NBC Universal’s streaming services Peacock launched with a large bet on the Olympics, The Hollywood Reporter writes. Managers at Studio 8H in the Rockefeller Center unveiled a strategy to use the Tokyo Olympics of that year to promote Peacock, including live streaming of the ceremony’s opening and closing ceremonies before they aired on TV in the evening in January 2020.
The COVID-19 epidemic, of course, may thread those programs. Although Peacock was still in production in 2020, NBCU had changed when the Tokyo Games came around the following month. With some unique studio shows, Peacock would be able to stream specific events like gymnastics and basketball live. However, a complicated software and some specialized glitches marred the agency’s plans, as executives then acknowledge.

” Frankly, we did n’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 did n’t exactly deliver what we said we were going to deliver”.
If Peacock did n’t finish last year, they are throwing everything they can to get a prize at the Paris Olympics. ” We have learned a lot from that”, Lazarus said, promising “bold adjustments” for Paris.
However, for the Paris Games the business plans to supply all live. Every game, every meeting, every NBC spread, the works. Many of those events will depend on the IOC’s globe life stream, but Peacock will have it if you want to see the Canoe Sprint or badminton play live. For the full power of the company’s production strength, however, viewers may want to tune in to the nighttime policy, which will work as form of a “best of the day” present, including for the beginning ceremonies.
” I would suggest that the midnight display is going to be enhanced”, said Molly Solomon, NBC’s chairman of Olympics creation, noting that Maria Taylor will be on the ship with the U. S. Olympic Team, and will get some discussions that will only work in night. ” I’d watch it twice”.
But it also includes a slaughters of Peacock-exclusive software and technology. That includes a multi-view alternative, letting people see up to four events at once, and a fresh whip-around studio present called Gold Zone, hosted by NFL RedZone former Scott Hanson.
The system will feature an Olympics highlight show hosted by Kevin Hart and Kenan Thompson, and podcaster Alex Cooper will host engaging watch parties for the streamer.
According to Peacock President Kelly Campbell, our goal is to give diehard fans all the tools they need to completely immerse themselves in the Olympics and also helping to join a new era of viewers by tapping into features they know they’re looking for, such as increased customisation and real-time interactivity.
And in one of the company’s most eye-opening moves, Al Michaels, the legendary broadcaster, is using generative artificial intelligence to create 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 can we supercharge live sports with something new while using AI solely for fun and for good?
” 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”, added John Jelley, senior VP product for Peacock. And I do n’t actually believe we could have accomplished it without advances in voice synthesis and AI.
Ultimately, NBC U’s bet on Peacock is also a bet on the future of sports and media. Although Peacock only has 33 million paying subscribers, the business is going all-in as though it already has 100 million or more ( and is confident enough to raise prices in the interim ) ).
” 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”.
Since watching the first Saturday Major League Baseball game of the week as a child, I now understand how the landscape has changed.
The business is now attempting to make use of that changing environment to create a viable streaming business.