NBC has teamed with Microsoft’s MSN team to power NBCOlympics.com, the official site of the 2008 Olympics. During his CES 2008 keynote, Bill Gates announced that Microsoft Silverlight will drive the online video for the site. As announced before, NBC will stream 2,200 hours of live coverage — as many as 30 simultaneous live feeds — and make more than 3,000 hours available on demand. The live feeds will have a “metadata overlay” which will allow users to click for enhanced information. “It’s going to let us illustrate why TV is going to be very different,” Gates said. “Events like this in the broadcast format… are not as satisfying.” In a video, Bob Costas showed a quick preview of the Silverlight service with Olympics video, which showed a quad split of four screens of video playing at once. Costas called it the “most comprehensive and ambitious” live broadband production ever. Screen grab…
It’s unclear if this means the end of Internet Broadcasting’s role in NBCOlympics.com, or limits its role to the local content. The press release with more details follows below.
NEW YORK and LAS VEGAS, Jan. 6 /PRNewswire/ — NBC Universal, owner of the
exclusive U.S. media rights to this summer’s Olympic Games in Beijing, China
(August 8-24, 2008), announced today that it was teaming up with MSN and
Microsoft in an unprecedented strategic alliance to create “NBCOlympics.com on
MSN”, a next-generation online experience for Olympic fans across the United
States. With thousands of hours of competition video in both live and on-
demand formats, deep analysis and results delivered from NBC’s award-winning
broadcast and digital media teams, and Microsoft’s Silverlight technology to
deliver deeply immersive user experiences, NBCOlympics.com’s coverage will be
powered by MSN and Microsoft technology to complement NBC’s broadcast
programming and put millions of fans in control of the Olympic sports,
athletes and countries they want to watch.
“Over the past 20 years, we have continually expanded our coverage of the
Olympics to new platforms as they have become available, and the Beijing Games
will mark another milestone,” said Gary Zenkel, President, NBC Olympics. “By
teaming up with MSN and Microsoft, we can give both the core fan and casual
consumer of the Olympic Games an amazing online experience, combining
high-quality video with the storytelling and analysis that we’re known for.
We chose to partner with MSN and Microsoft because technologies such as
Silverlight help us deliver the kind of next-generation online viewing
experience that will change the way the Olympics is experienced for millions
of fans in 2008.”
The new alliance was announced during the keynote presentation of
Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
The two companies will work together to deliver Olympic coverage to the U.S.
online audience, powered using Microsoft’s Silverlight technology. During the
Beijing Games, NBCOlympics.com (www.nbcolympics.com) content will be
prominently featured on the MSN.com homepage (www.msn.com), seen by
over 100 million users per month, as well as on MSN Video
(video.msn.com) and across the MSN and Windows Live networks, all
moving the massive MSN Network audience to NBCOlympics.com’s complete coverage
of the Games.
As a result of this unprecedented alliance, “NBCOlympics.com on MSN” will
deliver: — 2,200 hours of live event video coverage, with more than 20
simultaneous live video streams at peak times
— More than 3,000 hours of on-demand video content including full-event
replays, highlights, features, interviews and encore packages.
— An “enhanced playback mode” powered by Silverlight that gives users the
choice of a high-quality full screen viewing experience that is as good
or better than anything on the Internet today
— Unique metadata overlays powered by Silverlight that enable fans to
have access not only to high quality video, but also to the wealth of
related content including results, statistics, comprehensive bios,
rules and expert analysis from NBC’s Olympic digital media team in
Beijing
— Live video alerts so fans can stay connected to the events and teams
they care most about
— Social networking features that enable fans to share aspects of their
Olympic experience with friends
“We are pleased to partner with NBC to bring immersive, interactive video
experiences to millions of sports fans during the Beijing Olympics,” said
Kevin Johnson, president of the Platforms & Services Division, Microsoft.
“Combining NBC’s rich history in covering the Olympic Games with MSN’s reach
and Microsoft’s Silverlight technology will help change the way people connect
to and consume rich content on the web.”
NBCOlympics.com, which is the U.S.’ single destination for Olympic
coverage, is live today and covers every Olympic summer sport as well as key
athletes and events leading up to the 2008 Beijing Games. Coverage will expand
in May 2008 to include the U.S. Olympic Team Trials.
About NBC Olympics:
NBC, “America’s Olympic Network,” owns the exclusive U.S. media rights to
the Olympic Games, television’s most powerful property, through 2012, which
includes Beijing in 2008, Vancouver in 2010 and London in 2012. The 2008
Olympic Games from Beijing, China will represent the 11th Olympics broadcast
by NBC, a record for the most Olympic broadcasts by any network. From August
8-24, 2008 NBC Universal will present an unprecedented 3,600 hours of
coverage, highlighted by NBC ‘s live primetime coverage of swimming,
gymnastics and beach volleyball and more than 2,200 hours of live streaming
video for the first time on NBCOlympics.com. In August 2004, 203 million
viewers watched as the networks of NBC Universal-NBC, MSNBC, CNBC, USA, Bravo,
Telemundo, and NBC’s HD affiliates — offered a then record 1,210 hours of
Olympic coverage from Athens.
For additional information, go to NBCOlympics.com, a year-round
destination for fans of Olympic sports, featuring news, Beijing previews,
athlete features, expert blogs, photos, Olympic video from the NBC archives
and social tools enabling users to build communities around their favorite
sports, post comments and blogs.