In case you missed it, on February 5th, NBC and Twitter both announced their collaboration for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, which kicked off last Thursday. This is yet another big expansion of NBC’s ambitious multi-platform Olympic coverage operation and comes shortly after the network announced a similar deal with Facebook to deliver exclusive online material.
As part of the deal, Twitter will act as the central hub for discussions regarding the Winter Games and will help increase the Olympic conversation and encourage users to tune into NBC’s coverage. “Partnering with Twitter enables NBC Olympics to amplify the conversation with our unique access, unmatched storytelling and exclusive content on our platforms, driving the swarm of attention back to television, our website and app.” said Gary Zenkel, the president of NBC Olympics. Twitter will also populate its Sochi Olympics page with any compelling or informative tweets made by @NBCOlympics and exclusive online content like information on athletes and teams. Due to Twitter’s 140 character limit, the information provided will be succinct and fast-paced.
The @NBCOlympics Twitter handle currently boasts around 515k followers and has sent more than 9,000 tweets since its creation. Exclusive photos, light-hearted remarks that can’t be seen anywhere else, and links to interviews fill its Twitter page, with more to come as the Games continue. “The Olympics will drive a massive global conversation on Twitter,” said Geoff Reiss, Head of Sports Partnerships at Twitter. “Twitter turns the roar of the crowd into the social soundtrack for the Games – the perfect complement to NBC’s unrivaled production across all of its platforms.”
By partnering with Twitter – in addition to Facebook – NBC further expands its online reach and further increases the likelihood of viewer engagement. Twitter provides yet another second screening opportunity for viewers, who can watch NBC’s coverage in real time and engage with the content that they consume. While Facebook is becoming a platform that skews to a slightly older age group, Twitter is a platform geared towards a younger audience. By striking partnerships with both sites, NBC has demonstrated that they have carefully planned the methods in which they deliver information and have fully maximized their online exposure. It will be interesting to see which platform NBC deems most “successful” and if this multi-platform delivery method is here to stay. Either way, it’s clear that NBC has given a lot of thought into its online coverage of the Winter Games.
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