Farewell to tape delay and waiting for NBC to package the neat stuff in primetime at the Olympics.

The network has decided that all 32 sports in London will be streamed live at nbcolympics.com.

Richard Sandomir reports in the New York Times:

The live streaming of every event is a major shift at the NBC Sports Group, which was formed after Comcast acquired control of NBC Universal. Under General Electric, its former owner, NBC Sports did not stream live events that would be featured in prime time, lest they diminish ratings.

Two years ago, at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, only hockey and curling were streamed live in order to protect prime time. At the 2008 Beijing Summer Games, 25 sports were streamed live but none of them were important to the evening broadcast, which is usually at least four hours long.

“The way consumers consume video has changed over the years,” Mr. Cordella said. “We can’t go back with hindsight and say we were wrong.”

He said that NBC had data to show that live streaming could increase viewership of a event shown hours later on delay. “We’re not scared of cannibalization,” Mr. Cordella said, adding, “Anytime you have a great event that happens before it shows on the air, it increases ratings and generates buzz.”

It’s the right move for NBC. It will greatly increase traffic to the site, and frankly the people who watch on their computers will be the hardcore fans. The bulk of the primetime audience is made up of casual viewers who care about these sports once every four years.

A win-win.