NBC Olympics plans to present more than 1,000 hours of live streaming content from the Sochi Games to the full complement of the nation’s MPVD subscribers.
The 2014 Games will mark the first Winter Olympics in which competitions across all 15 sports, including each medal-winning performance in 98 competitions, will be live-streamed on NBCOlympics.com and the NBC Sports Live Extra app. That represents a doubling of the number of live-streamed hours from the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.
NBC Olympics executives said the 1,000 hours of streaming content will be accessible to the nation’s more than 100 million cable, satellite and telco subscribers. The site will also feature exclusive content, real-time results, medal standings, event highlights and analysis, athlete interviews and profiles, and rewinds of all event coverage. In addition, by verifying their subscriptions on NBCOlympics.com, multichannel customers will have online access to coverage of the U.S. Olympic Team Trials.
The vast majority of live streaming will only be available to authenticated cable, satellite or telco customers, underlining NBCUniversal’s commitment to “TV Everywhere.” The Olympics have been a critical driver of the movement -- MPVD subscribers verified 9.9 million devices during the 2012 London Games, a total NBC Olympic officials say is the most for any single event in history.
“The London Olympics were a watershed moment for TV Everywhere as we verified a staggering 10 million devices,” said Gary Zenkel, President, NBC Olympics. “In the short time that has passed since London, TV Everywhere and the verification process have evolved, with more and more subscribers participating daily. We will again work closely with our multi-channel partners to make this the most successful and seamless TV Everywhere event in history.”
MPVD subscribers can begin the verification process at NBCOlympics.com/LiveExtra today. Upon verification of their subscription to an Olympics-eligible package, customers will signed in throughout the Games on that device. ·
Looking to ease the process, NBC Olympics will also deploy in-home auto verification. Beginning Feb. 6, the day the Games begin, devices of some cable and telco customers will be verified automatically when used within the customers’ homes because their providers recognize IP addresses and will cross-reference those addresses with subscriber accounts to automatically identify video subscriptions. Comcast and Cablevision used auto IP verification during the London Olympics.
Moreover, customers who have already verified their subscriptions with Adobe Pass on their desktop or mobile device will not have to re-verify those subscriptions. The cross-domain verification will recognize the credentials and provide immediate access to NBC Sports Live Extra’s live stream content.
As was the case for London Games, NBCUniversal and cable/satellite and telco providers will engage in marketing initiatives to familiarize customers about the verification process. Ryan Seacrest will host a tutorial as part of NBCUniversal’s Olympic cross-channel marketing efforts and on NBCOlympics.com. For London, Carson Daly offered the how-to.
Customized versions of the Seacrest tutorial will begin airing on cable, satellite and telco systems platforms across the country in December. Cable, satellite and telco systems will also be provided with access to an array of promotional assets, including digital banners, e-mail templates, taggable promotional spots and additional marketing support materials to inform their customers about verification. A consumer sweepstakes with a grand prize trip to Rio de Janeiro in 2014 was also created as an incentive to encourage customers to verify in advance of the Games.
