NIA Reports on NBC Breaking 'TV Everywhere' Record for Olympics

FORT LEE, N.J., Aug. 5, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Inflation Association today issued the following statement regarding NBC's record breaking 'TV Everywhere' coverage of the London Olympic Games:

In the four years in between the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and the 2012 London Olympic Games, there has been an explosion in Internet bandwidth consumption in the U.S. with Netflix eating up 32% of bandwidth during peak times. However, during the first seven days of this year's Olympics, U.S. bandwidth used for Netflix has declined 25% while bandwidth used to watch NBC's Olympic 'TV Everywhere' coverage has peaked at 34% of total bandwidth across major U.S. networks nationwide.

NBC spent a record $1.3 billion to broadcast the London Olympic Games. Live sports programming currently accounts for 20% of programming hours consumed in U.S. households, but the combined costs of national and regional sports networks now make up 50% of the cost of the average U.S. cable bill. ESPN is now the most expensive channel for pay-TV companies to provide, with the average pay-TV company paying $4.69 per subscriber per month to be able to offer ESPN.

The LA Lakers just signed an NBA record $3 billion 20-year television deal with Time Warner Cable that begins next season at an average cost of $150 million per year. Their previous TV deal was worth only $500 million over 10 years or $50 million per year. Not surprisingly, the LA Dodgers just sold for $2 billion in anticipation that their broadcast rights will lead to a MLB record television deal.

Sports networks and cable TV companies are eager to pay any price necessary for live sports content because it is the main advantage they have over Netflix, which can't afford to provide live sports programming while only charging customers $7.99 per month. Without live sports programming, cord-cutting and cord-shaving would become a much larger problem for cable, satellite, and telco TV providers than it already is today.

American consumers are unhappy about current high pay-TV price inflation rates and pay-TV companies are determined to show consumers that they are receiving a great value for the monthly cost of their pay-TV package. All major pay-TV companies in America are now investing heavily into 'TV Everywhere' services, which promises to end cord-cutting and cord-shaving for good and win back customers from Netflix. American consumers are sick of being tethered to their living room to watch TV and demand greater flexibility when it comes to watching TV. Since the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Americans have fallen in love with their smartphones and tablet devices and want the ability to watch any TV programming, at any time, at any location, on any Internet-connected device.

'TV Everywhere' is the pay-TV industry's response to Netflix and could eventually put Netflix out of business. The most popular and wildly successful 'TV Everywhere' service that has so far launched in the U.S. is undoubtedly HBO GO. If you are a pay-TV subscriber and receive HBO, most pay-TV companies will now allow you to access HBO GO for free using your laptop, desktop, smartphone, or tablet device. HBO GO allows Americans to watch just about any HBO show ever produced in history from any HBO series. Americans using HBO GO can also watch just about any HBO sporting event, comedy show, or documentary ever aired on HBO.

HBO GO has set a 'TV Everywhere' standard in the industry, but now all major U.S. networks have either announced or are planning to announce plans to enter into the 'TV Everywhere' space. ESPN recently launched WatchESPN, which they are heavily marketing on a daily basis. Disney, which owns ESPN, will soon be launching its own 'TV Everywhere' service. Cinemax, Showtime, CNN, Headline News, the Cartoon Network, TNT, TBS, TruTV, and countless other networks have already launched 'TV Everywhere' services and most Americans with access rights aren't even aware of it yet, but NIA believes by the end of 2012 'TV Everywhere' will become the hottest new technology trend in America.

A vocal minority of Americans have complained about NBC refusing to air any Olympic events live on U.S. television, but NBC had a very good reason for not doing so. NBC wanted to expose the benefits of using their ground-breaking 'TV Everywhere' web site NBCOlympics.com, which has been simultaneously streaming every single Olympic event live over the Internet to all Internet connected devices. NBC's 'TV Everywhere' coverage of the Olympics has been the most innovative coverage of any event in U.S. history, allowing users to watch any Olympic event live on their main screen while browsing through live streams of other Olympic events on a smaller screen with the ability to instantly toggle events between screens.

To be able to access NBC's Olympic 'TV Everywhere' coverage, you need to be a pay-TV subscriber and your channel package must include CNBC and MSNBC. Approximately 100 million Americans meet this criteria and have access rights. Americans with access rights simply need to visit NBCOlympics.com and authenticate their pay-TV subscription free of charge.

As millions of NBC's Olympic 'TV Everywhere' users watch the Olympics online, they are probably thinking to themselves that it is a good idea to invest into a company that is a leader in the 'TV Everywhere' space and making NBC's Olympic 'TV Everywhere' coverage possible.

NBC has just reported that over the first seven days of the Olympics, an unbelievable 6.2 million Americans have authenticated their pay-TV subscriptions to watch NBC's Olympic 'TV Everywhere' streams! According to NBC, this is a world record for a 'TV Everywhere' event! NBC reports that they have delivered 75 million streams in seven days with 34 million of them being live streams, more than the entire Beijing Olympics! (It is important to note that for the Beijing Olympics, NBC's streams were available to anybody and NBC didn't require users to authenticate their pay-TV subscriptions.)

NBC's record breaking 75 million total streams made up a shocking 9.6 million hours, while their 34 million live streams made up 6.3 million hours. This means the average stream has been nearly 8 minutes long, while the average live stream has been over 11 minutes long. The three events with the most live streams so far are: Tuesday's women's gymnastics team gold medal final received 1,462,834 live streams. Thursday's swimming coverage of the men's 200 IM in which Michael Phelps won the gold medal received 1,192,812 live streams. Gabby Douglas winning the women's gymnastics gold medal on Thursday received 1,096,319 live streams.

NIA believes NBC's Olympic 'TV Everywhere' coverage is going to cause  the 'TV Everywhere' space to become the hottest and most popular emerging technology market for U.S. consumers with growth that will be similar to what we saw in the social networking space in recent years. NIA is looking for ways to capitalize on the revolution that is beginning this very week as a record number of U.S. citizens embrace 'TV Everywhere' and fall in love with the technology just like they fell in love with the Internet-connected mobile devices that 'TV Everywhere' streams to. A stunning 40% of the 75 million London Olympic streams in the first seven days of the Olympics have gone to mobile devices. An incredible 76% of tablet users are live streaming on a tablet for the first time, while 86% of smartphone users are live streaming on a smartphone for the first time! NBC's two Olympic 'TV Everywhere' mobile apps on iTunes are the #1 and #2 most downloaded apps of the week with over 6 million downloads!

NIA recently became the owner of approximately 2% of Synacor Inc., a publicly traded company with a 'TV Everywhere' business being led by Michael Bishara, former Senior Vice President of HBO Broadband where he was the driving force behind the development and launch of HBO GO. Synacor creates web portals that provide 'TV Everywhere' services for cable, satellite, and telco TV companies and also provides 'TV Everywhere' authentication services. When subscribers of pay-TV companies authenticate themselves to access NBC's Olympic 'TV Everywhere' content, there is a good chance they are using Synacor's 'TV Everywhere' technology and don't even know it!  

The following major U.S. pay-TV companies are just some of Synacor's 'TV Everywhere' clients: Charter Communications, Dish Network, Grande Communications, Mediacom, Suddenlink, WOW!, BendBroadband, Blue Ridge, Cable ONE, CenturyLink Prism, Consolidated, EPB, GCI, GVTC, Midcontinent Communications, Service Electric, Windstream, Surewest, Atlantic Broadband, Armstrong, Burlington Telcom, CenturyLink Prism, Cincinnati Bell, Hargray, HawaiianTel, HickoryTech, Hometown Cable, Hotwire, Knology, Long Lines, MetroCast, Morris Broadband, New Wave, Nex-Tech, Open BandReinbeck Municipal TU, and TDS. Synacor's latest portal clients include Verizon and Toshiba.

NBC's Olympic 'TV Everywhere' coverage has officially kicked off America's 'TV Everywhere' boom that will revolutionize how U.S. citizens watch TV, still the most popular leisure activity by far in America. The multi-platform fundamental shift that is about to take place in the TV industry will have a bigger impact on the lives of all Americans than the industry's transition from broadcasting in black and white to color in the 1970s. To read NIA's exclusive new 'TV Everywhere' report free of charge, simply visit the following link on Monday, August 6th, at 12AM EDT: http://inflation.us/tveverywhere.html 

About NIA:
The National Inflation Association is an organization that is dedicated to preparing Americans for hyperinflation. NIA provides its members with articles about the U.S. economy and inflation, daily news stories and blog updates, and important charts not shown by the mainstream media. NIA is the producer of economic documentaries that have received a combined 17 million views including the critically acclaimed 'Meltup,' 'The Dollar Bubble,' 'End of Liberty,' 'Hyperinflation Nation,' and brand new 'College Conspiracy.' NIA provides unbiased reviews of the major online sellers of gold and silver bullion and also offers profiles of gold, silver, agriculture, oil, and alternative energy companies that could prosper in an inflationary environment. NIA is the creator of 'NIAnswers,' the world's most comprehensive database of questions and answers about inflation, currencies, debt, and precious metals.

Legal Disclaimer:
NIA currently owns 539,255 shares of Synacor. NIA intends to sell these shares in the future and can do so at any time. NIA reserves the right to add to its Synacor position at any time. NIA's report is intended for informational purposes only and does not provide investment advice. Neither NIA nor its co-founders are investment advisors or broker/dealers. NIA's  report is not a solicitation to buy or sell any security. Never make investment decisions based on anything NIA says. Do not rely on information from NIA to make investment decisions. Only use the information contained in NIA's report as a starting point for you to conduct your own research and make your own investment decisions.

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SOURCE National Inflation Association