With the London 2012 Olympic stage now all set, millions of people around the world will be tuned in to see who takes home the gold. To ensure a wide range of coverage, NBC and Adobe have teamed up to bring two new apps to Android that will help folks on to go take in what will amount to over 3,500 hours of content covering 32 sports and every one of the 302 medal events. The two apps, NBC Olympics and NBC Olympics Live Extra, are both available for free right now but there are some differences between the two that you'll need to be aware of.
- NBC Olympics - NBC Olympics app will be the home for everything else Olympics, including short-form highlights, event schedules, TV and online listings, results, athlete profiles, columns and the new Primetime Companion feature.
- NBC Olympics Live Extra - The NBC Olympics Live Extra app will live stream every athletic competition for the first time ever. NBC Olympics Live Extra will also live stream the Olympic content that airs on the four NBCU cable channels -- NBC Sports Network, MSNBC, CNBC and Bravo and as such, requires an account from existing cable, satellite and telco providers to gain fill access.
Clearly NBC's goal here was to provide the most comprehensive coverage for the Olympics as possible and the apps do look pretty awesome. If you're looking to take in the Olympics on the go, you'll find the links below along with the press release. If you're a Samsung Galaxy S III owner in Europe, don't forget to grab your free Eurosport subscription.
Downloads: NBC Olympics, NBC Olympics Live Extra
NBC OLYMPICS LAUNCHES TWO APPS TODAY FOR LONDON 2012 OLYMPIC GAMES
NBC Olympics Live Extra app to Live Stream 3,500+ Hours -- Every Sport, Every Competition, Every Medal -- to Multi-Channel Video Subscribers
NBC Olympics app to provide short-form highlights, schedules, live results, columns, athlete profiles, and new Primetime Companion feature. Both apps built and powered by Adobe
NEW YORK – July 12, 2012 – NBC Olympics, a division of the NBC Sports Group, is launching two apps today, both built by and powered by Adobe (Nasdaq: ADBE), as part of its comprehensive coverage of the London 2012 Olympic Summer Games.
NBC Olympics Live Extra, will allow cable, satellite and telco customers to live stream more than 3,500 hours of content, including all 32 sports, every athletic competition and all 302 medal events. The second app, simply titled NBC Olympics, will provide short-form highlights, TV and online schedules, live results, columns and the new Primetime Companion feature -- the ultimate complementary, second-screen experience for NBC's nightly primetime Olympic broadcasts.
“NBC Olympics Live Extra puts the London Olympic Games into the hands of America’s tablet and smartphone user, enabling us to once again use advances in technology to provide the broadest possible access to the thousands of hours of Olympic competition,” said Gary Zenkel, President, NBC Olympics. “The NBC Olympics app will be the definitive and most up to date source of information from the London Games, and the exclusive mobile source in the U.S. for London Olympic video highlights. It will also feature live results, dynamically served TV and online listings, and - during NBC primetime - a second screen for enhanced viewing and social interaction for when America again gathers each night for 17 nights to share in the incredible stories from London.”
NBC Olympics partnered with Adobe, which built both apps and is powering them through the conclusion of the Games. The NBC Olympics Live Extra and NBC Olympics apps are available on select Android handset and tablet devices within Google Play, and on the App Store for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.
“It’s been great working with NBC Olympics to change the way live sporting events are experienced by consumers. NBC is now able to create, deliver, monetize and measure the Olympics across mobile devices – using tools and technologies that make up Adobe’s video solutions.” said David Wadhwani, senior vice president, Digital Media Business at Adobe. “We’re working closely with NBC Olympics and others to ensure viewers have a seamless viewing experience with two easy-to-navigate apps.”
Zenkel added, “NBC Olympics is confident that Adobe, a proven technology leader and longtime partner, will deliver the best mobile event application experiences America has ever seen.”
The entire Olympics mobile and tablet experiences were built by and are powered by technologies that make up Adobe’s Project Primetime, enabling NBC Olympics to create, deliver, verify, monetize and measure the Games across mobile and tablet devices.
To learn more about Adobe technology powering the apps and for a behind-the-scenes video, go to http://blogs.adobe.com/digitalmedia.
NBC OLYMPICS LIVE EXTRA
The NBC Olympics Live Extra app will live stream every athletic competition for the first time ever. In all, the app will live stream more than 3,500 total programming hours, including all 32 sports, the awarding of all 302 medals and event rewinds. NBC Olympics Live Extra will also live stream the Olympic content that airs on the four NBCU cable channels -- NBC Sports Network, MSNBC, CNBC and Bravo.
In another first, NBC Olympics Live Extra will provide multiple concurrent streams for select sports, such as gymnastics (each apparatus), track and field (each event), and tennis (up to five courts). For example, during a session of track and field, instead of viewing only a single feed that moves from event to event, a user can choose to watch a stream dedicated to a specific event, such as the long jump or javelin.
The vast majority of live stream content on NBC Olympics Live Extra will only be available to verified cable, satellite or telco customers. In order to access the live stream content, existing cable, satellite and telco customers should follow these verification procedures (note: customers must subscribe to a video tier that includes both CNBC and MSNBC):
1. Download the NBC Olympics Live Extra app
2. Open the app
3. Tap the “Touch Here & Get Ready” callout
4. Select your cable, satellite or telco provider
5. Enter the username and password that corresponds with your account
6. You are signed in throughout the Games on that device!
Customers with multiple devices should repeat the procedure on each device. Access to this content is free for customers as part of their video subscription -- there is no additional charge. For customers who do not have a username and password, they should contact their cable, satellite or telco provider to create one. More information about the process, including contact information for cable, satellite and telco providers, can be found at: www.nbcolympics.com/liveextra/help.
NBC Olympics Live Extra is available for free from the App Store on iPhone, iPad and iPod touch or at www.itunes.com/appstore. It is also available for free from Google Play on select Android devices or at www.play.google.com.
NBC OLYMPICS
While NBC Olympics Live Extra will be the mobile and tablet home for live stream content, the NBC Olympics app will be the home for everything else Olympics, including short-form highlights, event schedules, TV and online listings, results, athlete profiles, columns and the new Primetime Companion feature.
The Primetime Companion is the ultimate complementary, second-screen experience for NBC's nightly primetime Olympic broadcast. Users can go deeper into the broadcast with trivia, polls, slideshows, videos and athlete bios all synced with what is being presented on NBC. The companion will also allow users to share the primetime experience with friends and family through a series of social tools connected through Facebook and Twitter. Synched to each device’s clock, the Primetime Companion will automatically appear when a user opens the app during NBC’s primetime broadcast.
NBC Olympics is available for free from the App Store on iPhone, iPad and iPod touch or at www.itunes.com/appstore. It is also available for free from Google Play on select Android devices or at www.play.google.com.
About NBC Olympics
A division of the NBC Sports Group, NBC Olympics is responsible for producing, programming and promoting NBCUniversal's Olympic coverage. It is renowned for its unsurpassed Olympic heritage, award-winning production, and ability to aggregate the largest audiences in U.S. television history.
Having produced every Summer Olympics since Seoul in 1988 and every Winter Olympics since Salt Lake City in 2002, the networks of NBCUniversal are synonymous with the Games in the United States. In 2011, NBCUniversal acquired the U.S. media rights on all platforms to the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics, the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, and the 2020 Summer Olympics. At the conclusion of the 2020 Games, NBCUniversal will have presented 17 total Olympic Games and 11 consecutive, the most for a U.S. media company in both categories.
NBC has won an unprecedented 91 Emmy Awards for its Olympics coverage, as well as a prestigious Peabody Award for its presentation of the Beijing Opening Ceremony in 2008, which USA Today said was “the best overall Olympic experience ever provided by a U.S. network.”
In addition to its unsurpassed heritage and award-winning production, NBCUniversal is known for aggregating large Olympic audiences, as nine of the top 11 most-watched U.S. television events of all time are Olympic Games presented across the networks of NBCUniversal. The Beijing Summer Olympics rank No. 1 with 215 million viewers.
For more information on NBC Olympics’ coverage of the London Olympics, please visit: http://nbcsportsgrouppressbox.com/
About Adobe Systems Incorporated
Adobe is changing the world through digital experiences. For more information, visit www.adobe.com.
