NBC has been the home to the Summer Olympics for the last quarter century. Over the last decade, the Internet has reshaped the way events are broadcast. During the 2008 Summer Games, Web video took center stage with mixed results. Now, in the age of Facebook and Twitter, the 2012 games are being touted as the Olympiad that collides with social media.

NBC is still keeping its plans with brands under lock and key up in 30 Rock, but it is starting to dribble out news of its plans. One big focus is to make its telecast, the bread and butter of NBC’s $1.2 billion feefor the rights to the Olympics. Expect lots of social call-outs during events, including liberal use of hashtags, of course.

“The conversation is already happening around big events,” said Rick Cordella, vp and gm of NBC sports digital. “We are looking to harness much of that conversation and bring it back to NBCOlympics.com.”

When ESPN launched in 1979, there was no way to know that it would become the worldwide leader in sports. Three decades later, the Bristol, Conn.-based company dominates all aspect of sports coverage because of one simple philosophy: serve sports fans anytime, anywhere. The anywhere part has evolved to go beyond physical location, as the sports giant has figured out how to publish across the myriad platforms its audience uses to consume sports information.

Publishing across platforms isn’t as simple as taking content from one medium and placing it on another. Audiences use different devices and platforms in different ways. How you consume content on TV is different than how you consume content on a desktop or on a phone or on a tablet. ESPN understands this exceptionally well and has been on the cutting edge — with some fails along the way — of delivering content to its audience.

Who do you think is better at social? 

Grantland is a big kid’s club, run by writer Bill Simmons, the biggest kid of them all. The well-known “Sports Guy” columnist at ESPN set out a year ago to create a different kind of site: a place where long-form content that centers on the things he loves: sports and pop culture. Named after the revered sports columnist Grantland Rice, the site is a bit of an odd duckling at ESPN.

It’s an interesting marriage. Simmons has at time chafed at working for ESPN, taking thinly veiled shots at his employer from time to time. And yet with Grantland, he’s got a site that by all indications is doing quite well, mostly thanks to its ESPN parent, which funnels traffic and advertisers to Grantland. Indeed, Grantland, according to Comscore, gets 37 percent of its traffic from ESPN.com.

Grantland taps into ESPN’s sales army that works with advertisers. The outlet says it doesn’t work with ad networks mainly due to the power of ESPN. Having a rich, powerful parent helps in other ways. Grantland started off, as a site with no history and no traffic, with two yearlong sponsorship deals with Unilever and Subway in its pocket. It has been able to add other high-end advertisers like Lexus, Google and Blackberry. Those aren’t deals a niche site, even one headed by a well-known columnist, would likely land without ESPN. But Simmons does have cache, most recently evidenced by his sit down with President Obama.

“What Grantland has going for it, in terms of a viable media property for ad buyers, is you have quality of contributors and the reputations they have and the backing of ESPN,” said Chris Paul, svp of media at Digitas.

Ms. Rometty’s case presents a uniquely delicate problem for IBM and the tournament, considered one of golf’s most prestigious. IBM is one of the Masters longtime corporate sponsors. Ms. Rometty, who plays golf but is more partial to scuba diving, is the technology giant’s first female CEO.

Augusta has offered membership to a number of IBM CEOs but because of its all-male policy, it’s unclear if an invitation has been extended to Ms. Rometty.

Jets eyeing Tebow. Cromartie not having any of it.