Google (GOOG), NBC Gird Loins for Epic Olympic War (GE) (NFLX) (CMCSA)
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"Mankind must put an end to war before war puts an end to mankind." - JFK
That's just what Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) and NBC are planning. Except, in this case "mankind" refers to "the companies" as well as "streaming services for the Olympics." And "war" equals "hackers." Okay, so the quote is a vague connection to what's coming up next.
According to reports out Friday, GE (NYSE: GE) and Comcast's (Nasdaq: CMCSA) NBC has teamed with Google to test the waters for potential hacker attacks. Calling them "war games," the duo have been running simulations over the last nine months to avert efforts for disruption to streaming broadcasts of the events. Problems simulated range from traffic overloads to broken broadcasts, many last several hours at a time.
Some have feared that offering viewers online access would cannibalize TV viewership. However, one NBC spokesperson said that online video generates "pre-air buzz," causing more folks to view a taped TV broadcast.
In all, about 3,500 hours of streaming content are expected to be available. Given that the Olympics is just 17 days long, that's just over 205 hours per day.
As a reminder, a day typically runs 24 straight hours.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security released data recently that companies and individuals were subject to about 12 million hacker attacks each day during the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
No word on how the companies plan to attack the war on drawing viewers away from Neflix (Nasdaq: NFLX) for a friggin' minute.
Shares of all the companies are indicated lower Friday.
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That's just what Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) and NBC are planning. Except, in this case "mankind" refers to "the companies" as well as "streaming services for the Olympics." And "war" equals "hackers." Okay, so the quote is a vague connection to what's coming up next.
According to reports out Friday, GE (NYSE: GE) and Comcast's (Nasdaq: CMCSA) NBC has teamed with Google to test the waters for potential hacker attacks. Calling them "war games," the duo have been running simulations over the last nine months to avert efforts for disruption to streaming broadcasts of the events. Problems simulated range from traffic overloads to broken broadcasts, many last several hours at a time.
Some have feared that offering viewers online access would cannibalize TV viewership. However, one NBC spokesperson said that online video generates "pre-air buzz," causing more folks to view a taped TV broadcast.
In all, about 3,500 hours of streaming content are expected to be available. Given that the Olympics is just 17 days long, that's just over 205 hours per day.
As a reminder, a day typically runs 24 straight hours.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security released data recently that companies and individuals were subject to about 12 million hacker attacks each day during the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
No word on how the companies plan to attack the war on drawing viewers away from Neflix (Nasdaq: NFLX) for a friggin' minute.
Shares of all the companies are indicated lower Friday.
Join StreetInsider.com FREE and get immediately alerted when news breaks on your stocks and other market items - JOIN NOW
*NEW - Download StreetInsider's FREE iPhone and iPad App - Click Here
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