Starting on Tuesday, October 29, the networks of NBCUniversal will really get into the promotion for the 2014 Winter Olympics in the warm water port city of Sochi, Russia. And in the 8 p.m. ET/PT hour on October 29, the 20 networks and 65 websites of NBCUniversal will run what NBCUniversal is calling a promotional “roadblock.” All platforms will run a promo marking 100 days to the start of the Sochi Olympics on February 6, 2014.
That same day, NBC Sports Group and NBCU will kickoff a Road to Sochi Tour from New York City.
As part of the promotional campaign leading up to the start of Olympic coverage, the NBC Olympics bug will appear on NBC, various NBCUniversal networks and NBCSN. Four Olympic spots have already begun airing on NBC’s networks and will continue to run to the start of the Games.
Let’s look at the entire NBC press release.
NBCUNIVERSAL CELEBRATES 100-DAY COUNTDOWN TO 2014 OLYMPIC WINTER GAMES WITH 20-CHANNEL PROMOTIONAL ‘ROADBLOCK’
NBC Olympics and Networks of NBCUniversal to Increase Winter Games Promotion Starting Oct. 29
Sochi Olympics Begin 100 Days Later on Feb. 6STAMFORD, Conn. – Oct. 21, 2013 – NBC Olympics and the networks of NBCUniversal will celebrate 100 days from the start of the upcoming Sochi Olympics on Tuesday, Oct. 29, by introducing a new phase of their multi-platform marketing initiative, highlighted by a 20-channel promotional Roadblock in the 8 p.m. ET/PT hour. In addition, NBC Sports Group and the networks of NBCU will participate at the kickoff of the USOC’s Road to Sochi Tour in New York City’s Times Square that same day.
The Sochi Olympic Winter 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, including 20 broadcast/cable channels and more than 65 websites, to promote the upcoming Winter Games than it had for Vancouver in 2010.
“The 100-day mark is the moment when our considerable Olympic campaign kicks into another gear,” said John Miller, CMO, NBC Sports Group. “For Sochi, we will use the full force of America’s largest media company to market the biggest Winter Olympics ever, being hosted by the biggest country in the world. As a Symphony priority, it’s invaluable to have so many parts of the company – 20 channels, 65 websites and the full strength of Comcast – playing together with singular focus to make our campaign come to life and make the Sochi Olympics a massive television event.”
The XXII Olympic Winter Games from Sochi, Russia, begin Feb. 6 on NBC with competition in three sports: men’s and women’s snowboard slopestyle, which are in the Olympics for the first time and are expected to feature two-time Olympic gold medalist Shaun White; women’s freestyle moguls; and the Olympic debut of team figure skating. The following night, Friday, Feb. 7, NBC will provide its traditional coverage of the Opening Ceremony.
The Oct. 29 Roadblock will begin a period of increased Olympic promotion across NBCUniversal’s network and digital assets, its 230-plus broadcast affiliates and regional partners, and its social, radio and cable properties.
Following are highlights of NBCUniversal’s promotional plans for the Games starting on Tuesday, Oct. 29 and leading up to the Olympics:
- The NBC Peacock “bug” with the Olympic rings will appear on NBC and other NBCU networks, including NBCSN, with more frequency starting on Tuesday, Oct. 29 and continuing up to and through the Games.
- Revolution star and esteemed actor Giancarlo Esposito has narrated four Olympic spots that speak to the positive qualities of Olympism and the human spirit. They began airing this past weekend and will run numerous times across multiple platforms leading up to the Games.
- Locally, NBCUniversal will work with its family of over 230 local broadcast affiliates to air locally-focused spots leading up to the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, as well as air local news coverage and specific promos about local Olympic athletes and events in their regions.
- NBCUniversal will air spots that aim to help demonstrate the breadth of digital streaming coverage for the upcoming Sochi Games, and how customers of MVPDs and other distributors of NBCUniversal’s Olympic networks can access that content both in and out of the home on multiple platforms.
- Comcast, NBCUniversal’s parent company, will use its wide breadth of digital and cable access to reach its customers in over 22 million homes to distribute Olympic-related promotional materials, as well as direct mailings, video guides and video-on demand features all related to NBC’s coverage of the Games.
- In the final three and a half weeks leading up to the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, NBCUniversal will prioritize its Olympic promotional ads across its 18 cable channels. NBCUniversal will air spots to push audiences to the first primetime broadcast on Feb. 6 and the Opening Ceremony on Feb. 7.
- Leading up to the Games, Olympic promotion will be featured in 14 different out-of-home networks across 18 different outlets, increasing viewer reach by 50% versus the out-of-market delivery for the 2012 London Summer Games. Shoppers and commuters will begin seeing NBC Olympic promotional spots via out-of-home marketing, which will be featured in national retail stores, including Costco and Walmart, in-dining networks, New York City taxi cabs, and PATH trains.
There you have it.
