Sochi 2014: NBC Olympics Turns to Akamai For Cloud Video Services
Akamai Technologies has been selected to provide online video streaming delivery, site performance and security services to NBC Olympics, a division of the NBC Sports Group, during its production of the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia.
The announcement was made by Richard Cordella, Senior Vice President & GM, Digital Media, NBC Sports Group, and Brad Rinklin, Chief Marketing Officer, Akamai.
NBC Olympics’ digital offering is designed to maximize viewer engagement through comprehensive coverage, results, schedules and bios along with multiple tools to foster social interaction. The combination of Akamai’s cloud-based digital media, site performance and security solutions help make the entire online experience faster, scalable and more secure. With Akamai, NBC Olympics can efficiently deliver high-quality video through NBCOlympics.com and the NBC Sports Live Extra mobile app. These experiences are automatically optimized for viewing devices and network variability while enjoying protection against malicious traffic.
“A production of the importance, scope and magnitude of NBC Olympics’ digital experience involves countless complexities that can be managed through Akamai’s cloud-based solutions,” said Rinklin. “The Akamai Intelligent Platform is designed to handle the challenges that organizations face in site performance, video delivery and security. Akamai is proud to partner with NBC Olympics on the Sochi Winter Games and is looking forward to helping viewers across America enjoy their favorite events wherever and whenever they want, and on whatever
device they choose.”
The Sochi Olympics mark the first time that all Winter Games competitions will be streamed live. For live and on-demand video delivery, NBC Olympics is leveraging Akamai Digital Media solutions to stream all 98 events, including every medal competition, event highlights, and athlete interviews and profiles. Akamai is also supporting DVR functions such as pause and event rewinds. The suite of cloud-based media workflow, storage and delivery tools provides the necessary quality and scale to solve the challenges of multi-device consumption.
“We are pleased to be working with Akamai, and are confident that the breadth of the Akamai cloud services, including high-quality video, site performance and security, will improve the viewer experience while watching the Games on either NBCOlympics.com or the NBC Sports Live Extra app,” said Cordella. “Viewers will enjoy a consistent and high-quality experience on any device, anywhere.”
NBCOlympics.com is NBC Olympics’ re-launched portal built to serve as the hub for its digital Winter Games experience. The site leverages Akamai’s Ion next-generation site performance technology – a tightly integrated suite of intelligent acceleration and optimization technologies to make real-time decisions based on the requirements of the given connectivity and situation. As a result, viewers can enjoy fast, personalized experiences across devices, browsers and networks.
Since 2004, Akamai has helped rights-holders worldwide deliver live and on-demand online streaming of the Olympic Games in both winter and summer.