New media turn Beijing Olympics into e-Games

When Coroebus of Elis won the first Olympic sprint in 776 BC, the result was scratched on to parchment and read out in market places in the following days and weeks.

This year, the Olympic 100 metres champion will be announced immediately, to billions worldwide, via a click of the mouse or a curious buzzing in their pocket.

Thanks to new technology, the Beijing Olympics will be accessible to more people than ever before, and in increasingly diverse ways.

Office workers, instead of waiting for evening TV bulletins, can watch races live on their computers. Other fans will sign up for text alerts and video feeds to their mobile phones.

And for those who missed it, all the action will be easily -- and quickly -- available on video sites like YouTube.

It all adds up to a new approach to following the Games, eroding the traditional method of simply watching on TV.

"Modern technology has the ability to deliver results or feeds of what people want to see, rather than the viewer seeing only what the broadcaster decides you want to see," said Danyll Wills, a Hong Kong-based technology consultant.

"YouTube will be inundated the next day. You'll be able to go back and see it from 8,000 other angles."

Hong Kong firm i-Cable is among a group of companies, including US giant NBC, Japan's NHK and China's CCTV, to snap up the Olympics' first ever new media broadcasting rights.

Viewers here can log on to free live broadcasts online, and enjoy no-charge access to the i-Cable website at 800 WiFi hotspots in coffee shops, restaurants and shopping centres.

"People can get it on TV but what we're promoting is that you can reach the Olympics any time, anywhere," said i-Cable spokeswoman Ivy Ng.

"I think it's convenient for people to watch the Olympic Games any time they want. They're not limited to one place or another."

Experts say the new approach is causing a revolution in viewing habits and a shift away from the TV set, with events like the Olympics acting as a catalyst.

"Because of the popularity of the Internet and also its penetration of the home and office, right now people are watching videos using their PCs or laptops," said Professor Gary Chan of Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

"So the new trend is going to be like that. In the future, our TV will be our computer."

With a steady stream of innovative software making online viewing easier, future tournaments will have an even larger Internet following, Chan said.

"We're going to see a certain percentage of people watching over the Internet but you can see the trend is going up, especially with the approach of the 2010 World Cup and the 2012 Olympics," he said.

"Youngsters are getting increasingly dependent on the Internet. Rather than going home and watching on TV, they are on their computers all the time."

Nowhere is the change more apparent than in tech-savvy East Asia, with its deep broadband penetration and wide use of 3G phones and mobile Internet.

In Japan, electronics makers are expecting a boom in sales of mobile phones able to pick up digital TV.

"Many businessmen and office ladies are expected to view the Beijing Olympics on mobiles during daytime this summer," said Japan's Nikkei business daily.

According to Chan, take-up will be more limited by people with mere Internet phones.

"It's less popular especially for important events like the Olympics because mobile phones have a very small screen, but if you want to catch something that's live, the mobile phone is the only way to go," he said.

However, some analysts remain sceptical that new technology is quite ready to eclipse traditional broadcasting.

"I think this will be a testing ground. It might just be a chance to see if this stuff really does work," said Hong Kong tech expert Wills.

"We're not quite there. I suspect London 2012 will be a better place. But it will be interesting to see in August if people are sitting on the subway with their iPhones watching events."

Wills added that the new technology would inevitably find wider uses beyond the Olympics.

"You're more likely to get porn delivered than sporting events," he said.

© 2008 AFP

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