Snapchat Joins NBC’s Team for Olympics

Snapchat will be carrying Olympic content under an agreement with NBC Sports.

The content will be co-produced by NBC Olympics and BuzzFeed, one of the digital media companies in which NBCU has an equity investment.

Material from the U.S. Olympic Team Trials as well as the 2016 games from Rio will appear as Live Stories on Snapchat. It will also be featured in a NBC Rio Olympic Channel on Snapchat Discover.

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“We are thrilled to be working closely with Snapchat on extending the stories and excitement of the Rio Olympics to their large, dynamic, and socially active audience,” said Gary Zenkel, president, NBC Olympics. “And who better to partner with to produce content for that audience than BuzzFeed, perhaps the most creative producers in the social content space.”

NBC Olympics will lead the sales efforts across both Live Stories and Discover channel, working closely with the Snapchat sales team.

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The material will help promote NBC’s coverage of the Olympics on TV and in other digital media.

“Through this partnership with NBC Olympics, we’re able give our Snapchat community the opportunity to dive in and experience the world’s largest sporting event right on their phones,” said Ben Schwerin, director of partnerships at Snapchat. “We know Snapchatters will love being a part of the Live Story action and learning more about the Games while browsing the Discover channel.”

(Photo via Adam Przezdziek's Flickr. Image taken on April 29, 2016 and used per Creative Commons 2.0 license. The photo was cropped to fit 3x4 aspect ratio.)

Jon Lafayette

Jon has been business editor of Broadcasting+Cable since 2010. He focuses on revenue-generating activities, including advertising and distribution, as well as executive intrigue and merger and acquisition activity. Just about any story is fair game, if a dollar sign can make its way into the article. Before B+C, Jon covered the industry for TVWeek, Cable World, Electronic Media, Advertising Age and The New York Post. A native New Yorker, Jon is hiding in plain sight in the suburbs of Chicago.