Tag: 2018 Russia World Cup

NBC Sports Partners with Snapchat for Britain’s Premier League Soccer

Following Britain’s late run in soccer’s world cup, interest in the Premier League has mushroomed in the digital ecosystem.

NBC Sports Group July 30 announced a partnership with Snapchat for “Premier League: Extra Time,” a new weekly original show, which will debut exclusively on Snapchat’s Discover page for the Aug. 10 start of the 2018-19 Premier League season.

Each Monday throughout the season, the show will bring a recap of the weekend’s top action and standout storylines, while also spotlighting the super fans that make the league one of the most popular in the world.

A preview of the show will air on Snapchat Aug. 9, with the first episode airing on Aug. 13.

Hosted by Francis Maxwell, the series promises to make soccer fans feel like they’re watching from a true British pub. Maxwell will guide Snapchatters through a celebration of all things Premier League each week – from epic highlights to wild fans and everything in between.

“Premier League fans are among the most passionate and digitally sophisticated out there, and we strive to bring the best content on every platform,” Troy Ewanchyna, VP, digital and NBCSports.com, said in a statement.

“We know that Snapchatters love soccer – over 80 million unique viewers watched World Cup content on Snapchat,” added Sean Mills,head of original content at Snap.

Produced by NBC Universal’s digital lab, “Premier League: Extra Time” builds on two original shows Snapchat and NBC Sports Group partnered on during the XXIII Olympic Winter Games from PyeongChang, South Korea – “Pipe Dreams,” a four-part series profiling three Olympic snowboarding hopefuls, and “Chasing Gold,” a 17-episode series on the journeys of Team USA athletes as they competed for gold.

Amazon Prime Video last month announced it would live-stream 20 Premier League matches starting in 2019.

 

FuboTV Bows 4K HDR Beta Service

Online TV service FuboTV has launched 4K HDR10 support in beta, claiming to be the first virtual multichannel video programming distributor to offer content in ultra-high-definition and high dynamic range.

Starting July 2, broadcasts of Russia 2018 World Cup soccer on Fox and FS1 are available in 4K HDR10 with FuboTV on all Chromecast and Fire TV devices that support the format. FuboTV will also launch 4K HDR10 on Roku and Apple TV in the coming weeks.

FuboTV investors include 21st Century Fox, which owns Fox Sports and FS1.

“Launching 4K HDR is a testament to our dedication and relentless pursuit to developing for consumers the world’s premier live video streaming service for live sports and entertainment,” David Gandler, co-founder and CEO of FuboTV, said in a statement.

To view ultra-high definition and HDR content, subscribers must have a 4K HDR-enabled television, HDMI 2.0/HDCP 2.2 compatible cable and run the FuboTV app on a streaming device that supports the formats. Bandwidth speeds of 30Mbps-40Mbps or higher are recommended. 4K HDR-capable TVs may also need calibration to present the content correctly.

The platform was among the first streaming services to launch Cloud DVR, 60FPS picture quality and in-app billing, and was the first to fully implement SCTE 224 blackout technology standards. Also, after several months of testing, fuboTV officially launched dynamic ad insertion in January – ahead of Hulu with Live TV and YouTube TV.

Mexico vs. Sweden World Cup Soccer Generates Telemundo’s Highest Non-Super Bowl Digital Audience

With the United States and Canada not playing in the ongoing 2018 soccer World Cup in Russia, Mexico represents North America’s biggest draw.

The El Tri didn’t disappoint (except for losing 3-0), with the June 27 streaming presentation Mexico vs. Sweden in group play generating a record 1 million concurrent live streams on digital devices across TelemundoDeportes.com, the Telemundo Deportes En Vivo app, and the NBC Sports app.

Despite the loss, Mexico (and Sweden) advances to the elimination round following defending champion Germany’s 2-0 loss to South Korea.

The digital tally was the most for any event in NBC Sports Digital history, excluding Super Bowls, and the only event other than the Super Bowl to hit the 1 million mark.

Fox Sports has exclusive U.S. broadcast rights to Russia 2018. Telemundo is owned by Comcast, which is attempting to acquire 20thCentury Fox Film.

In addition, the 1.02 million concurrent livestreams topped by 53% the prior non-Super Bowl mark – 665,000 for the Mexico-South Korea match on June 23.

On June 26, the World Cup reached 3.2 million unique digital users and generated 106 million minutes viewed. To date, the quadrennial tournament has reached 9.3 million total unique users and generated 89.1 million livestreams and 1.35 billion total minutes viewed, averaging 2.0 million livestreams per match.

Notably, Argentina’s last-minute win over Nigeria, which advanced the Lionel Messi-led squad to the second round, delivered an average of 2.85 million streaming viewers – ranking as Telemundo Deportes’ most-watched weekday match through June 26.

Telemundo delivered its best-ever June 26 daytime (7 a.m.-5 p.m. ET), averaging 1.58 million digital viewers for its World Cup coverage – topping the prior record set June 20 by 41% (1.12 million).