Playmaker Media, owned by NBC Sports Group and operated by NBC Sports Digital, and iStreamPlanet, owned by Turner, announced today the creation of a long-term partnership to deliver OTT live streaming and video-on-demand solutions for major sports leagues, professional team franchises, emerging leagues, regional and national sports broadcasting networks, the Olympics organization and other premium rights holders of live-event content.
"We have a long history of working with iStreamPlanet and have collaborated with them to successfully stream some of the biggest events in sports, including multiple Olympics and Super Bowls, to massive audiences," said Eric Black, CTO,
NBC Sports Group Digital. "This is a natural fit as
THE ASSETS of each company complement the other, providing the most robust offering for customers. We look forward to better serving the growing marketplace through this partnership."
Playmaker Media and iStreamPlanet have decades of live streaming experience and industry expertise between them, having delivered multiple Olympics and Super Bowls together. Separately, Playmaker streams the NFL, NHL, NASCAR, Premier League, and Triple Crown, among others, while iStreamPlanet streams NBA League Pass, ELEAGUE, and the upcoming NCAA March Madness 2017 tournament and 2017 PGA Championship.
"This deal delivers on a shared core value - that end users should be delighted, and premium sports content should be complemented with compelling, innovative viewing experiences," said iSteamPlanet founder and CEO Mio Babic. "We are just beginning to scratch the surface on the types of innovative solutions we can provide to our customers, and we will continue to expand the amazing work we are doing across the sports industry."
Most recently the two companies worked together to stream the 2016 Rio Olympics, the biggest digital event in history. Over 19 days, more than 100 million unique users consumed 3.5 billion minutes of video, including a record 2.7 billion live minutes, more than all previous Olympics combined. Having worked together last year,
NBC Sports Digital celebrated its best year ever, delivering 6.4 billion minutes of consumption for a record 15,000 hours of streaming coverage of more than 10,000 events.
Since its launch in May 2016, Playmaker Media has streamed tens of thousands of events that air across NBC, NBCSN, Golf Channel, Telemundo, NBCUniverso and six
NBC Sports Regional Networks. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) signed on as Playmaker Media's first client, with Playmaker providing live streaming video support for the IOC's Olympic Channel, a global digital initiative which launched following the Rio Olympics. It also provided streaming support for
NBC News' 2016 election coverage.
iStreamPlanet is a market leader in large-scale, live-event streaming, TV Everywhere Network simulcasts and OTT multiplatform solutions. Their innovative approach has been chosen by the world's leading sports, entertainment, and technology brands, including Turner Sports, Fox, AT&T, and Microsoft, to bring live, online video to connected audiences around the world. Founded in 2000, iStreamPlanet is based in Las Vegas and Seattle.
The partnership will deliver technology and services for an end-to-end consumer experience, including signal acquisition, content management, rights enforcement, editorial workflows, live and video-on-demand streaming, advertising, e-Commerce, analytics, and customized application experiences on popular consumer devices.
Jeremy Legg, CTO of Turner, said "This partnership announcement represents another step in Turner's strategy for iStreamPlanet to commercialize solutions and bring them to market in ways that are valuable for consumers and customers. We're excited iStreamPlanet's industry-leading cloud video streaming platform joined with
NBC Sports Digital's capabilities and success in digital sports streaming business - this will bring a new level of excellence to the market."
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