NBC Universal Basks in Glow of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games

Success of "Enhanced" multiplatform content offering highlighted across digital suite Of products.

nbcsports.com - September 30, 2008

(PRNewsChannel) / Englewood Cliffs, N.J. /  Together with its cable, satellite and telco partners, NBC Universal delivered more than 3,600 hours of the most robust Olympic viewing experience in history to TV customers nationwide. In addition to record ratings for the linear coverage across its networks, NBCU generated unprecedented success across its ambitious suite of multi-platform digital offerings, including video on demand (VOD), interactive television (iTV), HD, broadband, and more. The announcement was made today by Bridget Baker, President, TV Networks Distribution, NBCU.

"The historic content offering of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games provided our distribution partners and their customers with an unprecedented multiplatform package of unique and compelling content," said Baker. "No less than 12 million hours of Olympics content was consumed via digital offerings – on demand, HD, broadband and interactive applications – and it proved to be just what viewers wanted."

In addition to the more than 1,200 total hours of Olympics coverage on seven NBCU networks – NBC, USA Network, MSNBC, CNBC, Oxygen, Telemundo (Spanish language programming) and Universal HD – NBCU's enhanced content offering delivered multiplatform offerings to distributors that allowed their customers to watch and be a part of the Olympics pre-Games and in-Games with VOD, iTV and broadband services.

VOD:

NBCU's Olympic Games VOD offering garnered 6.7 million total views, including 4.7 million views for in-Game highlights and encores. With over six times more viewing than NBCU's Torino Olympics VOD content, usage reached 1.8 million unique users from May through August, including 1.4 million unique users during the Beijing Games. By the end of the Games, consumers watched approximately 750,000 hours of Olympic Games via VOD, including 500,000 hours of in-Game highlights and encores.*

iTV:

More than 35 million homes had access to an Olympic interactive television service via AT&T, Comcast, Cox, DIRECTV, DISH Network and Verizon FiOS TV. Nearly 7.5 million combined DIRECTV and DISH Network subscribers accessed the interactive features available to them, generating more than 50 million impressions and nearly 3.4 million hours spent using the various interactive features.

Broadband:

NBCU provided exclusive broadband content to its distribution partners on NBCOlympics.com, which attracted 7 million people who consumed over 30 million streams of live and VOD coverage, equaling 7.5 million hours of live and/or on demand Olympic events. Breaking it down:

· 3 million people consumed 15 million streams of live Olympic coverage online, equaling 4 million hours of viewing

· 4 million people consumed over 15 million streams of full length on demand Olympic events, equaling 3.5 million hours of viewing

*Source: Rentrak and Direct Carrier Data 4/29/08 -9/1/08

About NBC Universal TV Networks Distribution
NBC Universal TV Networks Distribution, a division of NBC Universal, one of the world's preeminent media companies, drives the company's cable strategic development and growth including video-on-demand, pay-per-view, HDTV, TV EST (electronic sell-through), TV Wireless distribution and retransmission consent, and oversees the cable distribution, marketing and local ad sales of fifteen properties (Bravo, Chiller, CNBC, CNBC World, MSNBC, mun2, NBC Weather Plus, Oxygen, SCI FI Channel, ShopNBC, Sleuth, Telemundo, Universal HD, USA Network and the Olympics on cable).

NBC Universal Media Contact:
Nora Grudman Ellish
(01) 735-3618

Source Web Site: nbcsports.com