With the number of events and users continuing to rise, NBC Sports is putting some promotional muscle behind its live-streaming platform for the first time.
Debuting Saturday, Nov. 1 on NBC and NBCSN, the campaign, developed in-house, aims to tout the NBC Sports Live Extra platform and further educate viewers about the accessibility it provides to NFL Sunday Night Football, Barclays Premier League soccer, the National Hockey League, the Olympics, golf, Formula 1 racing, among other sports
The spots – focusing on BPL, SNF and hockey in 30- and 15-second versions -- were developed in-house and play off a similar conceit. They initially focus on game action and then pull back to the user watching on his smartphone or tablet.
Key copy includes “Wherever you are, we’re there” and “NBC Sports Live Extra you’re home for live streaming of [Barclays Premier League, Sunday Night Football and National Hockey League] “and all of your favorite NBC Sports” as the screen evinces rotating property logos. The commercials conclude with “NBC Sports Live Extra…Anytime, Anywhere.”
In “Traffic Cop”, the user on his phone watches a BPL referee call a penalty shot, as the cab he's riding in pulls up alongside a police officer blowing his whistle and pointing ahead. The SNF “Tundra” commercial showcases a snowy battle between the Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field before cutting to a weatherman, icicles clinging to his beard and other facial hair, somewhere in the frozen north.
The best of the bunch, “Pile On” trades on a dad watching the Los Angeles Kings Alec Martinez beat New York Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist to win the 2014 Stanley Cup. The reveal here shows that he is watching on a tablet on a couch as a gaggle of young girls play on top of him, with Sprout’s The Goodnight Show rolling on the big screen in the living room. You can check it out here.
In addition to kicking off Saturday on NBCSN’s coverage of the BPL battle between Liverpool and Newcastle and on NBC programming, the spots will be integrated across NBCUniversal’s portfolio of networks. NBC Sports Group has also secured an off-channel schedule of sports and male-skewing entertainment programming.
An NBC Sports Group official says the initial flight will play through the end of November.
The platform has generated some big numbers. For the Sochi Winter Games, NBCOlympics.com and the NBC Sports Live Extra app garnered 24.6 million viewers, 160% higher than the 2010 Vancouver Games and 8% more than the 2012 London Olympics.
The live-stream of NFL Kickoff 2014 between the Green Bay Packers and defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks counted508,000 uniques and 25 million minutes, making it the highest-trafficked non-Olympic, non-Super Bowl live stream in NBC Sports Digital history.
During the five-game 2014 Stanley Cup Final, NBC Sports Live Extra lit the lamp with 603,000 uniques, netted 37.14 million minutes, up 38% and 22%, respectively, from 2013 to rank as the most-digitally consumed NHL championship ever.
