FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, July 24th, 2012
NBC OLYMPICS TO OFFER UNPRECEDENTED DIGITAL AND SOCIAL COVERAGE OF LONDON 2012 OLYMPIC GAMES
LONDON — July 24, 2012 – NBC Olympics, a division of NBC Universal, will offer U.S. viewers unprecedented digital and social media Olympics coverage when the Games of the XXX Olympiad commence tomorrow in London.
For the first time ever, NBC Olympics.com will live stream every athletic event and sport. In all, the site will stream more than 3,500 total programming hours, including the awarding of all 302 medals, and the four NBCU cable channels that are airing the Olympics (NBC Sports Network, MSNBC, CNBC and Bravo). The site will also feature the debut of the Gold Zone, an exclusive video channel offering viewers whip-around coverage of the Games’ most compelling live events.
In addition, NBC Olympics has developed two new apps for the 2012 London Olympics. The NBC Olympics Live Extra app will live stream every athletic competition, each Olympic cable channel and provide multiple concurrent streams for select sports, such as gymnastics (each apparatus), track and field (each event), and tennis (up to five courts). The vast majority of content will only be available to authenticated cable, satellite or telco customers.
The NBC Olympics app will be the home for everything else Olympics, including short-form highlights, event schedules, TV and online listings, results, athlete profiles, columns and the new Primetime Companion feature.
NBC Olympics has also partnered with Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Shazam to extend its coverage onto these popular social media platforms for the 2012 London Olympics. The social media partnerships allow the NBC Sports Group to communicate directly with fans of the Olympics and celebrate the Games with viewers in new and unique ways.
Following is a summary of NBC Olympics’ digital and social media coverage of the London 2012 Olympic Games:
NBCOLYMPICS.COM
NBCOlympics.com will live stream more than 3,500 total programming hours, including the awarding of all 302 medals. By comparison, NBCOlympics.com live streamed 25 sports and 2,200 hours for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The site will also feature rewinds of all event coverage, a steady stream of athlete profiles, event highlights, a tour of London as the host city, and more.
NBCOlympics.com will live stream the Olympic content that airs on the four NBCU cable channels — NBC Sports Network, MSNBC, CNBC and Bravo. In addition, NBCOlympics.com will provide multiple concurrent streams for select sports, such as gymnastics (each apparatus), track and field (each event), and tennis (up to five courts). For example, during a session of track and field, instead of viewing only a single feed that moves from event to event, a user can choose to watch a stream dedicated to a specific event, such as the long jump or javelin.
GOLD ZONE
Gold Zone, an exclusive video channel on NBCOlympics.com, will offer whip-around coverage of the most popular LIVE action from the Olympic Games. The channel will allow viewers to experience multiple events, as they happen, and will take the guess work out of what to watch.
Gold Zone may take viewers from a swimming final to a soccer shootout, in real time, enabling them to catch the most exciting Olympic action whenever and wherever it’s happening.
Alongside the video player, a Gold Zone text commentator will provide context to what’s being streamed. The commentator will keep fans up-to-date as the video player switches from event to event.
NBC OLYMPICS LIVE EXTRA APP
The NBC Olympics Live Extra app will live stream every athletic competition during the London 2012 Olympic Games. As with NBCOlympics.com, the app will live stream more than 3,500 total programming hours, including all 32 sports, the awarding of all 302 medals, the four NBCU cable channels that are airing the Olympics (NBC Sports Network, MSNBC, CNBC and Bravo)., and event rewinds. NBC Olympics Live Extra will also live stream the Olympic content that airs on the four NBCU cable channels — NBC Sports Network, MSNBC, CNBC and Bravo.
Adding to the coverage, NBC Olympics Live Extra will provide multiple concurrent streams for select sports, such as gymnastics (each apparatus), track and field (each event), and tennis (up to five courts). For example, during a session of track and field, instead of viewing only a single feed that moves from event to event, a user can choose to watch a stream dedicated to a specific event, such as the long jump or javelin.
The vast majority of live stream content on NBC Olympics Live Extra will only be available to verified cable, satellite or telco customers.
NBC Olympics Live Extra App, powered by Adobe, is available for free from the App Store on iPhone, iPad and iPod touch or at www.itunes.com/appstore. It is also available for free from Google Play on select Android devices or at www.play.google.com.
NBC OLYMPICS APP
While NBC Olympics Live Extra will be the mobile and tablet home for live stream content, the NBC Olympics app will be the home for everything else Olympics, including short-form highlights, event schedules, TV and online listings, live results, athlete profiles, columns and the new Primetime Companion feature.
NBC Olympics app powered by Adobe, is available for free from the App Store on iPhone, iPad and iPod touch or at www.itunes.com/appstore. It is also available for free from Google Play on select Android devices or at www.play.google.com.
PRIMETIME COMPANION
The Primetime Companion is the ultimate complementary, second-screen experience for NBC’s nightly primetime Olympic broadcast. Users can go deeper into the broadcast with trivia, polls, slideshows, videos and athlete bios all synced with what is being presented on NBC.
The companion will also allow users to share the primetime experience with friends and family through a series of social tools connected through Facebook and Twitter. Synched to each device’s clock, the Primetime Companion will automatically appear when a user opens the app during NBC’s primetime broadcast.
YOUTUBE
NBC Olympics has partnered with YouTube to provide the video player technology, hosting and infrastructure for all NBCOlympics.com’s more than 3,500 hours of live stream Olympic content online. YouTube will also promote to NBCOlympics.com’s content from YouTube.com.
Facebook and NBC Olympics will collaborate during the London 2012 Olympic Games to serve fans of the Olympics like never before. The NBC Olympics page on Facebook will feature the most up-to-date news and information, and will engage fans of the Olympic Games with featured polls, photo galleries, trivia and shareable images. Fans that “LIKE” NBC Olympics on Facebook will have the opportunity to unlock exclusive content made available to NBC Olympics fans. NBC Olympics has also launched a Facebook timeline app on NBCOlympics.com, so users can share the London 2012 Olympic Games content they are consuming with their friends.
As part of the collaboration, NBC Olympics’ coverage of the London Games will include the launch of Talk Meter, a new Facebook data tool. The new tool will inform viewers about stories, results, athletes and events that other fans of the Olympic Games are talking about on Facebook.
Representatives from Facebook will work with NBC editorial teams to produce social media segments that will air throughout the Games across the networks of NBCUniversal that are carrying Olympic coverage. In addition, the results of a daily poll that users can vote for on the NBC Olympics Facebook page will air daily on NBC, including in primetime.
NBC Olympics and Twitter will partner during the London 2012 Olympic Games to drive viewership and interest. The partnership includes:
· launching the first-ever Olympics event page in the U.S. at Twitter.com/#Olympics;
· aggregating content on the #Olympics event page from Olympians, @NBCOlympics, @Olympics (IOC), @USOlympic (USOC), and the best of the London Olympic conversation;
· promoting the event page with on air graphics across the networks of NBCUniversal that are airing Olympic programming, including in primetime on NBC, as well as additional on-air promotion and content integration;
· and reprising the NBC Olympic Twitter Tracker, a visually compelling real time heat map depicting the minute-by-minute movements of the Olympic conversation on Twitter
The Olympics event page will be Twitter’s home for Olympic news and information. The page will aggregate the Olympic conversation with the most engaging and relevant Tweets about the Games from athletes, coaches, teams, families, media, fans, and Olympic insiders, including NBC Olympics commentators. Representatives from Twitter will be on-site in London to work side-by-side with NBC Olympics on producing and updating the page to showcase the best stories on Twitter. The page will be co-branded by NBC Olympics and the International Olympic Committee.
To help promote the Olympics event page, NBC Olympics will include #Olympics in certain on-air graphics, and will promote the page in other ways on air throughout the Games across the networks of NBCUniversal that are airing the Olympics, including within primetime on NBC. In addition to promoting the Twitter.com/#Olympics web address, Twitter users will be directed to the event page when they click on the hashtag #Olympics or search for “Olympics” on Twitter. The page will also be available for non-users via promotions on Twitter.com, and is available on mobile devices.
NBC Olympics and Twitter have also reprised the NBC Olympics Twitter Tracker presented by General Electric (GE) on NBCOlympics.com and the NBC Olympics mobile and tablet app. This real-time heat map will track the Olympic conversation swarming around the Games, each sport, the athletes and the hot topics swirling around London. It will include the Olympics “Tweet Sheet,” a constant feed of athlete conversation prior to and during the Games. Olympic Top Sponsor and NBC Olympics advertiser GE will be the presenting sponsor of the NBC Olympics Twitter Tracker on NBCOlympics.com bringing to the conversation its insight on human and athlete health at #healthyshare.
SHAZAM
To further connect fans with their favorite sports, NBC Olympics’ coverage of the Games will be Shazam-enabled. Viewers will be able to tag the live telecast anytime during the program and will instantly have access to a number of features.
GOOGLE+
NBC Olympics will be taking over the NBC Sports Google+ page that is in over 1.1 million circles. Google+ hangouts will take place between now and the end of the Games.
The first NBC Olympics hangout debuted on Thursday, June 28 and featured Megan Rapinoe of the Women’s U.S. Soccer Team, and was moderated by NBC Olympics soccer commentator and former member of the US National Team Cat Whitehill.
The NBC Olympics Instagram page will give Instagram users a look inside the NBC Olympics experience from the Trials through the end of the Games. Users will have the ability to share Instagram photos through Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.
TUMBLR
NBC Olympics on Tumblr pays tribute to all Olympics Fans. The Tumblr page will be dedicated to the fan and the Olympic spirit by curating visually stunning Olympic themed or inspired content.
GETGLUE
GetGlue has developed a variety of NBC Olympics stickers for fans to collect on GetGlue throughout the Games. Fans have the ability to collect stickers around the Opening Ceremony, various Olympic events and earn Gold, Silver and Bronze stickers for being the most active while checking in on GetGlue.
About Our Partners:
NBC Universal has collaborated with multiple partners to power the NBC Olympics digital effort. NBC Olympics digital partners for the London 2012 Olympic Games include: Adobe, Facebook, Google, Shazam, Twitter, YouTube and 360i.
–NBC SPORTS GROUP–
