NBC to Stream More Than 1,000 Hours of Sochi Winter Olympics

17 Dec, 2013 By: Erik Gruenwedel

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NBC says subscriber verifications could be the most ever for TV Everywhere

TV Everywhere is getting an international winter showcase.

NBC will stream more than 1,000 hours of live content from the XXII Olympic Winter Games from Sochi, Russia (Feb. 6 to 23) — double the hours streamed from the Vancouver Games in 2010.

For the first time in the history of the Winter Games, all competition across 15 sports, including each medal-winning performance in all 98 events, will be live streamed. The streams, which begin the day before the opening ceremonies Feb. 7, will be available to authenticated cable, satellite and telecommunications subscribers registered at NBCOlympics.com. Content will also be available via NBC Sports Live app for mobile phones and tablet computers.

TV Everywhere is heralded by multichannel video program distributors (MVPDs) such as cable, satellite and telco, as the antidote to over-the-top video services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Instant Video and Hulu Plus. By granting ubiquitous access to archived (and some live) content, MVPDs believe TV Everywhere will curb video subscriber losses and thwart the impact of SVOD.

MVPD customers verified 9.9 million devices during the 2012 London Summer Olympic Games, either on NBCOlympics.com or on the NBC Olympics Live Extra app. 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,” 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 multichannel partners to make this the most successful and seamless TV Everywhere event in history.”

NBC said it its upstart NBC Sports Network (NBCSN) will present more than 230 hours of TV coverage of the Sochi Games — the most Winter Olympic coverage ever on a cable network.

Meanwhile, Bob Costas will again serve as host for NBC’s primetime and late night coverage of the Winter Games. Costas has served as primetime host for every Olympics on NBC since 1992, including the 2012 London Games, which was the most-watched television event in U.S. history with more than 217 million viewers.

 

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