Berkshire's weekend attracts more visitors to Omaha than any event other than the College World Series of baseball.

Hotel rates and airfares still soar. But this year, dozens of motels have rooms available, for those willing to travel several miles to downtown.

That's likely because the meeting will be live-streamed for the first time, potentially reaching tens of millions, on Yahoo Finance. The stream will also be in Mandarin, to meet demand from China and perhaps help Buffett find new investments.

Alex Ryzhikov, a partner at Ewing Morris & Co Investment Partners in Toronto, said he drove 20 hours in a camper to Omaha last year and was first in line to enter the meeting at 12:30 a.m., six hours before doors opened.

He's not going this year, citing other commitments, but will watch online.

"If you want to just get the content, you're probably going to be okay watching online," he said. "To get the energy and excitement of being there, you make the trip."

For Buffett, the weekend remains active.

At 7 a.m. on Saturday, he'll again roam an exhibit hall filled with Berkshire companies hawking everything from boxer shorts to $78,900 mobile homes, trailed by a herd of camera- and iPhone-toting media who bump into each other a lot.

Change

But he has cut back.