Reaching Out to the Local Experts

Dear Maureen Ryan and Phil Rosenthal,

Do either of you have any idea why NBCOlympics.com will allow you to watch full recaps of Olympic events only if you subscribe to cable TV? I don't have cable (too expensive), and for a variety of reasons, didn't get a digital converter box. I rely on the internet for most of my television watching.

Today, after spending the afternoon in a bar in order to catch some biathlon coverage, I tried to watch said biathlon event online (NBC barely showed any of it on TV; I wanted to see more of it). However, since I don't have cable, I can't watch.

Do you know why NBC decided to do this? I'm more than happy to watch ads in order to pay for online coverage--heck, I'd even subscribe to the website during the Olympics in order to have access. Why have they decided that users can't have access unless they have cable TV?

Thanks for your time--I enjoy reading both of your columns and appreciate your expertise.

Your pal,
Jill