Tear down this firewall

Given my co-author's recent discussion of authoritarian capitalism, I found the NY Times' recent discussion of media coverage of the Olympics to be particularly interesting. Expecting a furious backlash from the international community over Chinese stances on human rights and political dissent , NBC's decision to broadcast the games was seen as an extremely risky move. The network met, and vastly exceeded, industry expectations.

What I think is interesting about this success is not the high TV ratings; the hype of these games plus their perfect translation into prime time was a recipe for success. More impressive is the network's deft handling of internet coverage. Vast media conglomerates have a poor track record when it comes to embracing web technology (think of any business deal revolving around a social networking site - virtually none have turned a profit).

I believe traditional business models partly explain this lack of success. They lack the inherent creativity of new internet ventures that cater to the individuality and tastes of their users. Personalization and customization are hallmarks of the web and NBC hit the nail on the head by allowing users to essentially construct their own content rather than be force-fed packaged network sob stories. It's an unnoticed (but seemingly significant) contrast that the Olympics held in the one of the most authoritarian, collectivized countries in the world also saw the most success for the most open and individual domain of our generation. 

It's too bad the Chinese populace was not able to celebrate this unexpected success.