NBCUniversal knows what this kind of talent can bring to the table. Kenan ThompsonIt's no wonder he became a spokesman for the company and one of the faces of its Olympic coverage. peacock Participated in a programming preview AV Club On Thursday, Thompson kicked off the event by introducing some of the celebrities connected to the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, including Kelly Clarkson, Jimmy Fallon, Alex Cooper of the “Call Her Daddy” podcast, Kevin Hart, who co-hosts an Olympic highlights show on Peacock, and Thompson himself. Though neither of them have the expertise of a regular Olympic commentator, Thompson told the crowd, “I've been a fan of the Olympics my whole life. I've been studying it in preparation, and I learned that this year's opening ceremony will not be in a stadium.” “Instead, the athletes will be traveling on boats up the Seine. Yes, there will be hundreds of boats with thousands of athletes in one place. There's nothing wrong with that.”
Celebrities aren't the only new addition to NBC's Olympic coverage. The network announced a new feature called “Your Daily Olympic Recap,” a “first of its kind” powered by generative AI. The feature creates a personalized playlist for users “featuring highlights from all the events you care about most from the previous day,” explained John Jerry, senior vice president of product and UX. “So each edit will feature clips from thousands of hours of Olympic coverage and be accompanied by a high-quality narration from an AI recreation of sportscaster Al Michaels' voice, trained with permission on his past NBC appearances to match his signature style and expertise.” Apparently, a team of NBC Sports editors will be reviewing “all content, including audio and clips, for quality validation and accuracy” before the content goes live, after that “The entire experience is personalized one-to-one for each user.”
It's unclear how a team of editors is able to review content with “nearly seven million variations.” How much energy This ambitious undertaking is (I would bet) absorbing. But it's all peacockThe company's commitment to giving users a comprehensive experience that allows them to watch as much of the Olympics as possible comes as features like Multiview allow fans to watch several different events at the same time. Becoming a “destination” for the Olympics was already a big opportunity for Peacock to gain attention. Adding innovative features to the viewing experience is a way to justify the streaming experience over traditional TV. Peacock, and most streamers outside of Netflix, have Really use the boostGenerative AI is Solved someone's problem Not yet, but perhaps Peacock could finally be the platform that properly utilizes it. Maybe.
