From village bells to the torch relay: online broadcasting of the Olympics in Europe - Hoofdinhoud
Philippa Barr
We are getting close to the end of summer - one of the final guest posts here, this time by Philippa Nicole Barr -
In a 1998 book called Village Bells, Alain Corbin told us that village bells played an important social role in the practical communication of important events in 19th century France. The EU creates a more expansive social and geographic sphere than the canton of Brienne, and village bells are not loud enough to communicate across it. During important social events such as the Olympics, broadcast over television and internet are crucial alternatives: so we need tools like more technical standardisation of web streaming technology across the various national broadcaster websites, as well as a removal of all geolocks within the EU region, to give more people access to what is a very important, and even fun, social event.
The unifying power of the Olympic spectacle comes from its simulteneaity, the fact that we are all watching the event (and tweeting about it) at the same time. People who are removed physically from the Olympics can connect via live streaming: watching it through video broadcast directly over the internet. But there are technical and political challenges. To see the Olympics broadcast online an individual must be in a region with a public broadcaster who has made the event accessible on the web, and have a computer or mobile device with adequate operating systems, up-to-date software and plugins. They also have to be able to find the right website for their region. It’s complicated. The village bells cease to envelop the hills and valleys of the region in one giant unified chorus, and break down into a disjointed series of rings and echoes. It is as if Beethoven’s 6th symphony was interrupted by the stuttering torrents of Black Dice on a broken turntable being operated by a child. Stuttering access does not help people to feel involved with the Olympic experience or with each other.
The European Broadcast Union has done a great job of ensuring access to the event for public broadcasters in Europe. Their website Eurovisionsports.tv gave access to video coverage of the Olympics by 40 public broadcasters who shared the right to broadcast the games with the commercial broadcaster Eurosport. The EBU also provided its own streaming site. Yet this video content count only be viewed in certain territories. So while the EBU model is exemplary and popular, many people still had to take the long route - finding the official EBU member in the specific European country of current residence in order to access live streaming.
How could these services be improved in Europe? Firstly, a technical problem could be resolved. Until there is a universal language which applies to web video - the elusive HTML5 - any video live stream will require programs with specific plug-ins that run on select operating systems. If you happen to have the wrong software, or even the wrong version of the software, it will be more difficult or even impossible to watch a live stream of the event. For example, if it’s hosted on YouTube but in Flash (which is free for now, but maybe not forever.) Of course there are usually ways to download the additional technical requirements. But that can be hard to organise when you are tired after work, elderly, young, or just don’t know how.
One step in the right direction has been made by Belgium public broadcaster VRT by using MPEG DASH for standardised streaming of multimedia content across devices. Another step would be the development of HTML5 as the standard for the streaming of video and audio across territories and broadcasters in the EU. The standardisation of structuring and presenting content means there would be less fiddling around to find the right software, and an end to changes every time you cross a border.
There is a second change that should be considered, if not adopted. In several countries outside the EU national broadcasters were heavily criticised for their broadcasting of the games, for reasons including the editing of content and time delays. It seems that when it comes to online coverage, people want choices. They want to be able to manoeuvre between events, languages, browsers, operating systems, and devices. Which is why it many find it too cumbersome to be searching for the right broadcaster or software in the middle of the event they want to participate in. What needs to be adequately explored lifting the geolock on online coverage - so viewers have full, real choices.
Simplyfing and standardising the technology we use to watch the games throughout Europe, as well as a removal of the geoblock which deters viewer from accessing live streams or coverage of the event in other EU member states are two measures which will further enable the International Olympic Committee’s primary broadcasting objective: ensuring as many viewers as possible are able to experience the games. More access, other languages, a sense of participation. Isn’t that what the games is all about? Ask not for whom the bell tolls. But surely everyone should be able to hear it.