Four boxes of live action from the Olympics filled the Peacock screen during its “Gold Zone” show one afternoon this week — one showing women competitors in the hammer throw, another with long jumpers soaring, a third with runners leaping over hurdles, and the Last showing the countdown of minutes in the US-Germany women’s football match.
Occasionally, producers release a concentrated look at an event. This was an exciting demonstration of the breadth of Olympic sports and it was hard not to get hooked.
Millions of Americans have shared similar experiences over the past week and a half, driving a much-needed rebound for Peacock, the streaming service that was frequently the target of ridicule during the 2021 Tokyo and 2022 Beijing Olympics.
“It was a real turnaround,” said Mark Lazarus, president of NBC Universal Media Group. With several days of competition left, NBC has surpassed 17 billion minutes streamed for the Paris games – the vast majority on Peacock – exceeding the broadcast minutes of all previous Olympics combined.
Rather than misrepresent him, the chief executive believes Peacock helped NBC’s television channels achieve a ratings performance in Paris that network bosses have dizzy with joy.
Lazarus ordered the dismantling of the Peacock’s Olympic operation, granting in a memorable way in June, consumers responded with “the big digital middle finger” to his past work. Peacock was difficult to navigate and full of glitches. NBC also admits it failed to deliver on promises that Peacock would be the comprehensive Olympics experience, refusing to show some events live for fear it would cannibalize TV audiences — a traditional line of thinking that Paris has shown itself to be outdated.
Led by a new executive team that included Matt Strauss, president of NBC’s direct-to-consumer unit, and Peacock president Kelly Campbell, they studied other sports and streaming equipment for new ideas.
“In many ways, this is not their first bite at the apple, but they have had several years to learn,” said Craig Moffett, an analyst at technology and media research firm MoffettNathanson. It’s clear they learned several smart lessons, he said.
The “Gold Zone” product, which has proven enormously popular in Paris, is a knockoff of DirecTV’s NFL “Red Zone,” including some of the same employees. It matches the high-adrenaline pace of the original, taking viewers through notable events – particularly when the medals are decided.
Peacock offers multiple multi-view screens that show multiple live events happening at the same time. Although “Gold Zone” is curated by producers, in multi-view consumers can click on one of the boxes to focus on a particular event. In fact, viewers can produce their own show.
Most importantly, they are effective navigation tools that lead people to everything Peacock has to offer. Many viewers are fascinated by events they knew little about, like when Peacock on Tuesday highlighted Cuba Mijain Lopez winning his fifth consecutive gold medal in Greco-Roman wrestling. Such an achievement would be lost on television, as NBC focuses on high-profile sports like gymnastics, swimming and track and field.
“As a longtime Olympic watcher and a longtime Olympic broadcast/streaming complainer, I really have to acknowledge how incredible a move Peacock has been,” Brandon Wall, director of social media at CBS News, wrote on X.
Kelsey McKinney of deserter.com, who covers sports and culture, wrote that Peacock created the perfect Olympic experience for someone like her.
“This is such a sensible approach — one that understands and respects the wishes of the average viewer — that it’s almost hard to believe an American network came up with it,” McKinney wrote.
The Paris games also provided some perks for Peacock, including strong performances from the U.S. team and a return to crowds at events following COVID-19 restrictions. A time zone six hours ahead of the eastern United States also helped; NBC would have hated this in the past, as there are no live events available for its primetime show, but it’s a bonanza for afternoon Peacock users.
More people working from home in the post-COVID era is also helping Peacock, Lazarus speculated.
“It’s probably not hard to imagine that there are a lot more people watching the Olympics in their home offices than in cubicles,” he said.
Peacock offers other Olympics features, including a custom highlights package narrated by an AI-generated voice of Al Michaels and a comedic visual featuring Kevin Hart and Kenan Thompson. Since the games began, it has offered a collection of Snoop Dogg moments of NBC broadcasts and a service that shows medal ceremonies as long as consumers request it.
Peacock had 33 million paid subscribers at the beginning of this year. NBC declined to say how many people signed up for the Olympics.
The key question for NBC Universal is how many of these new subscribers will be motivated to stick with Peacock after the games are over. They don’t necessarily need many of those new customers to stay for this to be considered a success, Moffett said.
Lazarus said about 70 percent of people who signed up for the service because it was broadcasting an NFL playoff game last winter ended up keeping their subscriptions for at least three months.
“I feel really good about it,” he said.
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David Bauder writes about media for the AP. Follow him on http://twitter.com/dbauder.
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