The Super Bowl has long been the premiere annual showcase for advertisers and agencies, with 30-second spots going for upwards of $4 million. This year’s game, though, will also be used as a showcase for live OTT platforms.
NBC will live-stream the game, on Feb. 1, as the lead broadcaster has done with the past three Super Bowl’s, starting with NBC in 2012. This year, however, the network will leverage the live stream to promote its newly expanded linear TV Everywhere offering. NBC will use its coverage of the game to kick off 11 continuous hours of non-authenticated streaming of its linear feed, culminating in the mid-season debut of “The Blacklist,” expected to get underway around 10pm EST. Viewers will not be required to log-in to NBC Sports Live Extra or provide an MVPD login to watch the full 11 hours.
“‘Super Stream Sunday’ builds off of NBCUniversal’s commitment to create broader TV Everywhere opportunities for our consumers,” Alison Moore, GM and exec VP of TV Everywhere for the network said in a statement. “We are leveraging the massive digital reach of the Super Bowl to help raise overall awareness of TV Everywhere by allowing consumers to explore our vast TVE offering with this special one-day-only access.”
Mobile viewers will be out of luck, however; NBC does not have mobile streaming rights to the Super Bowl, which are controlled by Verizon Wireless under its existing deal with the NFL.
The live stream will feature a different ad load from the main broadcast, although all of the digital ad buyers have also bought ads in the broadcast. NBC will also live-stream the half-time show for the first time, having managed to clear the digital music rights.
Those not interested in watching the half-time extravaganza, featuring Katy Perry and Lenny Kravitz, can check out YouTube, which will be live-streaming its own half-time show for the first time this year. The show, along with fake ads, will feature about two dozen YouTube creators and musicians and will be streamed on YouTube’s AdBlitz channel, it’s portal for all things Super Bowl ad related.
YouTube has lately been looking to raise the profile of its live-streaming platform, particularly since Amazon swooped in at the last moment last summer to snatch Twitch.tv away from Google.