NBC and Microsoft to deliver Olympics streaming using Azure

Microsoft has announced it has partnered with broadcaster NBC for its Azure cloud platform to help deliver cross-platform multi-streaming coverage of the 2016 Olympic Games.

The Azure cloud platform will help NBC deliver more than 4,500 hours of coverage from the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games throughout August. According to Microsoft, it will be providing cloud encoding and hosting with video workflows for the NBC Olympics’ production of the Games, and will assist with live and on-demand multiplatform streaming coverage.

The NBC app will host all of the content and will be available on most devices and platforms including Android, iOS, the US’s biggest selling smart TV set top box Roku, Amazon Fire TV, any device running Windows 10, including Xbox, as well as PC and Mac.

“We always strive to deliver more content in real time to more channels and devices around the world,” said Scott Guthrie, executive vice president of the Cloud and Enterprise Group at Microsoft. “During the Sochi Olympic Games, NBC Olympics had more than 1 million concurrent live viewers watching a collective average of 600,000 hours of coverage per day. We are planning for even greater viewing numbers for Rio, and are excited to power the experience again using Microsoft Azure.”

“The Rio Olympics have nearly three times as many events per day as the Sochi Games,” said Rick Cordella, senior vice president and general manager, Digital Media, NBC Sports Group. “With the Azure cloud platform, Microsoft is partnering with us to deliver the secure, scalable cloud we depend on to bring the Games to millions of viewers on whichever device they prefer, via end-to-end live streaming entirely in the cloud.”

This agreement is in addition to NBC’s plans on delivering more than 80 hours of content through virtual reality headsets, after it signed an agreement with Samsung last month to bring the next-generation viewing experience to mobile users with the Galaxy Gear VR and compatible accompanying handset.