on Mashable.

Party conventions opportunity for news organizations to show off online, social coverage

By Laura Davison

Social media was around during the 2008 Democratic National Convention,
shown above, as well as for the Republican convention, but it will play a
much larger role in 2012

London Olympic stadiums were buzzing with tweets, Facebook posts and live streams, and it looks like two political venues are up next.

But while medals were awarded every day during the games, the Republican and Democratic National conventions often don't reveal anything new. For many news outlets, the conventions are more chances to show off online coverage.

ABC, CBS and NBC are kicking their Web efforts into high gear. Although they'll show nearly an hour of prime-time coverage, they'll also offer live streams and real-time analysis. The networks say the live streams will have TV-quality production value. 

The GOP convention is Aug. 27-30 in Tampa, Fla., and the Democratic convention is Sept. 4-6 in Charlotte, N.C.