Akamai gets Olympics streaming boost
September 7, 2016
NBC Olympics has confirmed that it leveraged Content Delivery Networks services specialist Akamai Technologies for online video streaming, website and video delivery along with security solutions to support its record digital offering for Rio 2016, which included 3.3 billion total streaming minutes, 2.71 billion of which were live. One hundred million unique users tuned in to NBC Olympics’ digital coverage over the course of the Games.
Rick Cordella, Executive Vice President and General Manager, Digital Media, NBC Sports Group said: “The combination of NBC Olympics content and Akamai’s online video delivery technology helped set the stage for what was an unprecedented level of digital coverage from Rio. We not only set new benchmarks for the amount of content delivered; we also for the first time live streamed to connected TVs and introduced virtual reality experiences, all of which provided viewers with more choice than ever for how, when and where they were able enjoy NBC Olympics’ coverage from Rio.”
Bill Wheaton, Executive Vice President and General Manager, Media Division, Akamai said: “Akamai is proud of our longstanding Partnership with NBC Olympics as it continues to innovate in its presentation of many of sport’s seminal events, including the Rio Olympics – the single-largest live sporting event that Akamai has helped deliver. The Games featured live streaming to connected TV platforms, marking the evolution of streaming to support large-format living room displays along with record consumption by online audiences taking advantage of both primary and secondary screens.”
NBC Olympics used Akamai’s Media Delivery and Acceleration Services to stream live and on-demand video of its coverage from Rio through NBCOlympics.com, the NBC Sports mobile app, and connected TV platforms. Akamai’s ingest capabilities played a role in the workflow, enabling the thousands of hours of content to be downlinked to and delivered across the Akamai platform at the highest possible quality. NBC Olympics also leveraged Akamai Ion to help ensure high-performing web and mobile experiences across devices and networks, while Akamai’s Kona Site Defender helped protect NBC Olympics sites against DDoS and web attacks.