If you haven’t heard already, today is 100 days until the Opening Ceremony of the Summer Olympics in London, or officially known as the XXX Olympic Summer Games. That’s what the International Olympic Committee is calling them. We’ll just go with the Summer Olympics or London Games for short.
If you saw the Today Show or the “All-Royal Family, All The Time” abortion this morning, you noticed that there was a Countdown Clock on the outdoor Rockefeller Center set.
Tonight, NBCUniversal will do what it calls a “Roadblock”, not the kind you see on The Amazing Race, but a 20 network, cross-promotion for the Olympics. At 8 p.m. Eastern and Pacific time, 7 Central and Mountain, NBCUniversal will air a special promo to mark the 100 day countdown to the XXX Olympic Summer Games.
In addition to the “Roadblock,” the NBCOlympics website has relaunched to mark the occasion and Universal Sports has been redone both on-air and online.
We have NBCUniversal’s press release.
NBCUNIVERSAL CELEBRATES 100-DAY COUNTDOWN TO LONDON GAMES WITH 20-CHANNEL PROMOTIONAL ‘ROADBLOCK’
Networks of NBCUniversal to Increase Olympic Promotion Starting April 18, 100 Days to Opening Ceremony of 2012 London Olympics
NEW YORK – April 16, 2012 – Beginning Wednesday, April 18, the date that marks 100 days from the July 27 Opening Ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics, NBC Sports Group and the networks of NBCUniversal will take part in a multi-platform marketing initiative to promote the upcoming Olympic Games. In the 8 p.m. ET/PT hour on Wednesday, all 20 NBCUniversal channels will participate in a 30-second roadblock that promotes the 100-day countdown to the Games, and a new phase of increased Olympic promotion will begin. In addition, NBC Sports Group and the networks of NBCUniversal will be participating at the USOC’s Team USA take-over of Times Square that same day.
The Olympic Games are an NBCUniversal Symphony initiative, which leverages the company’s promotional resources to drive awareness to key events. Since the acquisition of NBCUniversal by Comcast in January 2011, NBCUniversal has 40 percent more capacity to promote the Games, including 20 broadcast/cable channels and more than 65 websites.
“The 100-day event will begin what is unquestionably our largest Olympic promotion event ever,” said John Miller, CMO, NBC Sports Group. “Thanks to our full-company Symphony efforts and the new promotional power of the larger NBCUniversal with Comcast, we can leverage all of these assets to generate massive awareness and apply it to the Olympics—the biggest event of all— to aggregate the largest possible audience.”
PRIMETIME ROADBLOCK: In the 8 p.m. ET/PT hour on Wednesday, April 18, an NBCUniversal ‘Roadblock’ — a 30-second promo airing across all 20 networks of NBCUniversal — will promote the 100-day countdown. There are two versions of the Olympic spot; both creatives were produced by NBC Olympics.
The first spot generates awareness and captures the excitement of the Olympic Games and the world coming together in London. The promo features the great moments from Beijing and looks forward to London, inviting viewers to see the world’s best and see the world at its best.
The second 30-second spot promotes an online campaign, the “30 Greatest NBC Olympic Moments”. The campaign features 30 of the greatest moments on NBC, from the 1988 to 2008 Summer Olympic Games. The promo will air on the Olympic networks of NBCUniversal, including NBC and NBC Sports Network.
COUNTDOWN TO OLYMPICS TO BE SEEN ON ALL NETWORKS AND ACROSS ALL PLATFORMS:
Following is a list of NBCUniversal’s plans to promote the Games starting on April 18 leading up to the Olympics:
- The NBC Peacock will add the Olympic rings to its on-screen bug starting on Wednesday, April 18 and continuing up to and through the Games.
- On Telemundo, the network’s T on-screen bug will also feature the Olympic rings below.
- The news-ticker on NBC Sports Network will add Olympic rings to its logo and will feature more Olympic content.
- Online, there will be an increased editorial presence on NBCOlympics.com, the digital destination for all Olympic-related information for the Games.
- More than 30 locally-driven spots will begin to air in local markets on NBC Owned Television Stations and on NBC affiliates.
- Comcast and all of NBCUniversal’s network distribution partners will begin a more active presence in promoting the Olympics.
- Shoppers, airline travelers and commuters will begin seeing NBC Olympic promotional spots via out-of-home marketing, which will be featured on American Airlines inflight entertainment, New York City taxi cabs, PATH trains and in national retail stores, including Best Buy and Walmart.
That is it.
