At the Paris Games, Kenan Thompson (left) and Kevin Hart (right) appeared on the “Olympics … [+]
With just weeks to go until the Paris Olympics opening ceremony, NBCU plans to offer viewers complete coverage of the Summer Olympics, with Peacock playing a multifaceted role: Of the 7,000 hours planned for coverage, 5,000 will air on Peacock. The streamer will provide live coverage of all 39 sports and all 329 medal events.
According to its latest quarterly earnings report, Peacock has a total of 34 million subscribers, up 3 million from the previous quarter and up 55% year-over-year. Despite the growth, Peacock's subscriber base remains among the lowest of the major SVOD providers. Additionally, year-over-year revenue grew 54% to $1.1 billion. For the quarter, Peacock's losses narrowed to $639 million from $704 million a year ago.
Peacock launched on July 15, 2020, to coincide with the Tokyo Summer Olympics, which had been postponed for a year due to the pandemic. During the 2020 Olympics, Peacock, NBCOlympics.com and the NBC Sports app streamed more than 7,000 hours of Olympic coverage. Regarding Peacock's coverage during the Tokyo Olympics, NBCU Media Group Chairman Mark Lazarus said, “Frankly, we didn't do a very good job for our customers. We didn't deliver exactly what we were trying to deliver.”
The decision to make Peacock the centerpiece of NBCU's Olympics coverage comes following a decline in Olympic television coverage. The 2020 Tokyo Olympics averaged 15.1 million primetime viewers (television only) on NBC, down 41% from the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. The 2020 Olympics were the least-watched Summer Olympics ever. The 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics will average an even smaller primetime audience of 10.7 million, the smallest TV audience for any Olympic Games.
Peacock's Olympic viewers are also significantly younger than NBC's: During the Tokyo Olympics, NBC said its average age on Peacock was 36. Conversely, the average age of NBC's Olympic viewers has been steadily increasing, to the early to mid-50s during the Tokyo Olympics.
In the run up to the Paris Olympics, NBCU has announced several programming plans for Peacock aimed at younger viewers, including an eight-episode series hosted by comedians Kevin Hart and Kenan Thompson highlighting the best and most unexpected moments from the Olympics. Beginning with the opening ceremony on July 26, the show will air two to three episodes per week featuring in-studio, Olympic-style competitions, interviews and conversations. The co-hosts will provide commentary using the SNL moniker Weekend Update My encounter with the Olympics.
During the Tokyo Olympics, Kevin Hart hosted an Olympic highlights series on Peacock alongside Snoop Dogg (who will be taking part in street interviews throughout the Paris Games).
Previously, NBCU had announced that Alex Cooper would host Call her Daddy She is a contributor to the popular relationship podcast “Peacock.” Watch with Alex CooperIn an Andy Cohen-esque twist, the podcaster will be hosting a number of interactive listening parties throughout the Olympics.
Cooper will host special guests for a behind-the-scenes look at some of the U.S. National Team's most notable sports, including gymnastics, soccer and basketball. In addition to picture-in-picture coverage throughout the competition, Cooper and his guests will provide commentary and answer viewer questions in real time.
For the first time, Peacock's Olympic coverage will feature AI technology using the voice of Hall of Fame announcer Al Michaels. Daily Olympics Recap on Peacockwill leverage NBCU's vast content amassed to provide viewers with more tailored coverage of the Olympics, and will be narrated by the well-known Al Michaels using generative AI and AI voice synthesis technology.
The personalized Olympic playlist that will be delivered each day will include clips from the day's events recreating Michael's distinctive voice. “The AI engine was trained using NBC's past appearances,” said Comcast CEO Brian Roberts. “We expect 7 million variations of these personalized playlists to be streamed throughout the duration of the Olympics.” Sunday Night Football, World Series Games and ABC Monday Night FootballAl Michaels provided the legendary play-by-play coverage of Team USA's “Miracle on Ice” from Lake Placid at the 1980 Winter Olympics. (“Do you believe in miracles? Yes!”)
“When I heard about this I was skeptical but of course I was interested. Then I saw a demonstration detailing what they had in mind and I said, 'I'm in!'” Al Michaels said in a press release.
To access Daily Olympics Recap on Peacock Viewers can tune into Peacock's Olympics hub from July 27 and choose the highlights that interest them, such as their three favourite sports or the topics of their choice. Content will include top competitions, behind-the-scenes looks, trending topics and more.
Last January, Peacock's exclusive live streaming coverage of the AFC Wild Card Game (Kansas City vs. Miami) set a U.S. viewership record with an average of 23 million viewers. The game also set a record for the highest daily internet usage. Seven weeks after the game, Antenna reported that Peacock had retained 71% of its new subscribers from NFL games.
Earlier this year, NBCU announced price increases for Peacock, which will take effect for new subscribers before the Olympics (July 18) and for existing customers after the Olympics (August 17). For Peacock Premium users, the monthly price will increase from $6 to $8. For Peacock Premium Plus, the increase will be from $12 to $14. Annual prices will also increase for Premium (from $60 to $80) and Premium Plus (from $120 to $140). This is Peacock's second price increase in the past year.
