NBC Olympics Online: A case study in incompetence?
Tried to watch the events I am interested in online. The plan was to connect one of my development devices (either an iPad or iPhone) to the TV for the duration of the Olympic Games and simply watch that way.
Here's the problem: NBC doesn't seem to allow you to watch on a mobile device without installing their app first. I didn't because all reviews on the app store state that there is no full-screen video and, in general, the app is a horrible experience.
I looked all over their site for a way to sign-on and enable live streaming on the iPad and every single time they detect that it is a mobile device and stop at "Download Mobile App".
No worries. I can connect a spare laptop to the TV and do it that way. I happen to have a qualifying satellite TV subscription that enables watching online through nbcolympics.com.
The site makes you log on through your cable/satellite provider. I did and got a message reading:
"You're Ready To Watch! Your required tier of TV service has been verified. You now have access to watch live streaming coverage of the London Games!"
Then I clicked on one of the events and got a popup that said:
"We're Sorry. You do not have a subscription to view the requested content. To upgrade your programming go to mydish.com/programming and then log back in to view content."
I did the login -> get-confirmed -> try-to-watch loop a few times. No joy. I switched from Chrome to IE. No joy. I switched to Safari. Nope. PC/Mac/Apple TV, Google TV, no difference.
How incompetent do they have to be to ruin access and the user experience to an event of this magnitude to this extent?
WTF? I'm going sailing.