Gold-medal wireless discovered at PyeongChang Winter Olympics

When I saw Chloe Kim’s now-famous “hangry” tweet hit the Internet, I wasn’t so much amazed that an Olympic athlete would tweet in the middle of competition — I was more stunned that on a ski hill she could tweet, obviously without any connectivity issues.

In winning the snowboard halfpipe competition Kim became one of the new popular stars of the recent Winter Olympics in South Korea, backing up her shredding skills with an adept mastery of Twitter. But her simple ability to connect while at a somewhat remote mountainside location may have been another victory for one of the Olympics’ undersung heroes, the apparent gold-medal connectivity that was in place at just about every venue involved in the PyeongChang fortnight, according to an on-the-scene witness.

Wi-Fi antenna spotted on the PyeongChang Olympics ski slopes. Credit all photos: MSR Field Scout (click on any photo for a larger image)

According to an anonymous “field scout” for Mobile Sports Report, there was solid cellular and Wi-Fi connectivity in place all around the PyeongChang Olympics, including slopeside at skiing events. Our scout, who spent a lot of time in the alpine competition area, said he had great connectivity wherever he went around the courses, even at places that weren’t special spectator areas.

“There was never a point when I was on the mountain that I couldn’t make a FaceTime call,” said our scout, who is someone who knows well the issues of bringing connectivity to large sports venues. Our scout also said there was solid Wi-Fi connectivity on all PyeongChang buses for the Olympics, and that all other venues he visited (including the sliding venue) there was “rock-solid Wi-Fi” and/or speedy cellular to keep mobile devices connected.

In telecom circles, it’s well known that South Korea has world-leading Internet connectivity in general, and a speedtest from one of our scout’s hotel rooms shows that without need for much further explanation.

But the wireless connectivity at the Olympics seems to have been a priority, one that our scout found without a flaw except for one event — the closing ceremony.

Wired line speedtest from Korea. Credit: MSR field scout

“In the stands [at the closing ceremony] I couldn’t get any connection at all,” our scout said.

Perhaps the stadium’s black hole had something to do with the reported Internet attack at the opening ceremonies, which reportedly caused issues with the public Wi-Fi services.

Korean telecom provider KT was the official telecommunications partner for the PyeongChang games, and according to various press releases we found online, it was partnering with Intel and the South Korean government to test some so-called “5G” deployments at the games. But so far we haven’t seen or heard of any other real-world experiences with the wireless connectivity there, so if there are any other “field scouts” who have stories to add, let us know!

Cell tower gear on ski slopes at PyeongChang games.

More Wi-Fi gear spotted atop ski course infrastructure.

Olympics great for NBCSN; Are mock NFL drafts worthwhile?

The Sochi Winter Olympics are now in the rear view mirror as the sporting world now looks to the next major event, the World Cup, yet NBCSN is ready to continue basking in the winter event’s limelight for just a bit longer.

The network reported its best ratings quarter ever with a 215,000 average viewership daily for the live events that it broadcast during the two-week run. This represents a 231% increase over its 2013 numbers. Even subtracting the Olympics it saw a 58% increase and may indicate that the little-known channel may finally be getting traction with viewers.

Dodger fans can’t watch Dodgers games
With the huge growth of regional sports networks it seems that every MLB team has its own, dedicated network to bring its games to its fans. Somehow it does not always work that way, as New Yorkers can attest from a few years ago.

Now it appears that the fans of the Los Angeles Dodgers are facing viewing issues as its RSN, SportsNet LA, has had issues getting cable players to air the games, causing as much as 70% of greater LA to be blacked out.

Unconscious bias by umpires?
An interesting piece from fivethrityeight.com looks at strike zones but importantly how it can change, and change dramatically in important situations as umpires striving to ensure that they are not a part of the game instead do alter the outcome.

The article can be a bit confusing for some when looking at the graphs but it has some interesting conclusions including that umpires seem happier to call a strike on a borderline pitch with three balls than ball four. Head over and give it a read.

WatchESPN on Amazon TV Fire
Amazon has recently entered the broadcast delivery business with its Amazon Fire TV, a platform that will vie against Apple TV, Roku and others, but sports fans need not worry because ESPN will be there ready and waiting if you adopt the platform.

WatchESPN is available on the Fire TV and using it fans can access a huge amount of live and recorded sporting events along with ESPN’s select offerings of the channels original sports programming such as E:60 and Outside The Lines.


Mock NFL Drafts

The NFL draft is less than two months away and so now is the silly season for a growing industry — NFL mock drafts. You know, when an athlete who has not played in months magically goes from a first rounder to a third rounder on someone’s big board for no apparent reason.

The good folks at Kissing Suzy Kolber have taken the industry to task and show why you should pay little attention to the mock drafts. They point out the inanity of the event and it has always seemed to be that the local beat writer for a team has a much better feel for what your team will do than some talking head in a studio will — that is unless the talking head is using other peoples’ work without recognizing it and we know that never happens!

NBC sets online Olympic viewing record

NBC made a great deal of noise prior to the current Winter Olympics in Sochi talking about how easy it was going to be to watch events live via digital platforms as long as you subscribed to one of its broadcast partners cable or satellite package.

Then after the events started to occur a news blackout apparently went into effect, the network touted its broadcast viewership numbers, which initially were very impressive, but completely ignored the digital data.

I have yet to see a detailed breakdown but they are now providing some numbers that show that the effort to provide different types of viewer access to the Olympics, no real surprise.

So far there has been a total of 5.7 million hours of video viewed across all of the supported digital platforms. Of that total 80 percent has been viewers watching events live. The remaining 20 percent were for fans watching exclusive highlights.

It is kind of surprising as to what, well with maybe one exception, were the top highlights viewed. No medal winners really. They are: 1. Russian speed skater Olga Graf’s wardrobe near-malfunction: 2.6 million views; 2. Russian Police Choir performs Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky” in Opening Ceremony: 1.7 million; 3. Luger Shiva Keshavan falls off sled, completes run: 1.5 million.

The Olympics started with record setting broadcast viewership and it is remaining strong for the most part, but has shown signs of weakening, possibly because of all of the news about warm weather and melting snow. However solid events like last weekend’s USA vs. Russia hockey matchup continue to be record setters.

Of course NBC has other concerns at the game as well. Talk has started as to who will replace Bob Costas as host in the future. As you probably know Costas missed some time behind the mike due to a very bad case of red eye. I may be in the minority here but I really do not care too much who is manning the booth for highlights and human interest stories — I just want to see competition.

NBC offers (limited) free live streaming as part of huge Winter Olympics online effort

sochilog

NBC has a pair of apps that enable live streaming of the XXII Winter Olympics games that will start today and has worked to smooth the way for users with a temporary free pass that will enable them to watch the games prior to proper verifications.

The free viewing time is a bonus one that diminishes the more it is used, but it should be plenty of time for a viewer to go through the verification process while not missing an event, or at least part of an event. Unverified viewers will initially start with a one-time 30-minute temporary pass the first time they start streaming a live event. After that it is just a courtesy, really just showing you what you are missing by allowing 5 minutes of viewing per day for unverified users.

HERE IS THE LINK TO THE MAIN NBC OLYMPICS SITE

Campbell Foster, director of product marketing for Adobe Primetime, the infrastructure software being used by NBC for the Olympics online streaming, said that the free verification trials are designed to simply help people watch more sports, faster.

“When you don’t require the [verification] login, the engagement rate is 3x,” Foster said in a phone interview. He also noted that even many paying subscribers either aren’t aware they even have a cable contract password, and if they are aware, many don’t know it. The grace periods, he said, lets people start watching action online while they look up their subscription records, instead of reversing that process.

Two apps: One for live coverage, one for highlights

If you want to watch the games online from a mobile device, here is the official explanation from NBC about which app you want — NBC Sports Live Extra, or NBC Olympics Highlights and Results:

“For the first time ever, the NBC Sports Live Extra app will live stream every Winter Olympics competition. In all, the app will live stream more than 1,000 total programming hours, including all 15 sports, the awarding of all 98 medal events and exclusive event rewinds. NBC Sports Live Extra will also live stream the Olympic content that airs on NBC and the four NBCU cable channels carrying coverage of the Sochi Games — NBCSN, MSNBC, CNBC and USA Network. The app will also feature full event replays, exclusive highlights, events schedules, TV listings, and customizable event alerts.”

And:

“The NBC Olympics Highlights and Results app is the exclusive home for NBC Olympics’ award-winning coverage, including short-form highlights, television and streaming schedules, and NBCOlympics.com columns. The NBC Olympics Highlights and Results app provides real-time official event results, medal winners, interesting facts, team rosters and bios on Team USA Olympians for the most comprehensive coverage of the Sochi Games.” You can find both apps via your respective device app store.

The games, which run from Feb. 6 to the 23, are being used by NBC, in part, of a larger effort to push the idea of TV Everywhere, something that includes mobile digital devices such as smartphones and tablets.

NBC Olympics has, in conjunction with its partners in the cable/satellite/telco industry, enhanced the verification process and added new features in recent days as the games approached. There is now In-Home Verification started on Feb. 6 that enables auto-verification of devices by customers of Comcast’s Xfinity TV, Cox Communications, Cablevision’s Optimum TV and Midcontinent Communications (Midco). It is able to do this because it has the ability to recognize customers’ IP addresses and cross-references those addresses with subscriber accounts.

“If you are using a device on the home network that is the same as your paid TV subscription, you won’t have to log in,” said Adobe’s Foster. “It’s just part of NBC Sports setting the vanguard for a better user experience.”

A second and very interesting feature is the addition of cross domain verification. What this does is accept the registration of customers that had previously verified their subscriptions with Adobe Pass on NBCUniversal network websites and applications.

Overall NBC will be streaming all competition from the 15 sports that are at this Winter Olympics, a total of 98 events. They will be available from either NBCOlympics.com or via the NBC Sports Live Extra app.
To verify follow these simple steps:

1. Go to NBCOlympics.com/LiveExtra
2. Click the “Verify Now” button or the “sign in” link
3. Select your cable, satellite or telco provider
4. Enter the username and password that corresponds with your account
5. Upon verification of your subscription to an Olympics-eligible package, you will be signed in throughout the Games on that device. (You must validate each device once)

Additional reporting by Paul Kapustka.

First vote from Sochi is a solid Nyet

sochilogo

The early results are in from the Winter Olympics in Sochi and the vote is bad for the home team. No you have not missed any events, yet, but rather what you have missed is what looks like are some world class foul ups.

So far most of the complaints have come from journalists, with a few but increasing number of athletes also chiming in. Normally I do not pay much attention to the reporters since some seem to make a living on complaining. Peter King complaining about the good weather at the recent Super Bowl, which apparently ruined his chance to complain about the bad weather, is a good example.

First there is the growing fear of terrorism, something that has gained ground due to some recent bombings in the region. The huge security presence has not allayed that fear to any large degree. The Sherman Report talked to a number of veteran Olympic journalists and it seems to be one of their greatest concerns.

Then there are the more mundane issues mostly around the state of the facilities. I imagine that at most Olympics there are always a few details that get overlooked. However I do think having a hotel room with no door knob on your room door, running water or the ability to flush toilet paper in the toilet falls into that category. More than one person has reported that it appears that during the day when they are absent their rooms are used by the hotel staff for other purposes.

However there have been a huge number of pretty funny tweets on the subject, including people willing to trade light bulbs for a door knob and another saying that the hotel staff recommended not drinking the water because it was poisonous. Then there is the great pillow shortage as well.

I suspect once the events kick off no one will have time for complains as most reporters cover multiple events in a day and as long as the event remains safe this will be the last we hear about hotels with no lobbies, at least until after the closing ceremonies. Still do you think this is what Putin had in mind when he won the Olympics and proclaimed that Russia is ready for the Olympics?

Variety of apps to support the Sochi Olympics

nbcsports

NBC’s broadcast of the Olympics should be boon to its online and streaming viewership, even though this is something that the network has made available for some time. As with many apps and capabilities users often only discover them when looking for specific tool or event.

There are a surprising number of apps available for the upcoming 2014 Winter Olympics that will be held in Sochi starting later this week. They range from simple calendars to one that will be showing live events.

Actually this is probably not surprising but then it’s hard to say why you would want something aside from the one that is available from NBC Sports, the official broadcaster of the games. Aside from the fact that the app, NBC Sports Live Extra, is from the broadcaster it was hardly just conceived for the Olympics.

The app also provides live sports events that air on NBC, NBC Sports Network and the Golf Channel so that over the course there will be IndyCar, the PGA Tour, Premier League Soccer and the NHL to name just a few.

We have already mentioned most of the features of the app as it pertains to the Olympics but it’s good to mention that there will be 1,000 hours of live streaming video with some replay on demand capabilities. It is free to use with select caveats.

However if you are looking for different functionality there are plenty of options starting with the U.S. Olympic team’s official app. It details who has made the team, links to athletes’ social media and an up-to-date following of how they do.

Another general purpose sports app, this one with a more international flavor, which will have a special focus on the Winter Olympics, is BBC Sports. It will have live coverage of events at the games and can be used to follow a wide range of International sports.

samms

An interested app is the Sochi 2014 WOW (Wireless Olympics Works) that comes from Samsung Electronics, one of the major sponsors. The app is customizable so that a user can have it focus on their specific interests. Not too surprising is that it is also optimized for Samsung devices.

https://spb-kassa.ru/

https://alhikamsurabaya.sch.id/wp-content/slot-thailand/

https://mtsnupakis.sch.id/wp-content/bonus-new-member/

https://smptagsby.sch.id/wp-content/slot-bet-200/

https://lookahindonesia.com/wp-content/bonus-new-member/

https://sd-mujahidin.sch.id/wp-content/depo25-bonus25/

https://ponpesalkhairattanjungselor.sch.id/wp-content/mahjong-slot/

https://sd-mujahidin.sch.id/wp-content/joker123/

https://mtsnupakis.sch.id/wp-content/slot777/

https://sdlabum.sch.id/wp-content/slot777/

https://sdlabumblitar.sch.id/wp-content/bonus-new-member/