This is a neat writeup but the bigger point here is highlighted by the opening statements. While i get the massive revenue channel the olympics provides, i can't help but feel that the media stranglehold over the events has gone too far.
The olympics represent one of the only instances of global unity through competition left in the world. Much the same way the world cup brings small and proud nations into the global stage, the olympics has the same power. Unfortunately, it is easier for me to find 20 year old simpsons clips on youtube than it is for me to find a video of Bolt's 100m heat from last week. Who benefits from this apart from NBC? I can list approx. 7.4B people who don't.
As a lover of capitalism this all leaves me conflicted. But i would point to the olympic coverage as the instance of corporations going too far with their constricting of media sharing.