NBCUniversal's partnership with Twitter around the '20 Tokyo Games marks the furthest NBC "has gone in letting some live video leave its ecosystem," according to Kevin Draper of the N.Y. TIMES. The agreement will allow the social media platform to "show limited live event coverage, highlights and a daily Olympics show." NBC also will produce a "daily 20-minute studio show live from Tokyo for Twitter, and increase its production of highlights for the platform." As "limited as NBC’s agreement with Twitter is, it represents both the best bet for those without television to watch the Olympics and for NBC to reach that cord-cutting audience -- which skews young -- and bring them into the NBC fold." NBC first signed a live digital rights agreement with Snapchat for the '18 Pyeongchang Games. Snapchat has a "larger active user base than Twitter, but it can be difficult to share videos, and users needed to go to its Discover platform to see Olympics coverage." Olympics advertisers will be able to "sponsor the coverage that appears on Twitter" (N.Y. TIMES, 7/26). VARIETY's Todd Spangler noted the deal, which only is available in the U.S., includes a "daily poll that will allow fans on Twitter to choose one live-streaming look-in to NBC’s primetime broadcasts each night, along with video highlights throughout each competition day." NBC has previously worked with Twitter to "promote content from the last four Olympic Games" (VARIETY.com, 7/25).
EARLY START: ADWEEK's Kelsey Sutton reported the partnership will "come into full force a year from now, but it will begin months before" the Games kick off. NBC Olympics beginning in February will "start teasing the biennial sporting event with highlights from the U.S. Olympic Team Trials and other pre-games content." For Twitter, bringing Olympics content to the platform is the "latest in a series of partnerships centered around adding sports fandom conversations to the platform." The outlet in recent years has signed deals with leagues like MLB and the NBA to have "complementary live sports programming on the platform." Twitter earlier this year also "partnered with Fox Sports to bring a live show" centered around the '19 Women's World Cup (ADWEEK.com, 7/25).
