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NBC Opens Up Multi-Platform Olympics Coverage To Verizon And AT&T

imageVerizon (NYSE: VZ) and AT&T (NYSE: T) are both going multiplatform for the Olympics Games in Beijing next month. NBC Universal (NYSE: GE), which has exclusive rights to the games in the U.S., has given each of the carriers the go ahead to offer NBC’s Olympics coverage on mobile, IPTV and broadband. NBC Universal has typically been extremely protective of its Olympics coverage and has rarely given carriage deals to others if it might mean losing eyeballs during the process. Verizon will air NBC’s coverage of the Olympics on its FiOS TV service through video-on-demand programming and live streaming footage of the competition. (Release.) The carrier’s also launching two NBC high-definition channels to carry NBC’s basketball and soccer coverage at the games, and will be running daily highlights, breaking news and results on its streaming wireless video service.

AT&T, which is also a sponsor of the Olympics and official telecommunications provider for the U.S. team, will go multiplatform with similar programming from NBC. (Release.) Over its U-verse TV service, AT&T plans to air as many live streaming channels as Verizon and on-demand access to events from each day. U-verse customers will also gain access to a new NBC Olympics Interactive feature that will be a single screen location full of the latest headlines, multiple feeds, live programming and bios of the U.S. team’s athletes. For the PC, AT&T will also program live streams, on-demand content and interactive widgets from NBCOlympics.com. And on mobile, the carrier struck a coup, gaining exclusive rights to a live, 24/7 broadcast TV channel on its MediaFLO service called NBC Olympics 2Go.

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Jul 17, 2008 5:29 PM ET

Posted In: Entertainment, Sports, Digital Olympics, Companies, AT&T, Verizon, Countries, Asia, China

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Comments (2)

Jul 17, 2008 9:43 PM

Will AT&T;have exclusive content not available to Verizon, or are they both offering the same content experience?

Bernie

Jul 18, 2008 12:45 PM

Yes. AT&T;will have exclusive content on mobile through a new channel on MediaFLO. The channel will air live footage from the games 24/7. Verizon won’t have any content on MediaFLO, but both carriers will have many of the same clips available on their mobile streaming services.

Matt Kapko

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