NBC, the network responsible for all US Olympic television programming will stream the entire Beijing Olympics online for the first time — for Windows Vista Home Premium and Ultimate users only.

“NBC Olympics on the Go” will allow consumers to download any event from the games to watch on their personal computers for free, a big step up from the select highlights it offered from the 2004 Athens Summer Games.

The free service will enable viewers to watch NBC’s extensive coverage of the Beijing Games on a sport-by-sport basis, with channels designated to match the hundreds of events included in the Games. Users can simply sign up for the channels they are interested in, and the service will automatically synchronise NBC’s video clips as they become available, so viewers will have a fresh slate of Olympic content to watch on their morning commute.

Perkins Miller, Senior Vice President, Digital Media, NBC Sports and Olympics, and Michael Sprague, President of Wavexpress announced the initiative.

“This service will provide a fantastic viewing experience for Olympic fans with Windows Vista Media Center,” said Sprague. “They can choose their favorite sports, from diving to water polo to gymnastics, and extended coverage is automatically synchronized to their PC in the middle of the night. With a laptop, they will get a high-quality video experience to view on the train, the plane, or in the college quad.”

Olympics on the Go