Universal Sports' Paralympics Coverage Part Of Synergy With NBC
By Tripp Mickle, Staff Writer, SportsBusiness Journal
 |
NBC To Air Documentary
On '08 Beijing Paralympics |
Looking to drive viewers to its new Olympic channel Universal Sports, NBC will feature a 90-minute documentary on the '08 Beijing Paralympics this Sunday and direct viewers to Universal Sports, which will offer an additional 28 hours of Paralympic coverage from November 10-16. The effort underscores the synergy developing between the partners following the Beijing Games. Over the course of the last month, NBC and Universal Sports, the net in which NBC acquired a stake from Leo Hindery's Intermedia Partners in June, have collaborated on programming around U.S. Figure Skating's '08 Skate America and the N.Y. Marathon. NBC Olympics President Gary Zenkel said those collaborations and the one this weekend around the Paralympics offer a hint of what is to come in the future from the partners. He expects the two to collaborate on programming for the world championships in swimming, gymnastics and track & field. Zenkel: "We have not been in this position before. We are able to look at the sports landscape differently now. These are great events that deserve network exposure but with the Universal Sports platform it becomes a more sound opportunity." It took time for the synergies between NBC and Universal Sports to emerge because their partnership did not begin until June, a time when NBC was focused almost exclusively on the coming Olympic Games. Now that the Games have passed, the partners are "just getting into a rhythm," Zenkel said. He added that the collaborations extend beyond programming to public relations and sales. And in the future, he expects the NBC sales staff to use Universal Sports as a platform that adds value to Olympic sponsors who are looking to "align Olympic sports and athletes with their message throughout the year." Universal Sports is distributed in 30 million homes.
|
