Commonly known as Rio 2016, the Games of the XXXI Olympiad in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, mark a historic first time that the Olympics is being held in South America, and only the third time in the Southern Hemisphere.
Comcast will also be making history, by providing exciting new technology that will give customers the ability to personalize their Olympics television experience. They will be able to follow the athletes, teams and nations they care about most and navigate the entire Games with the sound of their voice using the X1 voice remote.
According to Comcast, Front Row to Rio will be the ultimate Olympics destination on X1, and will offer customers a place to easily search, discover and access content.
According to Chad McCauley, director of Product Management for Comcast, the global media and technology giant will combine live television, online streaming and on demand content, athlete profiles, and up-to-the-minute stats— in one integrated NBC Olympics dashboard.
“The thought behind this is to allow personalization,” said McCauley. “This positions the content according to the needs of the consumer. No two people watch the Olympics the same way. This is very exciting because it allows people to personalize their viewing.”
Customers will also be able to search and explore the latest medal counts, live results, and real-time statistics for events. They will also be able to browse all live and streaming programming schedules, select the specific event live stream they want to to view, and watch the latest highlights of their favorite events and athletes on demand.
Customers will be able to access Front Row to Rio from the main menu or Xfinity On Demand sections of the guide, under “TV” and “Sports.”
Using the X1 voice remote, customers will be able to access several categories. The categories will include “Favorites,” which allows viewers to tag their favorite athletes, teams and nations; “Must See Moments,” which provides several tune-in notifications for marquee Olympic events that viewers won’t want to miss; and “Gold Zone,” which will guide viewers to the best live action happening at a given moment.
“This allows customers to find information with the simplicity of a voice remote and guide,” said McCauley. “You can look up and find athlete profiles, and other great information. This technology offers a totally immersive and personalized experience that customers can personalize and define by their own terms. Making the customer experience better, is central to everything that we do. The reviews have been overwhelmingly positive.”
Other features include the “X1 Sports App for the Olympics” a groundbreaking Olympics companion TV experience that will enable users to search and explore the latest medal counts, live results and scores, and real-time stats for all events. “Voice Search” will allow customers to use the X1 voice remote to quickly and easily search, discover and navigate the entire Olympics experience with just the sound of their voice.
Spanish language options will allow X1 customers to navigate their entire Olympics experience via the Spanish guide, and to enjoy the event’s Opening and Closing.
The X1 platform is a first-of-its-kind entertainment platform that seamlessly merges entertainment with the rest of your life. Utilizing Comcast’s extensive technology network, X1 combines customized apps, social media features and traditional video services to deliver a personalized TV entertainment experience.
From August 5 to 21, 2016, over 10,000 elite athletes will represent 206 countries to compete in 42 Olympic sports. Rio 2016 takes place in 32 venues around Rio and in co-host cities Belo Horizonte, Brasília, Manaus, Salvador and São Paulo.
“This opens up future possibilities for not only sporting events, but other events,” said McCauley.