I agree it would be great to be able to watch the Olympics on U.S., Canadian, and on BBC channels, but the IOC is a powerful organization and will not allow anyone other than IMC to broadcast the Games in our area. Cablevision has no choice in this matter. They will be sued if they transmit coverage from these other countries.

I would be the first to criticize Cablevision for any legitimate reason, but I have to give them credit for negotiating to broadcast the Games, for allowing us to watch it on channel 514 for free, and for allowing WOW to broacast it to their customers. Without Cablevision we would watch nothing – period.

Perhaps the Telecom Commission can make a statement explaining the situation and confirming that it is not Cablevision making the decisions about not broadcasting in HD and blacking out other Games coverage.

Can slingboxer please let us know what is the quality of transmission he receives through the internet. From what I can see it is much worse than what we can expect on channel 514 unless we have a very high speed internet connection which most of us don’t have.

I bet Kenny & Finance have a dish……..

Please join this campaign: http://www.change.org/petitions/bermuda-telecommunications-commission-stop-hd-olympic-content-being-blocked-in-bermuda?share_id=WMBHAeAjST&utm_campaign=mailto_link&utm_medium=email&utm_source=share_petition

Fortunately for the Bermuda public, Cablevision stepped up to the wicket and negotiated a deal, along with VSB, to provide coverage both on channel 11 and one of their cablevision channels, providing nearly 400 hours of coverage compared with 154 hours for the Beijing Games. And just to ensure we have coverage Islandwide, Cablevision has generously extended the rights to WOW.

This may be difficult for some to swallow, but whether we like it or not, IMC has exclusive rights to all of the Caribbean AND Bermuda. We might argue that Bermuda is not a part of the Caribbean but we are definitely not a part of the U.S. or Canada.

So, we are going to receive more coverage of the Olympic Games that ever (no thanks to Bermuda Broadcasting), and we are going to see numerous non-Caribbean events during the Games, on channel 11, on channel 514 around-the-clock, and on WOW.

“Right is Right” is right in a way! We have freedom of choice. We can choose to try watching the Games on our computers. We can choose to watch the coverage provided through the IMC deal. Or we can choose to leave our TV’s switched off.

I plan to sit back and enjoy the London Games in front of my TV, and I’ll be the first to complain if reception is poor, but I’m delighted that VSB and Cablevision are doing their best to bring us extended coverage and allowing WOW to also do the same. The alternative to this deal was NO COVERAGE – period. I really hope that the local sponsors don’t get ticked off with all of these moaners and complainers to the point where they withdraw their sponsorship.

Roll on the London Olympics – and may the weather over there improve.

But anyway, I guess we know at least one dumbs @ss who will be happy with crappy coverage and lousy pictures.

They have four years to prepare for this, get the licenses they need, and do it right. It’s not like it crops up with no notice.

“It is important for viewers to understand that, in essence, it was this or nothing, since regulations require that all U.S.-based Olympics coverage on NBC, CNBC, and MSNBC, as well as Canadian channels, must be blacked out by all broadcast and cable systems across the region. This situation is beyond our control. However, the good news is that the IMC feed will deliver the most comprehensive coverage of the Olympics to date”

the regional focus that has been enabled by IMC’s investments will be more relevant to our local audiences, and will not have what some have referred to in the past as a ‘U.S. bias.’