FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, May 23rd, 2016

NBC SPORTS DIGITAL LAUNCHES END-TO-END VIDEO SUPPORT SERVICE — “PLAYMAKER MEDIA”

International Olympic Committee is First Client

Playmaker Media to Provide Live Streaming Video Support for NBC News’ Election Coverage

Stamford, Conn. – May 23, 2016 – NBC Sports Digital is launching a new technology service, Playmaker Media, to provide end-to-end support for companies in need of best-in-class live streaming and VOD solutions.

Playmaker Media will utilize the experience and expertise that NBC Sports Digital has developed in its 10-plus years of live streaming some of the most-high profile events in sports, such as the Summer and Winter Olympics, the Super Bowl, Sunday Night Football – primetime television’s No. 1 show – the Stanley Cup Final, the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, the Premier League, Notre Dame Football, the Triple Crown, and many more major events.

NBC Sports Digital, a division of NBC Sports Group, was the first company to stream an Olympic event (2006), an NFL game (2008), and a Super Bowl (2012), among many other firsts. It hosts thousands of on-demand video clips, and will live stream more than 10,000 events this year that air across NBC, NBCSN, Golf Channel, Telemundo, NBCUniverso and six NBC Sports Regional Networks.

“The growing demand for live streaming support in the marketplace combined with our experience and expertise make this the perfect time to launch Playmaker,” said Rick Cordella, Senior Vice President & General Manager, Digital Media, NBC Sports Group. “Whether it is live streaming the biggest sporting events in the world or hosting on-demand video clips or live-event replays, our clients can expect best-in-class service that will provide their viewers with an enjoyable and seamless streaming experience.”

At launch, Playmaker will partner with industry-leading technology companies Adobe, Akamai, Microsoft, iStreamPlanet, and Comcast Wholesale.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) signed on as Playmaker Media’s first client, with Playmaker to provide live streaming video support for the IOC’s Olympic Channel, a global digital initiative which is expected to launch later this year.

“As part of the upcoming launch of the Olympic Channel, OBS is excited to partner with NBC, utilizing their Playmaker Media platform to host and make available Olympic Channel digital content,” said Yiannis Exarchos, Executive Director of Olympic Channel Services (OCS).

Playmaker will also provide live streaming video support for NBC News’ coverage of the 2016 presidential election. More clients are expected to be announced soon.

Following are highlights from NBC Sports Digital’s live streaming history:

February 2006 First live stream of an Olympic event — the men’s ice hockey gold medal game between Sweden and Finland at the Torino Olympics.
August 2008 First broad-scale live streaming effort for an Olympic Games, covering 25 sports and 2,200 hours for the Beijing Olympics.
September 2008 First live stream of an NFL game, including the introduction of multi-camera streams in addition to the traditional broadcast.
June/July 2009 First NBC adaptive bitrate HD stream for broad-based U.S. consumption of Wimbledon.
February 2012 Prior to Super Bowl XLVI, NBC Sports Digital launches NBC Sports Live Extra, the consumer-facing brand for its live streaming product.
February 2012 First live stream of a Super Bowl. NBC Sports Digital sets a then-record with more than 2.1 million users for its live stream of Super Bowl XLVI.
July/August 2012 First live stream of all Olympic competition occurs at the London Olympics. In addition to a record 20.4 million hours of streaming video consumption, Team USA’s women’s soccer gold medal game vs. Japan sets a then-record for most streams for an event with more than 1.4 million.
February 2014 First live streaming of all Winter Olympic competition occurs at the Sochi Olympics. A Winter Olympics-record 10.8 million hours of video are consumed.
February 2015 NBC Sports Digital sets a then-record with 800,000 average viewers per minute, 1.3 million concurrent users, and 213 million minutes for its live stream of Super Bowl XLIX.
April 2015 NBC Sports Live Extra launches on connected TVs for the first time, initially partnering with Apple TV and Roku.
2016 Including the 2016 Rio Olympics, NBC Sports Digital will live stream more than 10,000 events in the calendar year.

 

NBC Sports Digital

A division of NBC Sports Group, NBC Sports Digital services sports fans around the clock and on the go by providing an array of best-in-class products that include live video streaming, short-form videos, sport-specific websites, and fantasy sports information. NBC Sports Digital consists of 15 websites and 13 apps, and distributes its content across desktops, mobile devices, tablets, and connected TVs.

–NBC SPORTS DIGITAL–