April 30, 2014 – Vol. 23
Social Offerings for the 140th Running of the Kentucky Derby
As previously announced, NBC Sports will surround the Kentucky Derby with social media initiatives. Below are the ways fans can consume, take part, and share in the buzz:
Twitter Mirror: For the second year in a row, NBC Sports and Twitter are partnering to have the “Twitter Mirror” present on the Red Carpet at the Derby and on the Pink Carpet during Oaks Day. “Twitter Mirror,” a photo booth app, will bring fans closer to the celebrities and VIP action at Churchill Downs. Celebrity and “best-dressed” photos will be pushed out through the @NBCSN Twitter feed and collected and housed at NBCSports.com/Derby.
Paddock 140: NBC Sports Group will celebrate the 140th running of the Kentucky Derby with the 140 characters that make up a tweet by creating a campaign titled, Paddock 140. NBC Sports will utilize Paddock 140 on-air, online and on Twitter. On site at Churchill Downs, Paddock 140 will house the Twitter mirror and allow celebrities and VIP guests to tweet directly from the Red Carpet. Celebrities will make their Derby picks onsite at Paddock 140 through the Twitter Mirror and be featured on-air during the NBC broadcast. For fans who can’t make it onsite, all Twitter conversation, photos, video and @Origiful created Vines will be housed in a branded Paddock 140 section within the Kentucky Derby All-Access page (NBCSports.com/Derby), alongside trending horses and Derby-related terms all week long. On Twitter, Paddock 140 onsite and online content will be featured within tweets and identified with #Paddock140.
Kentucky Derby All-Access: Horse racing fans and fans of the elegance and glitz of the Derby can access content from Derby week at a “social center” housed on NBCSports.com. Fans can access and sort social media content from Instagram, Twitter and Vine through various streams including horse racing experts, horses (including the horses themselves, jockeys and trainers), glamour (celebrities, fashion experts), a photos-only section and Vine videos. Kentucky Derby All-Access aggregates what’s trending around the Derby and what’s hot in the social world. In addition, fans can plug in their first and last names and will be given their ‘Horse Name’ to be shared on Twitter.
Custom Vines from @ORIGIFUL: For the first time, NBC Sports Group will be partnering with Vine video artist Ian Padgham (@Origiful) to create custom Kentucky Derby Vines for on-air, Vine and Twitter.
Vine: NBC Sports will utilize Vine to give fans quick video look-ins at everything that makes up the Kentucky Derby. From morning workouts with the horses, to Millionaire’s Row, NBC Sports Vines will give fans the full Derby experience for those that can’t make it to the track for Derby Week.
Facebook: All week at Facebook.com/NBCSports, fans will be presented with Derby information, photos and video from Churchill Downs.
Twitter: Viewers and tweeters alike will be encouraged to join the conversation by using the hashtag #KYDERBY. Reminders will appear on screen throughout all of NBC and NBCSN’s Kentucky Derby week coverage.
Instagram: For 360-degree coverage of behind-the-scenes access to Derby Week, fans can follow @NBCSports on Instagram at Instagram.com/NBCSports for the parties, food, fashion and, of course, the races.
Pinterest: NBC Sports’ Pinterest account (Pinterest.com/NBCSports) is the perfect place for Derby fans to plan their Derby parties and get ready for the glitz and glamour of Derby week.
Yahoo! Sports – NBC Sports Network Digital Alliance Ranks No. 2 Among Sports Sites in Multi-Platform Page Views and Visits for March
The Yahoo Sports-NBC Sports Network digital alliance finished second among all sports digital sites for the month of March with 2.1 billion page views and 422 million visits, according to multi-platform data provided by comScore. The alliance also delivered 59.7 million uniques and 2.4 billion minutes.
NBC Sports Group delivered 25.9 million uniques to the alliance in March 2013, up 84 percent vs. 2013. Digital sites within NBC Sports Group that demonstrated increases compared to last year include:
- NBCSports.com delivered 15.6 million uniques, up 102 percent
- Rotoworld.com delivered 2.5 million uniques, up 58 percent
- Golf Channel delivered 4.1 million uniques, up 41 percent
GolfChannel.com Posts Record Site Traffic for April
While monthly digital traffic data is not final until the end of the calendar month, it was announced earlier today that preliminary reports show GolfChannel.com traffic through Monday, April 28 is up 53 percent for page views, 39 percent for unique visitors and 30 percent for video starts, compared to the entire month of April 2013. This will result in GolfChannel.com posting best-ever monthly marks for both unique visitors and video starts in the site’s history.
Record NHL and Premier League Streaming on Sunday
Sunday’s St. Louis Blues – Chicago Blackhawks Game 6, in which the Blackhawks defeated the Blues 5-1 to win the series, 4-2, was the best first-round NHL game ever with 57,000 uniques, 64,000 visits, 192,000 live starts and 2.8 million minutes watched. It ranks as the best non-Stanley Cup NHL game ever in minutes watched.
Led by the crucial match between Liverpool and Chelsea, Sunday’s Premier League coverage, which included two additional contests – Sunderland-Cardiff and Crystal Palace-Manchester City – delivered 185,000 live starts and 3.83 million minutes watched, the most ever for a Sunday in both categories.
Rotoworld Team-by-Team Draft Analysis Wraps Up This Week
Rotoworld has been completing a team draft needs series for every team, led by Rotoworld’s head writer Evan Silva and Rotoworld’s NFL Draft Analyst Josh Norris. Here is the team schedule, with the final team analysis posting tomorrow, May 1: http://www.rotoworld.com/articles/cfb/46561/271/nfl-draft-team-schedule
For NFL Draft articles, news, video and more, click here.
-- NBC SPORTS DIGITAL --
