By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla
I've been really impressed by how CTV has managed to optimize and deliver the 2012 London Olympics in various formats. The live feeds and recaps are a given on their various TV and cable channels but there is a wealth of content to be found online through the CTV website or RDS in French, as well as their iOS and Android apps which give viewers in Canada unprecedented access to the games.
CTV set out to provide Canadians with live video coverage from London on 20 channels for up to 18 hours a day, including the CTV, TSN and Sportsnet Olympic broadcasts, as well as video highlights and up-to-the-minute breaking news and results. With one more week to go until the Olympics close, this is a great option to follow or catch up on one's favourite events.
Using the desktop or web-based app is preferable since you have a bigger screen to handle all the information and it is easier to navigate than a smartphone or a tablet. Being a big fan of basketball and knowing that a number of Toronto Raptors are playing for their respective countries, I was happy to find all the games on demand.
CTV has made all the events (including the surreal yet memorable Opening Ceremonies) available on demand. For most events, you get limited camera angles and no commentary (which suited me just fine).
A strong WiFi connection is required specially for the iOS and Android Apps. CTV is a bit sneaky as it will stream the app over 3G but it cannot or will not stream the video so don't even bother unless you have a good WiFi connection
Watching Olympics basketball on the new iPad with Retina display is quite a treat thanks to the CTV London Olympics App
Searching is intuitive as you look for the specific event, then the day and then the event or match you want to see. You will get advertisements (hey, nothing is free!) so prepare for a regular stream of McDonald's, Coke and Samsung Galaxy S3, Bell and RBC advertisements.
After the advertisements, you get the start of the event and can watch it in its enteriety or you can take your chances and scrub the action back and forth (it is hit or miss on both the PC and the iPad versions).
I put Apple's AirPlay mirroring to good use when none of the cable channels were showing the Mens's Olympic Basketball games.
I was able to use my AppleTV and my MacBook Pro with Retina Display to cobble together a workaround. Streaming the desired channel from CTV on the MacBook Pro and sending it to my HDTV, I was able to watch some intense and physical games between France and Spain as well as the US and Australia. The picture was very close to the 720p HD resolution of my 32-inch Samsung HDTV in the living room. I only experienced hiccups when the stream would fluctuate and pixelate but for the most part the video was great (the audio only played on the MacBook Pro's speakers for some reason).
CTV really thought out the design and execution of these supplementary ways to watch the olympics and they are ideal in homes where the big HDTV is airing one event and other people want to see something else. The apps are also impressive, specially on newer devices with better specs.
This is a great option for people who are interested in teams, countries and competitions that may not be highlighted in the TV and cable broadcasts and a thorougly executed delivery of these games on the web and on mobile devices.