NBC's Digital Olympics



(image via flickr)

Sports plays well online. It is so compelling, in fact, that CBS combined sports with its less dynamic news division to double up on the synergy. So how well will the Olympics, the biggest of all sporting events, play? From TheHollywoodReporter:

"Olympics fans will have a bevy of opportunities to get content from NBC Universal next month -- 2,200 hours of live online coverage, live events on their mobile phone and even a way to download coverage to computers with Microsoft Vista.

The network announced plans that will encompass many of the digital platforms in use today. It also will include fantasy and casual gaming, VOD and interactive TV. Major partners include Microsoft, Amazon Unbox, Schematic and many others.

"... 'What we're trying to accomplish with the NBC Olympics site is to allow people to watch as much of the Olympics as they care to,' Schematic CEO/founder Trevor Kaufman said. "Every minute of every event is available through the player."

One of the many features in the Schematic player is a continuous closed caption stream of live commentary, which viewers can read and navigate even if they have the sound down.

"... The breadth and depth of coverage online, as well as the three-week-long games, invites comparisons to the other big online sporting event, CBS Sports' March Madness on Demand. There's no comparable 'boss button' like on the CBS Sports online player, but the same potential question is there. How many workers are going to be tuning in to see their favorite Olympic sports live over the Web?"

The March Madness model is a good comparison. CBS Interactive, under the leadership of our media man-crush Larry Kramer, was able to use that popularity to draw users to its mobile content. Will NBC Universal be as successful? This is the question that the media digerati are asking.