NBCUniversal’s streaming service Peacock launched with a big bet on the Olympics. In January 2020, in Studio 8H in Rockefeller Center, executives unveiled a plan to use that year’s Tokyo Olympics to help launch Peacock, including streaming the opening and closing ceremonies live before they aired on TV in the evening.
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The COVID-19 pandemic, of course, would warp those plans. Peacock still launched in 2020, but when the Tokyo games finally happened the following year, NBCU had pivoted. Peacock would have live coverage of certain events like gymnastics and basketball, paired with some exclusive studio shows. Unfortunately, a confusing interface and some technical glitches marred the company’s plans, as executives now acknowledge.
“Frankly, we didn’t do a very good job for our customers,” said Mark Lazarus, chairman of NBCUniversal Media Group, speaking to reporters once again in Studio 8H. “We didn’t exactly deliver what we said we were going to deliver.”
If Peacock failed to podium last time, for the Paris Olympics they are throwing everything they’ve got to secure a medal. “We have learned a lot from that,” Lazarus said, promising “bold changes” for Paris.
Indeed, for the Paris games the company plans to stream everything live. Every sport, every ceremony, every NBC broadcast, the works. Many of those events will rely on the IOC’s world feed, but if you want to watch the Canoe Sprint or badminton live, Peacock will have it. For the full force of the company’s production power, however, viewers may want to tune in to the primetime coverage, which will function as sort of a “best of the day” type of show, including for the opening ceremonies.
“I would say that the prime-time presentation is going to be enhanced,” said Molly Solomon, NBC’s president of Olympics production, noting that Maria Taylor will be on the boat with the U.S. Olympic Team, and will get some interviews that will only run in primetime. “I’d watch it twice.”
But it also includes a slew of Peacock-exclusive programming and tech. That includes a multi-view option , letting users watch up to four events at once; and a new whip-around studio show called Gold Zone , hosted by NFL RedZone veteran Scott Hanson.
Kevin Hart and Kenan Thompson will host an Olympics highlight show for the platform, while podcaster Alex Cooper hosts interactive watch parties on the streamer.
“Our goal is really to give diehard fans…all of the tools that they need to fully immerse themselves in the Olympics, while also helping to engage a new generation of viewers by leaning into features that we know they’re looking for, like increased personalization and real-time interactivity,” says Peacock president Kelly Campbell.
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And in one of the company’s most eye-opening moves, it is using generative artificial intelligence to have legendary broadcaster Al Michaels deliver customized Olympic recaps for users.
“A few months ago, we were sitting around in a meeting preparing for another big moment, which was the NFL Wild Card Playoff game on Peacock, which ultimately became the largest and most successful streaming event in U.S. history,” recalled Brian Roberts, Comcast’s CEO. “And at that meeting, we were talking about, ‘what could we do with AI?’ And how do we leverage AI purely for fun and for good, and supercharge live sports with something new.”
“When we drummed up that idea in the run-up to the playoff game we were already thinking, you know, there’s so much content in the Olympics, this feels like the perfect moment to use generative AI to create a great catch-up experience for users,” adds John Jelley, senior vp product for Peacock. “And I don’t actually think we could have done it without the advancements in terms of AI and voice synthesis.”
Ultimately, NBCU’s bet on Peacock is a bet that the streaming platform is also a bet on the future of sports and media. Peacock only has 33 million paying subscribers, but the company is going all-in as though it has 100 million or more (and it is confident enough to raise prices in the meantime).
“There will be a lot of content on NBC but way more content on Peacock, and it allows for the trends that we’re seeing in viewing behavior,” Roberts said on the company’s Q2 earnings call.
Or as Mike Tirico, NBC’s lead Olympics host, says: “I consume sports differently than I did 10 years ago. I’ve got two, two college graduates, recent college graduates, and I watch how they consume sports.”
“So I have an understanding of how the landscape has changed since I grew up watching the Saturday Major League baseball game of the week.”
Now the company is hoping to leverage that changing landscape to build a viable streaming business.
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