As the Olympics Games soldier through their second week, we’ve already heard the complaints about NBC tape-delaying the coverage, ESPN’s aspirations to get the rights for future games and to do the coverage properly, and NBC ad revenues surpassing $1 billion for the 2008 games.

But we continue to miss the point about these modern, digital Olympics — which is how the games play out for the vast majority of viewers. I’m probably not the best example, but I’m willing to bet that I’m not alone in my disappointment in how inaccessible the coverage really is.

No TV

I’ll set the stage by saying that I own a television set, but it isn’t connected to anything such as a pay TV service or even rabbit ears. As a matter of fact, it’s sitting in a closet, unplugged and gathering dust.

The lack of a television has forced me to be creative in the ways in which I consume mass media. There’s Internet radio and online video…and friends and family who have shared their televisions with us for the opening ceremonies and the like. So I have a passing awareness of the linear television coverage of the Olympics, and I’ve seen enough boxing and beach volleyball to last me until 2012 or possibly 2016.

Summertime

Another factor working against my watching the Olympics is the summer weather. Where I live, June, July and much of August have been extremely rainy. The sun came out for the Olympics, and it’s been hard to stay inside. Let it suffice to say that I haven’t been sitting inside on the weekends waiting for the next heat of the bocce hurling competition.

Niche Sports

I’ve enjoyed some of the sports shown in prime time, but my primary interests have been driven by the sports in which I have competed the most. This has sent me on the search for coverage of rowing and track cycling — sports where, if there’s coverage on one of NBC’s linear outlets, that coverage is limited to the specific events where US team members have a shot at a medal. This has meant that the women’s eight (an event where the US won gold) was shown, but the men’s quad, an equally riveting race dominated by Poland, was relegated to the website without any audio commentary. For track cycling, this meant that the men’s Madison was also given the silent treatment on NBC’s website.

The Two-Player Kludge

But finding the events I wanted to watch proved to be more difficult than I had thought. The media has focused quite a bit on the appeal of live streaming, but I just wanted to watch some races and kick back. It didn’t matter to me if I knew who had already won…seeing the race is enjoyable.

Aside from the obscure, oddball sports that I care about, my requirements are no different from just about any other online viewer — I want to watch on my own time and enjoy myself when I do. In a word, timeshifting. I have a job. It’s sunny outside during the day. I’d prefer to watch when I’m not at work, when it’s not sunny, and when I’m confined somewhere….a two-hour train ride perhaps.

With an upcoming train ride in mind, I went to the NBC website during lunch on Monday. The site directed me to download the “NBC Direct” player….which led to multiple downloads and software checks. After several minutes of clicking and accepting terms, the website informed me that I needed to update Microsoft Windows in order to run the NBC Direct Player. I couldn’t do this, so I gave up, committed to return the following day with a different (read: non-work) computer.

Day 2: Semi-Finals. Using my home computer, I was able to get the NBC Direct Player installed. That’s when I found that the coverage of track cycling was a four-minute highlight clip and the only rowing coverage was of the women’s eight race. These I downloaded (after multiple DRM information windows) and was told that these immensely valuable clips would expire from the player after 48 hours. I deleted them immediately, because they weren’t what I was looking for. Then I removed the NBC Direct player from my computer altogether. What a waste.

Still looking for the rowing coverage, I found a different set of windows on the NBC website. These windows provided streaming videos with their own obstacles. I clicked on the first one I saw, and that’s when I was prompted to download Microsoft’s Silverlight media player. No problem. Download. Install. Restart the browser. Except my home computer couldn’t handle the workload.

So I went back to my work laptop and tried to download Silverlight. I was successful and did the install and browser restart. That’s when I was presented with a window that I hadn’t seen on my home computer. This window asked me for my zip code and the name of my television provider.

And I couldn’t go further without filling out this form. I clicked “cancel,” and the player window closed. No luck.

and here’s the irony. I was watching online because I don’t subscribe to pay TV…and yet someone — in their infinite wisdom — had assumed that I must have pay TV. And they wouldn’t allow me to watch unless I verified this information.

So I entered a bogus zip code and clicked on one of the many pay TV providers. And I started watching. Talk about total audience measurement.

Time spent

All in all, I spent about an hour setting up computers and downloading software. It took me approximately 75 minutes to catch up on my two favorite sports. Much of the footage had no commentary and appeared to be the direct feed from the Olympics. During that time, I saw at least 10 variants (:15 and :30) of an ad for DirecTV. I don’t remember the others. That should speak volumes to a media brand such as NBC.

Love Hulu

I can’t thank NBC enough for Hulu. That’s been nothing but a pleasant experience…even in beta. But the two different players, the crappy NBC Direct experience….and the second (Silverlight) player for online streaming, makes it so that I can’t think of anything positive to say about my experience with the Olympics.

But I do know two things. (1) I don’t like NBC.com, and (2) I don’t want to have seven different media players on my computer.