I went to NBC’s official web page for Olympic coverage, hoping to see a replay of some of the events. Well, it turns out you can only watch those replays if you’re a cable subscriber–and not just a basic cable subscriber, either. So NBC, even before being purchased by cable giant Comcast, is now making certain web content basically an extension of expanded cable service. No use trying to watch other countries’ coverage. They block you out based on your IP’s country of origin.

What a bust. If I had expanded cable service, why would I need to watch the content on the Internet? Why can’t they offer Olympic content like they do all their other shows — sprinkled with commercials here and there to get the revenue they need? Why the need to tie the coverage to payment of a monthly fee to a cable company, denying access to over-the-air viewers and those whose cable companies don’t have a “partnership” with NBC? Even if you do have a cable subscription, you still have to go through an authentication process that is irritating in itself.

If I wasn’t already soured on NBC enough after the whole Conan fiasco, I certainly have no use for the network now. I’m sure they’ll be back in fourth place again after the Olympics anyway.