NBCUniversal Announces Groundbreaking 'The Million Second Quiz,' NBC's On-Air And Digital Live Competition, Along With Other Initiatives Across The Portfolio At Its 'Digital.Amplified.' Event

NEW YORK, April 24, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

"The Million Second Quiz" Offers Innovative Multi-Platform, Cross-Property Marketing Opportunities Around NBC's First-of-Its-Kind, Multi-Screen Network Television Event

E! Announces First Ever Talent-Led Co-Viewing Experience with Megastar Pop Band for New Series "The Wanted Life"

Telemundo Becomes First US Hispanic Partner for zeebox and Launches New Second Screen Initiatives

Fandango Launches "Family Room," a One-Stop Online Hub for Everything About Family Moviegoing

DailyCandy Presents Their Inaugural Fashion+Film: 2013

NBCUniversal News Group Opens Two Digital Studios, the CNBC Digital Workshop and TODAY

"Digital.Amplified." Event Showcases NBCUniversal's Unmatched Ability to Reach 93% of All Adults Per Month Digitally Across Mobile, Social, Original Digital Video, Second Screen, and Transmedia

NBCUniversal's Digital.Amplified. event today underscored the magnitude of the company's unparalleled collective digital portfolio and announced a series of digitally-based initiatives, the centerpiece of which is "The Million Second Quiz," NBC's groundbreaking, live competition. The show will be the first fully convergent television experience, where viewers will be able to tune in to a 24/7 live stream, play along at home through digital platforms in real time, and sync to the live primetime broadcast.

(Logo:  http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130424/NY01185LOGO ) 

The competition, where time equals money, will air in primetime, live from a gigantic hourglass shaped structure in the heart of Manhattan.  This hourglass will also serve as the living quarters of the reigning champions – the four players who have remained in the game the longest. Contestants will have competed online before being selected to compete on-air. They will have the opportunity to play along with the game for up to two weeks as other contestants attempt to unseat them during the primetime show.

"NBCUniversal infuses audiences' total viewing experience with innovations that fully immerse and engage, building robust, targetable communities among the shows' fans and talent," said Lauren Zalaznick, EVP NBCUniversal for the newly formed Media Innovation & Cross Company Initiatives Group. "We value each network's own multi-platform connection to its audience, and also realize that it is essential to explore comprehensive digital content across the entire portfolio for our marketing and advertising partners." 

NBCUniversal's portfolio reaches 93% of all adults who spend 8.8 billion minutes per month with the company's vast multi-platform digital offerings. Digital.Amplified. highlighted the company's bar-setting offerings across mobile, social, original digital video, second screen, and transmedia platforms, all of which seamlessly connect to on-air programming.

"Clients are increasingly platform agnostic and 'The Million Second Quiz' is a great example of how NBCUniversal uniquely delivers opportunities in pure digital, Television and 360 opportunities that seamlessly link linear and digital screens," said Linda Yaccarino, President of Advertising Sales, NBCUniversal. "From zeebox integrations to innovative transmedia, there are so many ways for us to collaborate with our ad partners and meaningfully connect them to their consumers via our digital screens."  

The Digital.Amplified. event reflects NBCUniversal's larger "Amplified." brand positioning, which launched in April with a campaign touting a unified portfolio and the messaging "NBCUniversal –  Content.Consumers.Collaboration.Amplified."

In addition to "The Million Second Quiz," several other new digitally-based programs and products were announced at today's Digital.Amplified., including:  

E! – "The Wanted Life: Watch with The Wanted"
E! announced its first ever talent-led co-viewing experience featuring a live interactive video conversation with members of the pop band The Wanted for the new series "The Wanted Life," which premieres Sunday, June 2 at 10:30pm ET/PT.  "The Wanted Life: Watch with The Wanted" will allow fans to watch the show and chat with the megastar pop band in real time. The show will live on Eonline, the largest site in all of cable entertainment* for total uniques and daily uniques.

Telemundo – Telemundo Becomes First US Hispanic Partner for zeebox
Telemundo has signed on as zeebox's first US Hispanic partner, launching several new second screen initiatives. The engaging new zeebox activations, which will debut in conjunction with the Latin Billboard awards airing on Telemundo on Thursday, April 25 (7pm ET/PT), include a livestream "Show Within a Show," a backstage interactive show hosted by Telemundo talent; "The Prediction Game," where fans can gain fame on a leaderboard by correctly predicting winners throughout the night; and, "El Pulso," a real time ranking of the celebrities featured on the awards show that invites fans to help drive their favorites higher via social media buzz.  Also rolling out very soon with zeebox is a Telemundo Talent Co-viewing Experience, which will allow fans, friends, and stars to watch their favorite shows together and engage in chats and social media conversations.  

Fandango - "Family Room" Sponsored by Sprint, and TIXPRESS for VISA
Fandango announced the launch of "Family Room," a one-stop online hub for all things related to family moviegoing. Fandango's "Family Room" offers age-based movie recommendations, articles, reviews, movie trailers, games, and access to mobile and online ticketing at more than 21,000 screens nationwide. Later this year, "Family Room" will debut a parent-geared original video series titled "Family Frames™."  Sprint has signed on as the first sponsor of Fandango's "Family Room."

Fandango also today launched TIXPRESS, a new mobile ticketing feature designed expressly for VISA Signature account holders. TIXPRESS caters to spontaneous moviegoers by using geo-location and time-aware technology to show users the closest theaters that have movies starting within the next few hours. VISA Signature account holders, who will have exclusive access to TIXPRESS through August, also receive special offers from Fandango throughout the summer, such as "+1 Movie Fridays," where, when two or more tickets are purchased for a Friday show time, the account holder receives one of those tickets free, and discounts on Fandango Gift Cards.

DailyCandy – DailyCandy's First-ever Fashion+Film: 2013
This Fall, digital's preeminent curator of discoveries in food, fashion, and fun – DailyCandy – will launch Fashion+Film: 2013, an offline / online celebration of the intersection of fashion, film, and digital media.  This first-of-its-kind event will feature audience-selected awards and curated screenings – in-theater, on-air, and online - of short- and long-form films and video that explore the worlds of fashion, style, and design.  Bringing together fashion luminaries and devotees, DailyCandy's Fashion+Film: 2013 will be the premier next-generation showcase of how style comes to life through a video, social, and digital lens.

Two new digital studios – CNBC and TODAY 

• CNBC's Digital Workshop is a digital production studio that develops and produces original video programming for CNBC and its partners. Content will include business stories with a twist, off-beat programming, and videos that drive the conversation, inform the audience and always entertain.
• TODAY will launch a digital studio in Fall, leveraging its talent and guests for exclusive digital-only video, photo, and social franchises conceptualized specifically for a digitally native audience.

Each network in the NBCUniversal portfolio continuously unveils their own innovative, all-encompassing digital activations that collectively add up to the most robust social, mobile, second screen, original digital video, TV Everywhere, and transmedia experiences.

Highlights of just a few of the many recent or soon-to-come offerings across the portfolio – as well as how NBCUniversal's digital came to life at the Digital.Amplified. event – include the following:

MOBILE

Breaking News (a division of NBC News)
Breaking News has launched its first-ever native advertising product on mobile, enabling advertising clients to break stories within the Breaking News feed across mobile apps and the web.

Sprout
The new "Send to Sprout" app makes it even easier for viewers to submit photos, videos, activities, birthday wishes, and more for a chance to be featured on-air.

Golf Channel
The "Golf Channel Academy" app taps into the network's extensive library of instructional expertise, and also includes the ability for users to send a video to a dedicated, certified SwingFix instructor anywhere, anytime to receive a customized analysis of their swing and a tailored lesson.

Mobile activations at Digital.Amplified.included:

• The Treats.Amplified. section, which highlighted apps from across the portfolio, partnered with a fitting sweet. Among the 16 interactive selections were zeebox paired with red and white peppermint sticks, Fandango's app with kettle corn, E!'s with candy stars, Syfy with purple rock candy, Style with fortune cookies filled with fashion tip fortunes, and Sprout with green gummy treats. Guests could also have apps delivered straight to their mobile devices by ordering off the "app menu" at the event.

SOCIAL

Syfy
Syfy will offer fans Google+ Hangout Chats with the cast of "Fandemonium," as well as a special Facebook app that allows fans to Skype with contestants on the unscripted competition, "Unbreakable."

Oxygen
Oxygen Media recently announced a unique initiative which will integrate animated GIFs from popular social blogging platform Tumblr into Oxygen's original programming. Tumblr content created by Oxygen's Digital team, fans of Oxygen's shows, and popular Tumblr GIF artists will be featured on air during premiere episodes of key series beginning with an all new episode of the tattoo competition series, "Best Ink" on Wednesday, May 8^th.  Oxygen will work directly with Tumblr to source top GIF artists and feature their work in on-air segments designed to complement programming. 

Social was featured at today's event through:

• Highlights from Telemundo's "Secreteando," an unprecedented online novela in which users were active participants in the storyline via an array of social media platforms.

SECOND SCREEN

USA
USA Network recently unveiled an expanded version of "USA Sync," which syndicates content across the web, mobile, and social channels, extending the experience beyond linear for more than 95 million users by giving them access to custom content across popular mobile apps, including zeebox, NextGuide, Shazam, and Viggle. Since the launch, the network has almost doubled its fan engagement as it expands capabilities in preparation for the return of its summer hit originals.

zeebox
zeebox is your tv sidekick, turning your mobile device or laptop into an interactive companion that makes watching TV even richer. Viewers can discover what's on, get facts about the show in real time, and connect with other fans, friends or talent. Advertisers can capture this engagement and 'activate' their TV ads with SpotSynch, zeebox's proprietary product that synchronizes linear ads with those in the app. zeebox works across all of television and the entire NBCU portfolio, with especially rich zeebox show pages planned for NBC's "The Voice," "America's Got Talent," the Miss USA telecast, and more.  

Style
This summer Style will power its first weekly live series, "Style Pop," where hosts Jeannie Mai & Louise Roe interact remotely to discuss the hottest trends in fashion, beauty, and pop culture.  Style Pop allows viewers to influence the show via the second-screen on StyleNetwork.com and zeebox where viewers will meaningfully engage in real time and play along with debates, polling activations, and more.

Activations in the Interact.Amplified. area of the event:

• NBC's "The Voice" will showcase how zeebox – its exclusive second screen partner – is integrated into and enhances the show, creating a robust 360 experience for fans.
• E!'s "What Would Ryan Lochte Do" and Oxygen's "Best Ink," which are scheduled to air on those networks during Wednesday night's event, will be shown during the event along with their second screen zeebox experience.

ORIGINAL DIGITAL VIDEO

NBCUniversal News Group
CNBC with the CNBC Digital Workshop and TODAY.com have both announced new digital studios where exclusive digital-only content will be produced.

NBC
Continuing the success of digital-only episodes of "Grimm" and "Revolution," NBC will continue to produce exclusive digital-only episodes for new shows next season.

Showcased at Digital.Amplified.:

• An exclusive first-look clip of DailyCandy's "NightlyCandy" – a new original digital video series starring DailyCandy's chief correspondent, SuChin Pak.
• A new episode of Fandango's "Weekend Ticket" hosted by chief correspondent Dave Karger and featuring guest, Mark Wahlberg ("Pain & Gain.")

TV EVERYWHERE

"NBC Sports Live Extra" and "Golf Live Extra" are NBC Sports Group live streaming products for digital, mobile, tablets, and on the digital platforms of participating cable, satellite, and telco distributors. "NBC Sports Live Extra" live streams NBC Sports Network live-event content, including the NHL regular season, the Stanley Cup Playoffs and Final; Premier League and Major League Soccer matches; Formula One™ and IndyCar races; horse racing that surrounds the Triple Crown; and more. Golf Channel's "Golf Live Extra" is now streaming all of its programming, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, including its PGA TOUR coverage. The vast majority of content for both products is streamed via TV Everywhere, available on an authenticated basis to subscribers of these services.

TV Everywhere featured at the Digital.Amplified. event:

• The Watch.Amplified. area of the event included a real-time demonstration of "NBC Sports Live Extra," as the Los Angeles Kings vs. Detroit Red Wings NHL game was live streamed on a variety of devices, including tablets, laptops, and smartphones.

TRANSMEDIA

Bravo Media
Bravo Media will launch three new transmedia plays. The first will be introduced as part of the new season of "Top Chef Masters," as a parallel digital competition that affects the outcome of the on-air series.

Oxygen
"Best Ink: Redemption" is a web series that gives the linear show's ousted contestants one last chance to win it all.

Featured at the event today:

• A Storytelling.Amplified. section provided an interactive experience with a sampling of NBCUniversal's groundbreaking transmedia shows, including USA Network's "Suits Recruits," and Bravo's "Top Chef: Last Chance Kitchen."

Additionally at Digital.Amplified.:

A Play.Amplified. section featured an opportunity to view and play Syfy's "Defiance" game, as well as use Bravo's Playlive to get a sneak peak at "The Real Housewives Awards" – a 360 experience that pulls fans across multiple platforms, and features categories such as "Favorite Gif" and "Best Heels."

Departing guests received "GIF" cards. One side of the GIF card shared a link to amplified.nbcuni.com, a site recently launched in conjunction with the company's new trade campaign that revolves around the "Amplified" theme, the first iteration of which was "NBCUniversal  –  Content.Consumers.Collaboration.Amplified." Amplified.nbcuni.com is a dynamic, ever-changing one-stop hub that houses augmented reality videos and other information from properties around the NBCUniversal portfolio. The other side of the GIF card featured an image of Bravo's Andy Cohen which, when activated with the Aurasma app, used augmented reality to deliver a video about NBCUniversal. One winner received a video announcing they had won four tickets to "Saturday Night Live."

Questlove, leader of the "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" house band The Roots, deejayed the Digital.Amplified. party.

SOURCE INFO
* Source: comScore MediaMetrix, Unique Visitors of cable television domains, excluding news, sports and lifestyle (Food Network), 1Q13.

ABOUT NBCUNIVERSAL
NBCUniversal is one of the world's leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production, and marketing of entertainment, news, and information to a global audience. NBCUniversal owns and operates a valuable portfolio of news and entertainment television networks, a premier motion picture company, significant television production operations, a leading television stations group, world-renowned theme parks, and a suite of leading Internet-based businesses. NBCUniversal is owned by Comcast Corporation.

SOURCE NBCUniversal