NBC News live online

November 2, 2005 9:31 AM

From See It Now to Download it Later. A possible milestone in internet broadcasting: on Monday, NBC's Nightly News will become the first national network news broadcast to be made available for free over the internet.
posted by XQUZYPHYR (47 comments total)

I don't understand this. I guess they want to appear "hip" and "cool" and get the kids to watch them.

If I wanted to passively get my news in 15 second snippets from a talking head I would watch it on TV. But it seems to me that anyone with the ability to download and view a video file on the Internet (and as easy as it is for most of us there are about 50 people on my floor who would be stumped) probably prefers to actively seek out their news from other sources, even if it's a matter of going to MSNBC to read the headlines.

This seems to me like some executive at NBC thought he was being all brilliant and cutting edge and nobody had the guts to tell him how silly it was.
posted by bondcliff at 9:39 AM on November 2, 2005

For all the loyal viewers who have made us the most-watched newscast in America, there are others who want to watch but can't. Now they'll be able to join us every night, when it's convenient for them.

Yes, but can they watch it on their new iPod?
posted by mr.dan at 9:40 AM on November 2, 2005

No, and you won't be able to watch it in anything but Internet Explorer, either- because its on MSNBC.
posted by pjern at 9:46 AM on November 2, 2005

At least they didn't decide to charge $50/yr. for it.
posted by briank at 9:49 AM on November 2, 2005

This seems to me like some executive at NBC thought he was being all brilliant and cutting edge and nobody had the guts to tell him how silly it was.

Wow, somebody has a stick up there ass.
posted by delmoi at 9:49 AM on November 2, 2005

Yes, but can they watch it on their new iPod?

No, probably not; but they can watch it on any of the many other (usually more capable) portable video players.

This and many other trends in "podcasting" have proven that i was right when I predicted, a year and a half ago (and contrary to the conventional wisdom at the time), that podcasting would have little affect on blogging and a tremendous effect on broadcasting -- that it would, in effect, become the next frontier of broadcasting, and that it would be dominated by content that would otherwise be viewed on a broadcast. If you could get it via a broadcast.

The next battle for mindshare (eck, did I actually say "mindshare"?) will be between two different "mass narrowcasting" appraoches: Time shifted, like "podcasting" (sorry, can't bring myself to drop the scare quotes completely), and real-time, like satellite radio.

On preview: Solipsist, why would you say that? I've never had any unusual problem using MSNBC.com, and I almost never browse the open internet using IE. Or from a Windows box, for that matter.
posted by lodurr at 9:50 AM on November 2, 2005

You can watch the BBC's six o'clock and ten o'clock news live for freefrom their website tonight and (I assume) every other night, so that would be ahead of NBC wouldn't it?
posted by biffa at 9:50 AM on November 2, 2005

I honestly don't see why this is silly at all. Maybe in your world everyone has TiVo, but this will be very convenient for people who Don't have TiVos, live out of the country, or whatever.

Obviously NBC is broadcast in most places, but for cable shows (like the daily show, *cough*), this would be great.
posted by delmoi at 9:53 AM on November 2, 2005

Also, the article just said that you could stream the video, not actualy download it "pod-cast" (*rolls eyes*) style
posted by delmoi at 9:54 AM on November 2, 2005

Great! Now I can watch pharmaceutical ads on my web browser too! "Do you sometimes feel tired? Do you find it difficult to run 30 miles? Have you ever been sad? Well you don't have to anymore. Thanks to Monoxapill. Monoxpill is a perscription strength placebo for people suffering from a lack of perscription medications. Side effects may include lighter wallet, doctor visit anxiety, psychosomatic dizziness, urination, lack of urination, hypochondria, and medicine cabinet overflow."
posted by StarForce5 at 9:54 AM on November 2, 2005

You can watch the hour long national nightly news of Canada's public broadcaster (CBC) online as well as many regional newscasts. Private Canadian broadcasters have been doing this for some time now too.
posted by leftoverboy at 9:55 AM on November 2, 2005

I too think this is a step forward as broadcasting embraces the data pipe. I think it's a good thing(tm). And I Tivo the Daily Show religiously, however my time to view it sitting at my TV never seems to materialize. 35 Daily Shows... 36 Daily Shows.... boy that's gonna be a weekend..

If I could, for instance, watch the Daily Show on a video ipod on a Subway commute? Oh man....
posted by cavalier at 9:56 AM on November 2, 2005

i usually work second shift ... and if i'm curious about how a nightly news program covered the events of the day ... this gives me the opportunity to see it ... seeing as they're archiving these, it could also be interesting as research material on how things are covered

not to mention that with wavelab recording the sounds, some interesting and possibly evil things could be done here ...

that and we can always watch cbs or abc and watch nbc later ... i know that there are already ways to do this, but one more doesn't hurt, especially if one doesn't have tivo ...
posted by pyramid termite at 9:56 AM on November 2, 2005

It is actually a milestone. The first time I heard it on Monday, I thought that finally, after ten years of maturity, the internet is going to become (probably) the main source of news/media dissemination, and not just paying lip-service to trendy coolness.

True, people have been doing it for a long time, in one form or another, but this is the first time that the major networks have capitualted to the fact that our lifestyle, not just our technology, is changing the way we access information.

And who did it first? Porn, of course. Teh penis drives everything.
posted by jsavimbi at 9:56 AM on November 2, 2005

Ummm, hate to break it to you all but MSNBC has been breaking out NN segments on MSNBC.com everyday for years. The fact that you'll be able to watch them all at once isn't very revolutionary.
posted by photoslob at 9:58 AM on November 2, 2005

I've never had any unusual problem using MSNBC.com, and I almost never browse the open internet using IE. Or from a Windows box, for that matter.

i can't seem to do it in firefox on win xp ... what are you using?
posted by pyramid termite at 9:58 AM on November 2, 2005

jsavimbi - How is it a 'milestone' for the internet that NBC is trying to catch up to what public and private broadcasters the world over have been doing for some time now? Milestone for Americans sure, but for the internet?
posted by leftoverboy at 9:59 AM on November 2, 2005

biffa & leftoverboy -- don't be silly, it only counts when AMERICA does it first.
posted by briank at 9:59 AM on November 2, 2005

Check!
posted by leftoverboy at 10:00 AM on November 2, 2005

Wow, somebody has a stick up there ass.

First of all, it's not a stick. I fell on the shampoo bottle in the bathtub.

Second of all, why do you think that? I suppose I did come across as a bit snarky, but TV news executives aren't exactly known for "getting it" when it comes to the 'net. The net isn't a TV, so why do they want to use it like one?

Downloading and watching the latest episode of Lost is one thing, but downloading and watching news from several hours ago just seems pointless.
posted by bondcliff at 10:00 AM on November 2, 2005

They've just opened the door for their own demise - after all, once you can download just the news video, why do you need a talking head telling you how to interpret what you just saw?
posted by iamck at 10:02 AM on November 2, 2005

Maybe in your world everyone has TiVo, but this will be very convenient for people who Don't have TiVos

Do people Tivo the news?

I should clarify that I think offering downloads of most TV shows is a Good Thing. But the 'net offers much better ways to get news. Sitting in front of a computer screen for an hour getting 15 second snippets of whatever 10 stories NBC feels like giving you seems like a step backwards.
posted by bondcliff at 10:07 AM on November 2, 2005

Well, at least they didn't try to make people pay to download the broadcasts. I think this is kind of a cool idea, think of the public transit commuters who could bring along last night's news to watch on the way to work.

Its a good start.

Now I need someone to make a widget to take my TivoToGo programs and convert them to size for my Clie, then we're talking!
posted by fenriq at 10:09 AM on November 2, 2005

Bondcliff, I think it's worth pointing out that the 24/7 news channels play the same (old) news over and over all day long, and they still have steady ratings. ;-)
posted by Mikey-San at 10:10 AM on November 2, 2005

This is a small step. Which is exactly what you do when you have a lot of other larger steps lined up. Wouldn't be surprised if that were the case.
posted by diastematic at 10:11 AM on November 2, 2005

I Tivo the nightly news (ABC in my case). I'm a news junkie, so I don't think I get much new news from it, but it is good to see the real video instead of just reading other people's accounts of it.
posted by smackfu at 10:21 AM on November 2, 2005

downloading and watching news from several hours ago just seems pointless

Depends on whether you want the news, or the News. That is, are you interested in the headlines as of when you're watching, or are you interested in how the program covered your pet topic? Ifyou're a politician, businessman, or lobbyist, this can be potentially very valuable.

I agree the step is somewhat anticlimactic -- they should have done this years ago. They're acknowledging their loss of mindshare.
posted by dhartung at 10:22 AM on November 2, 2005

i can't seem to do it in firefox on win xp ... what are you using?

Er. Well. I was talking about the MSNBC site, which works fine, in general, with more or less anything. Except when it comes to video, which does in fact seem to require IE6. I guess they're concerned about their DRM environment.

Also, in the "jumping too soon" department: Now that i see it's nothing but streams, it kind of invalidates my comments w.r.t. this and time-shifting.
posted by lodurr at 10:24 AM on November 2, 2005

Cavalier: If I could, for instance, watch the Daily Show on a video ipod on a Subway commute? Oh man....

I hope your subway commute doesn't involve the L train. You know it's not running at the weekends, right?
posted by devbrain at 10:29 AM on November 2, 2005

FPP edited for accuracy:

From See It Now to See it Later. An additional step in internet broadcasting: on Monday, NBC's Nightly News will become another national network news broadcast to be made available for free over the internet."
posted by Bugbread at 10:38 AM on November 2, 2005

This is good for me because there's often too much Internet on this Internet; I need a filter and someone to translate what all these words look like. Thanks NBC. I'll buy anything you're sellin'.
posted by Peter H at 10:50 AM on November 2, 2005

I think this is cool, and would actually watch, and wouldn't even begrudge some adds.

But alas, all video on MSNBC requires not only Microsoft Windows, but IE6.

That's a load of fucking shit, so I won't get to see these.

Windows Firefox users, and all Mac and Linux users (like me) are locked out from video on MSNBC, which has always bummed me out.
posted by teece at 10:53 AM on November 2, 2005

Peter H : "there's often too much Internet on this Internet; I need a filter"

I'll hook you up with this guy named Haughey that I know. He thought the same thing, and he made a whole website to do it.
posted by Bugbread at 10:56 AM on November 2, 2005

Ha, Ha. But don't we hate news on this!
posted by Peter H at 10:58 AM on November 2, 2005

I would watch Metafilter Live, however. That show would kill.
posted by Peter H at 10:59 AM on November 2, 2005

Wasn't See It Now on CBS?
posted by trey at 11:13 AM on November 2, 2005

They're acknowledging their loss of mindshare.

Competition is good. They're acknowledging the market and stepping in. Garnering ones news on the net requires one to be moderately more literate than TV does. So, maybe just maybe, this means they'll have to improve their product to compete in this market and that eventually will be reflected back into the less demanding TV market. After years of declining quality in terms of content, TV news might finallly be encouraged to start heading back the other direction?
posted by scheptech at 11:27 AM on November 2, 2005

Peter H : "Ha, Ha. But don't we hate news on this!"

Good point. They should use it as their slogan. NBC: It's like Metafilter, but for news!
posted by Bugbread at 11:42 AM on November 2, 2005

I would watch Metafilter Live, however. That show would kill.

I thought MetaFilter Live was cancelled recently.
posted by XQUZYPHYR at 11:47 AM on November 2, 2005

Fifteen years ago the "Big Three" dominated how Americans got their news, and had done so for 40 years. Today they are just another stream in the Internet river.
posted by stbalbach at 11:52 AM on November 2, 2005

Check out the polls. More people still get their news from the network news (36%) than from the internet (20%). (And the leader is local news at 51%)
posted by smackfu at 12:32 PM on November 2, 2005

smackfu : "More people still get their news from the network news (36%) than from the internet (20%). (And the leader is local news at 51%)"

That's kind of misleading phrasing. If you say "get their news from", it implies "and not from other sources". The numbers actually indicate that people watch network news daily more than read internet news daily. I don't disagree with your main point, but what I thought you were saying didn't match with what the numbers were actually saying when I clicked on the link.
posted by Bugbread at 1:46 PM on November 2, 2005

Just out of curiosity, can you do this with Jay Leno's Tonight Show intro monologues?
posted by alumshubby at 1:51 PM on November 2, 2005

if you prefer something out of the mainstream, with transcripts or just audio, democracynow.org.
posted by wheelieman at 1:57 PM on November 2, 2005

You're all nay-sayers. Always nay-saying! Next song!
posted by Jeremy at 2:54 PM on November 2, 2005

I couldn't say the last time I watched an old-fashioned early-evening network newscast from end to end. And I probably won't start. But this seems like a decent service, and undeserving of snark.
posted by Kwantsar at 6:44 PM on November 2, 2005

I would watch Metafilter Live, however. That show would kill.

beth said it best (though she was referring to the idea of a MeFi podcast:

I was asked to post this by a person I shall not name unless threatened by a judge:

"Who wants to listen to 2 hours of some guy saying "Unable to connect to JRun server"?"

posted by joshuaconner at 11:07 PM on November 2, 2005