Olympics
Comcast and NBCUniversal: A United Vision Takes Stage in Sochi
For Comcast and NBCUniversal, the Olympics serve as the ultimate incubator to think critically about the future of media and technology. It's a herculean undertaking, to be sure. For Comcast, the Olympics will once again showcase the delivery of new innovation, and will lay the groundwork for businesses well into the future. Comcast is giving its Xfinity TV customers the most comprehensive and technologically advanced viewing experience ever, on television and online. Meanwhile, NBCUniversal has planned record-setting coverage of the Winter Games, with more than 1,500 hours of coverage, including 1,000+ hours of live streaming on NBCOlympics.com, and on smartphones and tablets via the NBC Sports Live Extra app.
Once again, Comcast and NBCUniversal have collaborated to deliver the best Olympic experience to its customers.
"The Olympics are the perfect event to showcase Comcast's leadership in innovation and technology with the best content out there - NBCUniversal's unprecedented coverage of a winter Olympics," said Maggie McLean Suniewick, who serves as Senior Vice President, Strategic Integration, Comcast NBCUniversal, where she is responsible for spearheading key "symphony" initiatives across NBCUniversal’s entire portfolio and with Comcast Corporation. "It's live, it's on demand, it's everywhere - it's the perfect partnership."
Several focus areas define Comcast and NBCUniversal's joint vision for Sochi.
On the television side, the NBC Sports Live Extra app, which launched prior to the London games in 2012, will launch on the Xfinity X1 platform starting in early February. Leveraging cloud technology, this enhancement gives Xfinity TV customers the opportunity to bring all the action from NBC’s digital live feeds directly to the biggest screen in the house. In addition, The existing X1 Sports app will be refreshed, featuring Olympics-specific content including medal counts, search, tune-in capability to live coverage and access points to Xfinity On Demand and the NBC Sports Live Extra app on X1.
On the On Demand front, Comcast is also excited to test new technology built into the Xfinity On Demand platform that makes programming available to view On Demand almost instantly after it starts.
Mobile integration has also been enhanced through Comcast and NBCUniversal's collaborative efforts. Xfinity TV and Internet customers accessing Olympics content from within their home will be automatically signed in to NBCOlympics.com and the NBC Sports Live Extra app.
Meanwhile, customers accessing the new Xfinity TV Go app, which was revamped in November, will be seamlessly directed to the NBC Sports Live Extra app to watch NBC’s online coverage of the Games. In addition, users can set DVR recordings from the NBC Sports Live Extra app or the Xfinity TV Remote app.
In addition, Xfinity.com/nbcolympics serves as a starting point for Xfinity's online viewing experience, giving access to live streaming on computer, tablet and phone, in addition to cross-platforms tools, such as DVR and tune-in, and accessibility enhancements, such as keyboard navigation and screen reading capabilities.
Finally, the two companies have also taken "Social TV" to the next level for Sochi, as these will be the first SEEiT Olympics. Xfinity TV customers will be able to tune to NBC’s primetime show or set their DVR to record it directly from Twitter via SEEiT technology, which Comcast, NBCUniversal and Twitter partnered to announce in October.
"People were voracious consumers of content across all platforms in London - myself included!" said Suniewick. "For the first time, people could watch live coverage of the Winter Olympics all day while at work, on the road, etc. I expect to see even more in Sochi. I think that social will be even bigger this year."