After partnering with Roku last July to create a dedicated landing page and programming guide for its compendium of Tokyo Summer Olympics coverage, NBCUniversal has shifted its Olympics connected TV ties to the Amazon Fire TV platform.
Starting Thursday, when the 2022 Winter Games commence in Beijing, Amazon Fire TV will feature a dedicated Olympics landing page and programming guide, highlighting the more than 2,800 hours of live and on-demand Winter Games coverage spread across NBCU linear and streaming networks.
This, of course, includes Peacock, which will stream all live coverage, as well as full-event replays, curated clips and virtual channels, all of which will be accessible from Fire TV.
Also: Roku and NBCU Tout Olympics Homepage Partnership; Amazon Goes It Alone
“We’re making it easier for customers to browse and click into their must-see events, and viewers can simply use their voice to find start times, ways to watch, or specific events – just say, ’Alexa, play the Olympics on Peacock,’ ” said Charlotte Maines, director of Amazon's Fire TV program.
For the Winter Games, Fire TV will feature a new Live TV row on its home screen, which will display a variety of Winter Olympics events streaming on Peacock.
Fire TV users will also be able to click on a live stream tile to access Peacock's live-stream coverage, while a rotating carousel will highlight major events across NBCU platforms, while also guiding users as to how to access these events.
“These experiences generate ultimate value for all involved, driving dramatic increases in viewership and fan engagement with our coverage of live sporting events," added Matt Bond, chairman of content distribution for NBCUniversal.
So how much value did Roku get out of its Summer Olympics tie-up? Tough to say, of course, in a business that holds tightly onto even program audience performance data. But we do know that NBCU's Tokyo audience ratings were record bad.
And we also know that Roku isn't back for a second bite at the apple. ■
