UPDATED with quotes from Jeff Zucker.

NBC may be taking lumps in the blogosphere for its decision to provide so much of its Olympics coverage exclusively through traditional channels, but they have given advertisers an increasingly elusive commodity — a large, captivated (and captive) audience.

NBC's walled approach to viewership – sidelining the creative opportunities to build the brand online – has short-term appeal the network could not pass up.

Online viewers who came to see the games or catch up on missed events might have been upset to see that videos were not available on YouTube or even NBC's partner site Hulu. NBC was hyper vigilant against leaked content and offered video solely through Microsoft’s downloadable player Silverlight.

Before the networks dive fully into the online marketplace, they want to wring as much money as possible out of the old model – and who can blame them? NBC wanted its big brand buys to be seen by plenty of eyeballs, and with ratings working in their favor, their approach worked out.

NBC sold $1 billion in ads leading up to the games, and yesterday they reported $10 million more in sales since the games began. NBC CEO Jeff Zucker told CNBC today: “We’ve raised much more than we expected to here in the week since the games began, and I think we’ll be north of that $10 million… that's been written just since the games began.”

NBC's 17.6 average rating through Wednesday is the highest for a non-U.S. Olympics since the Barcelona Games in 1992. The network has averaged 30.8 million prime-time viewers, a bump of more than 4 million viewers over the 2004 Athens Games. As far as the network wars go, things are looking pretty good for NBC.

Even skeptics have to admit that NBC is doing much better than expected. Jupiter Research analyst Emily Riley, who thinks that NBC has taken a "Web 1.0" approach to the 2008 games, concedes that it makes financial sense for NBC to focus on television rather than the web:

"They could have leveraged their current strength to create opportunities for consumers to use video online, but it makes it makes sense monetarily for NBC to focus on their main revenue source and large global brands."

Until the networks figure out how to best capitalize on growing online audiences, hoarding doesn't seem like such a bad idea. According to Zucker, "The erosion in network television has been pronounced and there’s no way of getting around that. But this event shows that the pipes work. And if you put on great programming that people want to watch, then they’ll show up."

Beyond simply the opportunity for viewers to see television ads, the global brands that advertised in this year's Olympics are using their position to break into – or further their presence – in the Chinese marketplace.

NBC's parent company GE, especially, has focused on the myriad ways that the company is helping the Olympics and Beijing operate at peak performance.

"China is growing explosively," says Jennifer Walsh, Global Director of Digital Media for GE. "As they expand, there is a need for basic infrastructure – water treatment, transportation, roads" – all services that GE provides.

Neal Pilson, CEO of Pilson communications and former president of CBS Sports, has consulted the IOC on television rights for the 2010 and 2012 games. He says the real opportunities for earnings at the Olympics lie with the parent company: "During negotiations, we basically argue that GE or FOX News or CBS Inc. would generate a huge amount of business from the games. This year, the Olympics are being held in a country with enormous potential for new business."

Already, GE has posted $700 million in sales from various projects in and around Beijing, including security equipment for a subway line and airport terminal, medical equipment at the Olympic village, and more than 120 wind turbines north of the city.

All the global brands present on network television during the games are working in China to promote their image and further their presence in the growing marketplace there. While NBC may have squandered a chance to move online video forward with the summer games, their bird in the hand approach is paying off today.

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