Rio Olympics opening ceremony highlights Brazil, environment

[webfact]

Rio Olympics opening ceremony highlights Brazil, environment 
MAURICIO SAVARESE, Associated Press

 

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — There's nothing like the unique Brazilian vibe — and the opening ceremony for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro will see no shortage of samba, culture, diversity and history as the South American nation proudly showcases its traditions and environmental wonders.

 

Millions of television viewers from around the world are expected to watch the three-hour ceremony Friday night, which comes as the country is reeling from political and economic turmoil.

 

Since the event won't able to avoid the issues that are gripping Brazil — a president facing impeachment, a deep recession and environmental threats — organizers made sure that global warming and the environment, especially the country's magnificent Amazon rainforest, are important parts of the Olympic opening ceremony.

 

"The world is very tense and so is Brazil. We are also willing to tell the world to stop attacking our home. The world is threatened because of global warming. We are calling for action," said Fernando Meirelles, one of the directors of the show.

 

Samba and pop music singers are expected to perform, including Grammy award winners Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil. Supermodel Gisele Bundchen will also be on hand.

 

But the climax of the show, the lighting of the cauldron, depends on whether Brazil's most famous athlete — soccer star Pele — appears. He said this week he was invited to take part, but business deals were stopping him from doing it.

 

The cauldron was designed by American sculptor Anthony Howe, who told The Associated Press he was inspired by life in the tropics. There will be two cauldrons in Rio, one at the Maracana soccer stadium that is hosting the opening ceremony and another open to the public in downtown Rio.

 

The cauldron in central Rio is expected to be lit by a runner after the opening ceremony is finished, Howe said.

 

The floor of the stadium will be a vast stage for projections, a substitute for more expensive structures in a nod to Brazil's economic troubles.

 

In all, 4,800 performers and volunteers will be involved in the show, which is built on three basic pillars of life in Brazil. Those are sustainability, particularly re-forestation; finding joy in life and in being Brazilian; and the idea of "gambiarra," the quirky Brazilian art of improvising repairs using whatever parts are available.

 

"Smile is the approach the Brazilians have toward life," said Marco Balich, the executive producer. "Brazil is not a grand nation. They're saying in this ceremony, we are who we are, with a lot of social problems, a lot of crises in the political system, etc."

 

Space limitations in the Maracana also curbed the creative possibilities for the show. The stadium does not have typical Olympic dimensions — there is no track. The only Olympic events it is hosting are soccer matches.

 

NBC will broadcast the opening ceremony on a one-hour tape delay because it wants the entertainment spectacle to be shown completely in U.S. prime time. Rio is one hour later than Eastern time.

 

Unpopular interim Brazilian President Michel Temer is expected to attend the opening ceremony. He will be replacing his ally-turned-enemy, suspended President Dilma Rousseff.

 

Fewer heads of state are expected than usual Friday night because of Brazil's current political crisis. Rousseff's impeachment trial is expected to end after the Olympics ends on Aug. 21, which leaves the country with two presidents until then.

 

-- © Associated Press 2016-08-05

[Shaunduhpostman]

Almost no mention of the games in the media and where to watch them in Thailand, at least in English. A week ago there was a statement made by CAT in the Thai business section of the English newspapers that CAT would have access to direct HD feeds of all events and that all the major Thai networks would be showing every single event live. Sounded a bit too good to be true and  checking around last night during kick off time for the Denmark-Iraq football match and cannot check what games they will show. 

[thaibeachlovers]

the environment, especially the country's magnificent Amazon rainforest, are important parts of the Olympic opening ceremony

 

 Where has the rolling around laughing emotican gone?????????

 

They can't be serious! They have a totally polluted environment where the games are being held and are cutting the rainforest down as fast as possible. Where are the climate change people? What aren't they protesting?

This pile of excrement deserves to be boycotted by all nature lovers.

 

I'll be watching as much of this one as I did of the UK one ie nothing. It's all just a farce now.

[nickmondo]

3 hours ago, Shaunduhpostman said:

Almost no mention of the games in the media and where to watch them in Thailand, at least in English. A week ago there was a statement made by CAT in the Thai business section of the English newspapers that CAT would have access to direct HD feeds of all events and that all the major Thai networks would be showing every single event live. Sounded a bit too good to be true and  checking around last night during kick off time for the Denmark-Iraq football match and cannot check what games they will show. 

365 Sport.tv   six channels showing the whole shebang.  just google it, go to the website and follow instructions.  its absolutely brilliant

[landslide]

5 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

the environment, especially the country's magnificent Amazon rainforest, are important parts of the Olympic opening ceremony

 

 Where has the rolling around laughing emotican gone?????????

 

They can't be serious! They have a totally polluted environment where the games are being held and are cutting the rainforest down as fast as possible. Where are the climate change people? What aren't they protesting?

This pile of excrement deserves to be boycotted by all nature lovers.

 

I'll be watching as much of this one as I did of the UK one ie nothing. It's all just a farce now.

Anybody who has walked along Guanabara Bay and has been assaulted by the stench and viewed the trash and waste floating on the surface, has got to just cringe.  It was bad in the 90's and it is worse now.  Nothing will be done about it, and when the Olympics is over, you won't read about the problems anymore.  They will still be there, and will get worse, but journalists will have other stories to tell.  So, so much for environmental awareness. 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

There was a BKK Post article a week or so ago that said some Japanese media company and its Thai subsidiary, Dentsu, have the broadcast rights for Thailand. And, according to the article, the Olympic feed will be made available to the so-called TV Pool channels -- 3, 5, 7, 9, NBT and ThaiPBS (I think that's the list).

 

However, what was entirely missing from the Post report was just what those various channels actually plan to do in terms of broadcasting any of the Olympic content.

 

The TrueVisions online program guide for Sat morning doesn't appear to show any Opening Ceremony being shown live.

Edited August 5, 2016 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

7 hours ago, Shaunduhpostman said:

Almost no mention of the games in the media and where to watch them in Thailand, at least in English. A week ago there was a statement made by CAT in the Thai business section of the English newspapers that CAT would have access to direct HD feeds of all events and that all the major Thai networks would be showing every single event live. Sounded a bit too good to be true and  checking around last night during kick off time for the Denmark-Iraq football match and cannot check what games they will show. 

 

I'm reading that BKK Post article re CAT, and it says Thai TV is going to broadcast the opening and closing ceremonies, and daily competition results. But the same article didn't say anything about what channels might carry what, whether it would be live or delayed, and how much of the content they'll actually air.

 

Apparently, the Dentsu conglomerate has the Olympics rights in much of Asia for many years ahead, and then I guess tries to negotiate individual deals in different countries within its franchise area.

 

"Dentsu is also selling rights to the 2016 games in 15 other Asian territories, with the more lucrative markets including Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam.

Last year, Dentsu extended its Olympics rights sales mandate in Asia until 2024."

 

http://www.sportcal.com/Media/News/Detail/104295
 

 

Edited August 5, 2016 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

From The Nation back in late June: Wonder if the promised 200 hours of Olympic event broadcasts will turn out to be real...And the promise that they're just going to live broadcast events in which Thai athletes are competing???

 

Quote

Live Olympics telecasts ‘might lose money’

WATCHIRANONT THONGTEP
THE NATION June 29, 2016 1:00 am

TV POOL admitted yesterday that live telecasts of the Summer Olympics might lose money because of the sluggish economy and high cost of broadcasting rights for the sporting extravaganza.

Speaking on behalf of the marketing arm of TV Pool, Surin Krittayaphongpun, acting president of Bangkok Entertainment Company (BEC), said TV Pool was ready to broadcast live competitions from the Games, which will run from August 5-21 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. However, feedback from advertisers and sponsors appears to be lower than expected.

"So far, we anticipate only 20 per cent of total occupancy [of sponsorship availability], while total investment including audio-visual broadcasting rights cost more than Bt450 million," he said.

TV Pool consists of BEC's Channel 3, the Army's TV5, Bangkok Broadcasting and Television's Channel 7, MCOT's Modernine TV, and the Public Relations Department's NBT.

Palakorn Somsuwan, managing director of Bangkok Broadcasting and Television, said the five stations in TV Pool would jointly broadcast live competitions in which Thai teams participated.

At this year's Olympics, TV Pool will broadcast more than 200 hours of live matches, longer than for the London Olympics in 2012. TV Pool also blamed these longer broadcasting hours for a rise in operating cost.

Meanwhile, TV Pool has spent Bt5 million to establish an international broadcasting convention so other digital TV broadcasters can access footage and cover Olympics stories at the headquarters of the Army's TV5 station. Therefore, Surin called for financial support from the National Broadcasting and Telecommuni-cations Commission.

Recently, TV Pool sought Bt150 million from the NBTC's research and development fund to sponsor this event.

 

 

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/business/Live-Olympics-telecasts-might-lose-money-30289313.html

Edited August 5, 2016 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Looks like NBC's coverage of the Opening Ceremony is due to begin on NBC in the U.S. starting at 9:30 am Sat morning BKK time.

 

[NongKhaiKid]

To my mind the enthusiasm of the BBC News team in Brazil seems more than a little forced as if doing their best to breath life into a potential non-event.

[daveAustin]

Did the opening ceremony include a mock mugging, the history of the favelas and the treeless desert of the Amazon? [emoji50]

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

I have Happy Home Cable's feed in BKK, and as of 10 am local time, not a bit of Olympics anywhere on any of the Thai channels I can find.

 

10 am BKK time is midnight Rio time. In the U.S., NBC decided to tape delay broadcast of the Opening Ceremony to fit into prime time slots, and thus actually is airing the ceremony at different times on the East vs West coasts.

 

I have a West Coast feed of NBC, so it began airing at 930 am Sat morning BKK time via the West Coast feed.

 

"While the opening ceremony starts in Rio at 7pm eastern time, NBC will air it an hour later on the US east coast at 8pm. On the west coast, NBC will air the ceremony four hours after it begins, at 8pm pacific time (11pm eastern). NBC executives defended the decision, saying it allows the network to “curate” the broadcast for its viewers, adding context and editing it into a more exciting package."

 

http://qz.com/750600/nbc-is-airing-the-rio-olympics-opening-ceremony-on-a-tape-delay-but-theres-still-a-way-for-americans-to-watch-it-live/

 

Edited August 6, 2016 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

It looks like BBC One carried the Opening Ceremony live, but that has now concluded. Yet the full ceremony seems to be online and available via the BBC IPlayer for replay, assuming you have a UK IP.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b07mzrxt/olympic-ceremonies-2016-opening-ceremony

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

There's also another thread here with posts on Thai TV Olympic coverage, with some indication from other posters that there was coverage on some Thai TV channels early, early Sat. morning -- but nothing on right now.

 

 

[pmarlin]

For the retired US Military on those who have AAFES (PX BX) privileges go to  http://undertheradar.military.com/2016/07/service-members-can-watch-the-rio-olympics-online-anywhere-in-the-world/?ESRC=todayinmil.sm it shows you have to watch free from NBC. You also need to have VPN to watch. Live stream in HD.  It works and have been watching .

[nickmondo]

5 hours ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

There's also another thread here with posts on Thai TV Olympic coverage, with some indication from other posters that there was coverage on some Thai TV channels early, early Sat. morning -- but nothing on right now.

 

 

i have already posted this.......I actually dont believe that people who have lived here for any amount of time and want to watch soprt do not know this..........365Sport.tv............they only have 9 channels showing the Olympics.........and they also advertise on the daily e mail from Thai Visa..........seriously people.........sort yourselves out

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

AFAIK, it's an illegal / unauthorized site and streams...that steal the content from other sources. It's also a paid/subscription site.

 

Edited August 6, 2016 by TallGuyJohninBKK