NBC Olympics Unveils Streaming Plans for Sochi, New Digital Partnership with Yahoo
NBC has unveiled its ambitious plans for streaming the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics, more than doubling the number of hours streamed from Vancouver in 2010. More than 1,000 hours of live streaming Sochi Olympics content will be made available to authenticated users with a cable, satellite and telco subscription via NBCOlympics.com.
In addition, NBC Olympics announced an extension of their existing agreement with Yahoo that provides Yahoo’s U.S. audience with access to all of NBC Olympics’ exclusive digital video highlights and live-streamed events on NBCOlympics.com. NBC and Yahoo will also produce a digital Olympics daily show and showcase Yahoo products during its coverage of the Games.
Streaming Every Minute of Every Competition
For the first time in the history of the Winter Games, all competition across all 15 sports, including each medal-winning performance in all 98 events, will be live streamed on NBCOlympics.com and the NBC Sports Live Extra app. The site will also feature exclusive content, real-time results, medal standings, event highlights and analysis, athlete interviews and profiles, and replays of all event coverage.
In addition, by verifying their subscriptions on NBCOlympics.com now, multi-channel customers will have online access to coverage of the U.S. Olympic Team Trials.
The bulk of the live-streamed content will only be available to authenticated cable, satellite or telco customers. These MVPD customers verified 9.9 million devices during the London Olympic Games on NBCOlympics.com and the NBC Olympics Live Extra app. According the NBC, this is believed to be the most device verifications for a single event in TV Everywhere history.
“The London Olympics were a watershed moment for TV Everywhere as we verified a staggering 10 million devices,” says 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.”
The Exclamation Point and Peacock Unite in Sochi
The new NBC-Yahoo deal extends upon an agreed the two sports entities inked in December 2012 to collaborate regarding online and on-air premium sports news and events coverage, creation of original short-form video programming, and co-branded popular Yahoo Sports’ products (such as Yahoo Sports Fantasy and Rivals.com). The two companies co-produce on-air original video programming including SportsDash with Yahoo Sports every weekday and Fantasy Football Live on Tuesday and Thursday nights, in addition to an online digital version of FFL.
“Yahoo’s massive U.S. audience will now have easy, one-click access to NBC Olympics’ exclusive and robust digital Olympic video assets,” said Rick Cordella, SVP and GM, NBC Sports Digital.
As part of the agreement, Yahoo Sports experts will work in conjunction with NBC Sports and contribute Olympic news and analysis for digital segments that will be promoted to both NBCOlympics.com and Yahoo users. In addition, NBC Olympics and Yahoo will integrate Yahoo content and products such as Yahoo Search, Flickr, and Tumblr during its coverage of the Sochi Games.
“Bringing together Yahoo and NBC Olympics for the XXII Winter Games will give fans a deep and rich experience around one of the premier sports events in the world,” says Ken Fuchs, VP, Yahoo Global Media and head of Yahoo Sports and Games. “For the first time, our audience can jump right into watching highlights and live events on the NBC Olympics experience from Yahoo.”
Streamlining the Authentication Process
Since the 2012 London Olympics, NBC Olympics has continued its efforts to streamline the authentication process with new abilities like In-home auto-verification for some cable/telco customers, cross-domain verification with Adobe Pass, and a longer verification window for users.
Beginning February 6, the devices of some cable and telco customers will be verified automatically when used within the customers’ homes because their providers are employing In-Home Auto-Verification, which recognizes IP addresses and cross-references those addresses with subscriber accounts to automatically verify video subscriptions.
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 device will recognize their verification credentials and will provide immediate access to NBC Sports Live Extra’s live stream content.
Customers can verify beginning today because NBC Olympics and the cable/satellite/telco industry extended the verification window. As long as customers click “remember me” when verifying, they only need to verify on a device once for the entirety of the Games.