OT: London Olympics Opening Ceremonies

Submitted by pasadenablue on

I have a present for those of you who would like to watch the Opening Ceremonies live.  And by live I mean 'as it happens live', not 'NBC making us watch 5 hours later to boost their primetime ratings live'.  Below is a link to a stream of BBC ONE, which is broadcasting the Opening Ceremonies over in jolly ole England.

 

Festivities officially start at 4 PM Eastern/1 PM Pacific

 

http://freetvall.com/video/3D7RG2BY8AAU/BBC-ONE

 

If the link fails, try firstrowsports, wiziwig, or just try searching for 'free bbc one streaming'.

 

Go Team USA!

 

And fuck you NBC.

Needs

July 27th, 2012 at 4:00 PM ^

I can understand wanting to watch the competition live, and if I recall, NBC's policies are much improved this year in terms of showing event as they happen on one of their channels, even if that means rebroadcasting events on the evening show that have already aired on another channel. But why should I care if the opening ceremonies are live or tape delayed?

pasadenablue

July 27th, 2012 at 4:06 PM ^

because i dont want nbc telling me when its best for me to be able to watch something.

 

and if something as significant as the opening ceremonies of the olympics are being broadcast live, i want to see it live.

 

and bob costas is due for at least 4 off-color remarks (do you remember when he made fun of djibouti on air for having the phonetic 'booty' in its name a couple years back?)

Needs

July 27th, 2012 at 4:25 PM ^

And it's also airing it when NBC can charge advertisers the highest fees, thus offsetting the enormous rights payments and logistical expenses they face in broadcasting the Olympics.

Again, I can understand wanting to see the events live, because potentially knowing the outcome changes the viewing experience, but this is akin to networks broadcasting their prime time lineups three hours later on the west coast than on the east coast.

go16blue

July 27th, 2012 at 4:39 PM ^

Got this update from the New York Times: "Olympic Games Open With Very British Pageantry." Can't think of a much better way to say it myself.

Seriously though, nothing could top China's but good on GB for trying to do their own thing with the coreographed history. At first it was awkward but very cool when they formed the olympic rings. Something about the entire world coming together to play sports of all things makes me all warm and fuzzy inside.

pasadenablue

July 27th, 2012 at 4:48 PM ^

Yeah, this has been quintessentially British so far.  Elgar kicked it all off.  Then James Bond, the Queen.  Mary Poppins.  And this tribute to their National Health Service has politics written all over it, which is why I will stop right there.  

 

 

OMG It's Rowan Atkinson (Mr. Bean!)

m1jjb00

July 27th, 2012 at 4:52 PM ^

You want to be able to torture any British friends you have as soon as possible.

If the show's homage to British history includes a re-enactment of drawing and quartering, NBC might get squemish and turn to a commercial.

Naked Bootlegger

July 27th, 2012 at 5:02 PM ^

I don't watch Olympic opening ceremonies any longer.   I think France ruined it for me a few years back.  Just too weird.  My simple mind cannot comprehend why psychadelic dancers in strange outfits interlaced with pop musicians, random video vignettes, and strange animals should be associated with the Olymics Games.   OK...maybe I made up the part about strange animals.  To quote a famous philosopher:

This is weird as shit and shit's pretty weird

 

 

maizenbluedevil

July 27th, 2012 at 5:12 PM ^

Agreed.  Fuck you, NBC.  

I wanna watch it live right now.  I'm not gonna watch it on NBC later and since they refuse to provide a live stream, they've lost my viewership, sucks for them.

Chobee215

July 27th, 2012 at 9:03 PM ^

I propose that for the next Olympics the host country doesn't spend 1 billion dollars on a stupid opening ceremony and instead spends that money on schools, healthcare, or some other important thing.

CRex

July 27th, 2012 at 9:26 PM ^

This would have been awesome had I thought to drop acid about half an hour ago.  NBC's coverage sucks and the ceremonies sucked.  

I'm just doubly thankful we rebelled from the British Empire all those years ago.  

UMgradMSUdad

July 27th, 2012 at 9:56 PM ^

The best part so far has been the humor.  As others have pointed out, Rowan Atkinson was hilarious, but the highlight had to be the Queen parachuting out of a helicopter.