NBCU, Roku immersive Olympics partnership
July 20, 2021
NBCUniversal and Roku are partnering to bring an all-new, immersive Olympic experience to streamers on the Roku platform in the US. The initiative makes it easy for users to access Olympic coverage and Olympics-related entertainment on supported Roku devices and Roku TV models.
Roku is creating easy access to NBCU’s 5,500 hours of streaming coverage of the Summer Games directly from the home screen. Additionally, Roku users will be able to access in-depth coverage of the Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan via the NBC Sports or Peacock channels on Roku devices starting July 20th, 2021, through August 8t, 2021.
“As this is Peacock’s first Olympics, we saw a great opportunity to bring the games to life across the Roku platform,” advised Maggie McLean Suniewick, President, Business Development and Partnerships, Direct-to-Consumer, NBCUniversal. “This experience on Roku makes NBC Olympics content unmissable for streamers.”
“The Tokyo Olympics will be one of the biggest media events of our lifetime and we look forward to working with Roku to create a new, on-device experience for their millions of streamers,” added Matt Bond, Chairman, Content Distribution, NBCUniversal. “We know that more engaging, personalised experiences are what consumers expect for this global event and we look forward to using this opportunity to innovate with terrific partners like Roku.”
NBCUniversal previously announced that it will present 7,000 hours of coverage of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics this summer across its multiple platforms.
“Streaming has fundamentally changed the way we come together for news, sports and entertainment today and nothing combines these moments together better and on a bigger scale than the Olympics,” suggested Tedd Cittadine, Vice President of Content Partnerships, Roku. “We’re thrilled to be partnering with NBCUniversal to develop a unique, dedicated destination for streamers to experience all of the excitement of the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.”
Roku users will be greeted with a dedicated 2020 Tokyo Olympics experience on the left-side menu on the home screen starting on July 20, 2021. The experience will be available on supported devices. Ahead of the 2020 Olympic Games, a countdown clock will track the time remaining to the Opening Ceremony and users will have access to free Olympics-related content, as well as a quick informational video on how to watch the 2020 Olympics Games on their Roku devices. Once the Olympic Games begin, the countdown clock will be replaced with a medal tracker. Users will be able to stream free daily highlights, get easy access to live shows, condensed replays and highlights for free through Peacock. Users can watch live events through NBC Sports.