NBC Partners With Facebook for Olympics Coverage

by Christopher Freeburn | July 12, 2012 9:30 am

Comcast‘s (NASDAQ:CMCSA[1]) NBC announced yesterday that it is partnering with Facebook (NASDAQ:FB[2]) to provide fans of the London Olympic games with updates and opportunities to comment on the athletes and events with friends online[3].

Data pertaining to Facebook discussions will be periodically displayed on NBC’s TV coverage of the games in the form of a “Facebook Talk Meter,” the New York Times notes.

Representatives of both companies said the partnership does not have financial terms. However, the two sides will effectively cross-promote each other’s media platforms.

A team of Facebook employees will monitor Olympics-related Facebook discussions. Metrics from ongoing discussions will become part of the news coverage of the games.

Facebook’s official participation in the Olympics coverage amounts to an acknowledgement by NBC that social media constitutes a “second screen” for major media events, allowing viewers to watch events on their TVs while commenting on their mobile devices and computers.

In addition to its regular TV coverage, NBC will stream all Olympic events on its website, which is open to cable or satellite network subscribers. NBC sees Facebook commentary as a means to alert people to events they might otherwise have overlooked.

NBC is also trying to attract additional interest in the games from Facebook’s 900 million users. The audience for sporting and special events coverage has fragmented over the last decade the number of media venues available to consumers has increased.

Shares of Comcast rose fractionally in early Thursday trading, while Facebook shares slipped almost 2%.

Source URL: https://investorplace.com/2012/07/nbc-partners-with-facebook-for-olympics-coverage/

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