Olympics
NBC Olympics and Twitch Partner to Deliver Interactive Live Content Surrounding Olympic Games
Olympics
NBC Olympics and Twitch Partner to Deliver Interactive Live Content Surrounding Olympic Games
May 06, 2021
Stamford, CT
NBC Olympics and Twitch, the interactive livestreaming service, are partnering to produce and deliver live content that will live on a new NBC Olympics Twitch channel leading into and throughout The Olympics Games in 2021, both parties announced today.
This collaboration between NBC Olympics and Twitch will consist of unique programming tailored to the Twitch community, including highlight studio shows, game-ified pre-competition activations, athlete interviews and gaming competitions themed for the Tokyo Games.
“We are thrilled to collaborate with Twitch on innovative ways to tell the stories of Team USA’s athletes in Tokyo and build excitement around The Olympics with their audience,” said Gary Zenkel, President, NBC Olympics. “The Olympics are perfectly aligned with Twitch consumers, who are passionate about great competition, personality and storytelling. We can’t wait to bring the unmatched moments and stories of The Olympics to Twitch’s interactive community.”
“The way that people consume traditional sporting events is changing. They no longer want to simply spectate; they want to be as close to the action and athletes as possible. We’ve seen this firsthand with the growth of our sports community on Twitch, as viewers tune in not only to watch their favorite athletes but to also take part in pre and post-game interviews and virtually connect with other fans from around the world,” said Michael Aragon, Chief Content Officer at Twitch. “The Olympics present an opportunity for a global fan base to embrace this new world of live and interactive sports. We are thrilled to partner with NBC to give fans in the United States an intimate, front row seat to this iconic sporting event and connect American athletes and fans in a way that can only happen on Twitch.”
NBC Olympics and Twitch will collaborate on a number of interactive tools leading into and during the Games. The first interactive experience on Twitch begins the week leading up to The Olympics before the Opening Ceremony. Twitch creators and their communities will work together to “keep the Torch alive” on the NBC Olympics Twitch channel. Viewers of the torch streams will need to work together to collect items and participate in chat to fan the flame and finally “Light the Cauldron” on the day of the Opening Ceremony.
NBC Olympics and Twitch will also host a pre-Opening Ceremony party on the NBC Olympics Channel the day before the Opening Ceremony, featuring themed segments from top creators, all taking place in an innovative virtual setting. This event will lead into the themed content on the NBC Olympics Channel, celebrating the Tokyo Games and preparing the community to gather together to participate.
During the Games, NBC Olympics and Twitch will collaborate on themed programming to stream on its new NBC Olympics Channel on Twitch. will feature daily, unique Twitch-produced content inspired by the passion and competition of the Tokyo Games that will feature both Twitch and NBC Olympics talent.
- Daily Interactive Clip Show Best-of moments from the Tokyo Games get the Twitch interactive treatment in a daily clip show format with polls, live AMAs, and games that reinforce NBC’s programming and the stories about athletes and events that the Twitch community is excited about.
- Daily Competition – In the spirit of the Tokyo Games, three teams of Twitch creators will compete in a daily competition featuring family-friendly games. Teams will accrue “medals” across multiple events throughout the 17 days of the Games. At the end of The Olympics, we’ll tally up to see which team takes home the ultimate gold.
- Primetime Sidecasting – During the primetime block of shows on NBC, Twitch creators will be commentating live on a companion interactive broadcast that encourages co-viewing of the nightly primetime broadcast on NBC. Twitch creators, watching off-camera NBC’s primetime coverage of the Games, will invite viewers to submit discussion topics in line with what anchors and guests are covering on the linear channel.
- Live From Tokyo – The Live From Tokyo segment will feature athlete interviews and Q&As giving fans in the United States the chance to connect with their favorite stars. This will also feature behind the scenes snapshots and live interactions and gaming from Tokyo.
The program will conclude with a closing celebration, which will consist of a Twitch version of an awards ceremony and looks back on the top 10 moments from all the content on the NBC Olympics channel during Games.
NBC Olympics will lead the sales process, in collaboration with Twitch, for this unique content, giving advertisers another avenue to connect to its coverage of the Games and to Twitch’s robust youthful audience.
