When there’s a $775 million broadcasting investment on the line, you better believe that a network like NBC is going to go after video pirates just like Peter Pan and his gang in Neverland. In this case, Neverland was the Winter Olympics in Sochi, an event that NBC says it protected its rights by busting 45,000 instances of illegally posted videos or pirated streams. [More]
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There’s A Secret Sochi Starbucks For NBC Staff Only, And It’s On Lockdown
By 2.21.14
NBC, the TV network with the exclusive rights to air the Olympics in the United States until about 500 years past Ragnarok, has a secret weapon as they cover the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia. That amazing secret is a secret, free, staff-only Starbucks. [More]
Chobani Yogurt Meant For Olympic Athletes Will Go To Food Pantries Instead
By 2.13.14
The brave, chilly athletes representing the United States at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia certainly need their protein. That’s why Chobani, maker of tasty strained yogurt products, was sending a large shipment of the stuff to Team USA in the Olympic Village. U.S. officials and Chobani lost their standoff with Russian bureaucracy, though, and the yogurt will not be allowed to enter the country. [More]
Comcast, NBC Won’t Let Lower-Tier Cable Subscribers Stream Olympics Online
By 2.10.14
If you don’t like the idea of watching pre-taped, heavily edited rebroadcasts of sporting events that happened eight to 24 hours earlier (and which have probably been spoiled for you by the Internet anyway), NBC is letting some viewers of most cable providers stream all the events live online. Unfortunately, those with the most basic of cable packages apparently don’t count as far as NBC is concerned. [More]
Busting Through Broken Doors, Empty Elevator Shafts: Sochi Bobsledders Had A Tough Weekend
By 2.10.14
We’ve been hearing reports back from the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, from reporters saying their hotel rooms have been, well, less than finished or those that came with beers already under the bed. But it seems athletes aren’t immune from the shoddy shenanigans: over the weekend two different bobsledders had a bit of a close call with malfunctioning parts in the Olympic Village. [More]
Our Brave Olympic Athletes Are Still Without Yogurt, But Take Heart: “We’ll Be Able To Adapt”
By 2.7.14
Despite the best efforts of U.S. politicians like Sen. Chuck Schumer, it appears that the stalled shipment of Chobani Greek yogurt destined for the mouths of American athletes competing in the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia is still grounded on our shores. But chin up, fans — even without the helpful protein boost, our brave athletes are forging ahead. [More]
Olympics Reporter Uses Clothesline & Tape To Deal With Lack Of Shower Curtain
By 2.7.14
Rather than gripe about the lack of amenities at his Sochi hotel room, one sportswriter from New Jersey made sure to carry-on some DIY spirit for his trek to cover the Winter Olympics. [More]
Russian Official To Hotel Critics: We Have Surveillance Videos Of You In The Bathroom
By 2.6.14
What’s that, Olympic Games attendee? You’ve got a dirty hotel room with beers under the bed in Sochi? Your room has no hot water, or no water at all? Well, your complaints are aimed at trying to sabotage Sochi’s shining moment, said one official in response to Western critics. [More]
Feds Warn Airlines Heading To The Olympics Of Potential Bomb Threat From Toothpaste Tubes
By 2.6.14
Travelers should be used to not hauling ginormous quantities of liquids/gels/aerosols in their carry-ons on airplanes by now, but you might find your tube of toothpaste under extra scrutiny if you’re heading to Russia for the Olympics. Federal officials have issued a warning to U.S. and some foreign airlines to be on the lookout for toothpaste, whose containers could hold ingredients used to make a bomb on a plane. [More]
Scammy Restaurant, Dirty Hotel, No Credit Cards Allowed: An Olympics Reporter Shares His Sochi Story
By 2.5.14
Earlier today, we shared numerous Tweets about the hellish hotel problems experienced by reporters on the ground in Sochi, Russia, as they prepare for the upcoming Winter Olympics. Now a journalist in Sochi shares his Sochi story with Consumerist. [More]
Senator Desperately Trying To Get Yogurt To Our Brave, Yogurtless Olympic Athletes
By 2.5.14
It’s not only the media in Sochi that are finding Russian reality a harsh one ahead of the Winter Olympics. Imagine you’re a world-class athlete, with a lean machine of a body that is finely tuned to the highest degree of athleticism. What that body wants, it gets. Unless it’s Greek yogurt. [More]
Reporters Arriving For Sochi Olympics Are Less Than Pleased With Nonexistent Hotel Rooms
By 2.5.14
The Winter Olympics start this week in Sochi, Russia, and you might be jealous of all the reporters getting paid to attend the games watch these events live. One thing you shouldn’t be envious of are the conditions of the hotel rooms these reporters are arriving to find. [More]
McDonald’s Olympics Social Media Campaign Backfires, Transforms Into Pro-LGBT Protest
By 1.24.14
McDonald’s attempt at using Twitter to promote its role in the upcoming Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, has not gone exactly as the fast food chain planned — that is, unless it planned for the LGBT community to use this campaign as a way to publicly shame the company for its sponsorship of the games. [More]
