Starting with an National Hockey League game tonight, NBC Sports Network live event fare will be available as part of TV Everywhere offering.
NBC Sports Live Extra, the NBC Sports Group’s live streaming product for digital, mobile and tablets, will offer NBC Sports Network live-event content to Cablevision, Comcast Xfinity TV, Suddenlink and Verizon FiOS customers via TV Everywhere, beginning with the Tampa Bay Lightning hosting the Pittsburgh Penguins NHL contest at 7:30 p.m.
All told, NBC, NBC Sports Network and Golf Channel content is expected to exceed 4,000 hours and 1,000 programs/events in 2013.
The vast majority of live streaming content on NBC Sports Live Extra will only be available to authenticated cable, satellite and telco customers via the TV Everywhere platform. In conjunction with the quartet of providers listed above, the TV Everywhere product initially will be available to some 35 million homes. According to an NBC Sports spokesman, negotiations continue with other providers to expand the streaming affiliate base.
Authenticated users can access the content via NBC Sports Live Extra page on NBCSports.com, while mobile and tablet users must download the NBC Sports Live Extra app to watch the programming.
NBC Sports Group, in addition to its expansive digital offerings of the Olympic Games –some 3,500 hours were available from London – has been streaming select live events over the years , including Sunday Night Football, TV’s top primetime show; Notre Dame college football; the NHL Game of the Week, and some Stanley Cup Playoff matchups. For its part, Golf Channel has been live streaming PGA TOUR events since January via TV Everywhere on Golf Live Extra.
In addition to the aforementioned events, the streaming lineup, emanating largely from NBC Sports Network's camp, will come to encompass such properties as Barclays Premier League and Major League Soccer, Formula One and Indy Car auto racing, as well as French Open tennis, U.S. Open golf and Triple Crown horse racing.
NBC Sports Live Extra will show the Stanley Cup playoffs, including the Finals, as well as the upcoming Sochi Winter Games in 2014.
NBCU served 159.3 million video streams from London, compared with 75.5 million from the Beijing Olympics in 2008. Of that total, 64.4 million were live streams, 353% more than Beijing's 14 million. NBC Sports Group has yet to detail its schedule from Socchi.
Tonight's Tampa Bay-Pittsburgh NHL battle at 7:30 p.m. aside, this weekend’s slate of NBC Sports Network events to be streamed live on NBC Sports Live Extra includes: Formula One’s Chinese Grand Prix on Sunday (2:30 a.m.), plus practice and qualifying on Friday (2 a.m.) and Saturday (2 a.m.), respectively; "Road to the Kentucky Derby" horse racing, spotlighting the Arkansas Derby on Saturday at 6 p.m.; MLS matches, featuring Los Angeles at Dallas on Saturday (7:30 p.m.) and San Jose at Portland on Sunday (10:30 p.m.); and NHL Sunday night action showcasing the Nashville Predators- Detroit Red Wings (7:30 p.m.).
“Today marks a new era as we are truly able to present some of the best content in sports to viewers anywhere and everywhere on a multitude of platforms,” said Rick Cordella, senior vice president and general manager, Digital Media, NBC Sports Group. “With thousands of hours of compelling sports content now available via TV Everywhere across digital, mobile and tablets, NBC Sports Live Extra is a must-have product for sports fans.”
