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NBC Universal's broadcast of the Olympic Winter Games 2006 may be a media coup, but the broadcaster hopes to extend its audience beyond the TV-viewing public. NBC's multi-channel strategy is designed to connect with younger people—wherever they are.

The Olympic Winter Games began Friday morning with the opening ceremony; the games run through Feb. 26 in Torino, Italy. NBC will air 418 hours of coverage on NBC, USA Network, CNBC, MSNBC and Universal HD.

Those who don't want to sit in front of the TV or computer have plenty of options.

Apple iTunes service hosts a daily audio podcast of the day's highlights and the next day's preview, hosted by sports announcer Bob Costas. Many mobile phone carriers let you access a mobile version of NBCOlympics.com, created by Zingy. Goldpocket Wireless and TriggerNews.com each power wireless alert systems.

Hitting the mobile sphere is a smart move, said Larry Weber, CEO of W2 Group, a marketing services company.

"The youth market is focused mostly on their mobile devices," Weber said. "If the youth market has shown interest in the Olympics, then getting to them on the way they like to look at information is the right way to do it."

Weber wasn't convinced that kids would bother to download much onto their iPods, however—unless Bode wins a Gold or does something totally ripped. He said kids look at the clips wherever they can find them, then move on.

NBC Olympics makes available at least five video highlights daily through MobiTV, a subscription service that streams video to mobile devices. MobiTV has set up a special channel for the Olympics. The service is available in the United States through Cingular, Alltel and several regional carriers; in the United Kingdom through 3 and Orange UK; and in Canada through Bell Canada, Rogers and TELUS Mobility.

"We've done baseball games, but the Olympics is a first for the industry—and this is a first for the Olympics," said Dave Whetstone, chief marketing officer for MobiTV.

Fans can also access ringtones, including Olympic themes, national anthems or athlete playlists, and wallpapers, such as country flags and images of the Torino Games, by text-messaging "Torino" to NBCTV on Web-enabled phones. The mobile offerings are also available online.

Excerpted from article on intnernetnews.com.