What Price Olympic Glory?

The Beijing Olympics ended less than a month ago, yet television networks worldwide are already calculating their bids for national media rights to the 2014 and 2016 Games. The key word here is media. Because increasingly ad revenues are being derived from non-traditional sources, including streaming video, podcasts, VOD and distribution via mobile devices.

Talk about a gamble... It's not just a question of NBC trying to figure out how people will use existing digital technologies six to eight years from now, but also what impact new (as yet unimagined) innovations might have. There's also the problem of "digital seepage." No doubt foreign rights holders will be on-line with own Olympic program streams as well. With viewers becoming increasingly tech savy, they may start designing their own personal Olympic screening schedules.

But despite the current economic climate, I'm sure broadcasters will be able to somehow scrape together the billions of dollars necessary. I'm less confident they'll be able to maintain the national distribution monopolies they've enjoyed in the past. Makes Las Vegas-style Texas Hold 'Em actually seem tame.