RedZone Channel is coming to the Olympics.
Scott Hanson, Andrew Siciliano, Matt Eiseman and Akbar Gbajabiamila will host the 'Gold Zone' whiparound show, which will be streamed live for the first time on Peacock during NBCUniversal's Paris Olympics coverage, NBCUniversal announced Thursday did. Hanson and Siciliano, of course, are best known for their respective jobs as Sunday guides for NFL coverage. Hanson has been the host of “NFL RedZone” since its first season in 2009. It also hosts NFL Network. Siciliano currently serves as a host and play-by-play announcer for NFL Network and hosts DIRECTV's “RedZone Channel.” From 2005 to 2022.
“Gold Zone” will be streamed live as a daily show on Peacock from July 27 to August 2 from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET, NBC said. 10. This is important because NBCUniversal is betting big on Peacock as a hub for Olympic coverage. NBCUniversal will live stream all 2024 Olympic events on Peacock, including all 329 medal events, a first for a Summer Olympics. Peacock, which currently has 30 million registered users, is much more recognized than it was during the Tokyo Olympics.
In his first Olympic role, Hanson will serve as the morning host of “Gold Zone,” while Iseman and Gbajabiamila, co-hosts of NBC's “American Ninja Warrior,” will follow Siciliano on each day's “Gold Zone.” He will serve as the final host of the broadcast. .
Since the 2016 Rio Games, Olympic viewership in the United States has fallen significantly. The prime-time audience for the Olympics in Brazil averaged 27 million viewers, but the major viewership arrow has since moved south. According to Sports Media Watch, Tokyo was the first Summer Olympics since Salt Lake City in 2002 and Athens in 2004 to draw an average fewer American viewers than the previous Winter Games. The Beijing Winter Olympics in February 2022 was the least-watched event in the world. NBC has historically averaged 10.7 million viewers per night in prime time, and when all other viewing platforms are included, that number increases slightly to 11.4 million.
Of course, much of that was outside of NBCUniversal's control. The Tokyo Games were postponed for a year due to the coronavirus pandemic, and given the global situation, the preparations leading up to the Games were not fun. Complicating matters are time zones. Tokyo is 13 hours ahead of the US East Coast.
“Paris sees the Olympics as an opportunity to get its mojo back,” said Bob Costas, who hosted 11 of NBC's prime-time Olympics coverage. The Athletic During February. “The real problem… came with two COVID-19 Olympics, one of which was postponed. There were no spectators, no family, no friends, so many of the elements that make the Olympics a great TV show were missing. . Not having spectators at a sporting event greatly reduces the atmosphere of the sporting event.”
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