NBC selects Akamai to power digital experience of 2014 Winter Olympics

NEW YORK, USA: Akamai Technologies, Inc. has been selected to provide online video streaming delivery, site performance and security services to NBC Olympics, a division of the NBC Sports Group, during its production of the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, from February 6-23.

NBC Olympics' digital offering is designed to maximize viewer engagement through comprehensive coverage, results, schedules and bios along with multiple tools to foster social interaction. With Akamai, NBC Olympics can efficiently deliver high-quality video through NBCOlympics.com and the NBC Sports Live Extra mobile app. These experiences are automatically optimized for viewing devices and network variability while enjoying protection against malicious traffic.

Brad Rinklin, CMO, Akamai said: "A production of the importance, scope and magnitude of NBC Olympics' digital experience involves countless complexities that can be managed through Akamai's cloud-based solutions. The Akamai Intelligent Platform is designed to handle the challenges that organizations face in site performance, video delivery and security. ."

The Sochi Olympics mark the first time that all Winter Games competitions will be streamed live. For live and on-demand video delivery, NBC Olympics is leveraging Akamai Digital Media solutions to stream all 98 events, including every medal competition, event highlights, and athlete interviews and profiles.

Akamai is also supporting DVR functions such as pause and event rewinds. The suite of cloud-based media workflow, storage and delivery tools provides the necessary quality and scale to solve the challenges of multi-device consumption.

NBCOlympics.com is NBC Olympics' re-launched portal built to serve as the hub for its digital Winter Games experience. The site leverages Akamai's Ion next-generation site performance technology - a tightly integrated suite of intelligent acceleration and optimization technologies to make real-time decisions based on the requirements of the given connectivity and situation. As a result, viewers can enjoy fast, personalized experiences across devices, browsers and networks.

Since 2004, Akamai has helped rights-holders worldwide deliver live and on-demand online streaming of the Olympic Games in both winter and summer.