On Sunday, we began hearing inklings about a relationship between NBC and Twitter for the Olympics. Now, we have the official word from NBC. In this new partnership, Twitter will create a separate page for the Olympics, encourage users to watch NBC’s coverage and embed one of its staffers with NBC’s social media team in London.
In turn, NBC will promote Twitter on its broadcasts and utilize the #Olympics hashtag during the duration of the Games.
According to Shira Ovide of the Wall Street Journal, no money will exchange hands.
It’s the second social media partnership for NBC for the Olympics. Last week, it announced a new partnership with Facebook for the London Games.
Here’s the press release.
NBC OLYMPICS AND TWITTER ANNOUNCE PARTNERSHIP FOR LONDON 2012 OLYMPIC GAMESTwitter to Launch Olympics Event Page at Twitter.com/#Olympics
Twitter Tracker on NBCOlympics.com & NBC Olympics Mobile and Tablet App to Track Real-Time Pulse of GamesLONDON — July 23, 2012 — NBC Olympics, a division of the NBC Sports Group, and Twitter will partner during the London 2012 Olympic Games to drive viewership and interest. The partnership includes:
- launching the first-ever Olympics event page in the U.S. at Twitter.com/#Olympics;
- aggregating content on the #Olympics event page from Olympians, @NBCOlympics, @Olympics, @USOlympic and the best of the London Olympic conversation;
- promoting the event page with on air graphics across the networks of NBCUniversal that are airing Olympic programming, including in primetime on NBC, as well as additional on-air promotion and content integration;
- and reprising the NBC Olympic Twitter Tracker, a visually compelling real time heat map depicting the minute-by-minute movements of the Olympic conversation on Twitter
The Olympics event page will be Twitter’s home for Olympic news and information in the United States. The page will aggregate the Olympic conversation with the most engaging and relevant Tweets about the Games from athletes, coaches, teams, families, media, fans, and Olympic insiders, including NBC Olympics commentators. Representatives from Twitter will be on-site in London to work side-by-side with NBC Olympics on producing and updating the page to showcase the best stories on Twitter. The page will be co-branded by NBC Olympics, the International Olympic Committee, and the U.S. Olympic Committee.
“With the eyes of the world focused on London, there is no doubt that the conversation on Twitter will rage around the competition, the athletes and the incredible stories from the Games,” said Gary Zenkel, President, NBC Olympics. “This partnership with Twitter will enable NBC Olympics to make an enormous contribution to this conversation, bringing to the swarm of attention surrounding the London Games our expertise, depth of content from our years of preparation, and the unique access to the Games only NBC Olympics has in London.”
To help promote the Olympics event page, NBC Olympics will include #Olympics in certain on-air graphics, and will promote the page in other ways on air throughout the Games across the networks of NBCUniversal that are airing the Olympics, including within primetime on NBC. In addition to promoting the Twitter.com/#Olympics web address, U.S. Twitter users will be directed to the event page when they click on the hashtag #Olympics or search for “Olympics” on Twitter. The page will also be available in the U.S., for non-users via promotions on Twitter.com, and is available on mobile devices.
“Twitter has become the roar of the crowd during live sporting events. Partnering with NBC Olympics to create Twitter.com/#Olympics allows us to now shine a spotlight on the best moments within the shared experience of the Olympics and to tell the stories that capture the world’s attention,” said Chloe Sladden, Vice President of Media, Twitter. “Our unparalleled joint orchestration across NBC Olympics’ presentation of the Games on-air, online, on mobile, and on tablet will bring fans closer to every moment of the Olympics.”
NBC Olympics and Twitter have also reprised the NBC Olympics Twitter Tracker presented by General Electric (GE) on NBCOlympics.com and the NBC Olympics mobile and tablet app. This real-time heat map will track the Olympic conversation swarming around the Games, each sport, the athletes and the hot topics swirling around London. It will include the Olympics “Tweet Sheet,” a constant feed of athlete conversation prior to and during the Games. Olympic Top Sponsor and NBC Olympics advertiser GE will be the presenting sponsor of the NBC Olympics Twitter Tracker on NBCOlympics.com bringing to the conversation its insight on human and athlete health at #healthyshare.
There you have it.
