NBC is hoping another Olympics will give Peacock a boost. Ahead of the forthcoming Winter Games from Beijing next month, NBC announced that Peacock subscribers will have live streaming access to all events.
During last Summer’s delayed Tokyo Games, Peacock had live coverage of certain events including gymnastics, track and field, and men’s basketball, as well as daily studio programming.
NBCOlympics.com and the NBC Sports app have live streamed all competition since the London Games in 2012 via authentication. NBC has not yet announced those streaming plans.
The Winter Olympics will take place from Feb. 2-20. NBC is using its broadcast of Super Bowl LVI from Los Angeles on Feb. 13 as a lead in for Olympics coverage.
“As the streaming destination of the 2022 Winter Olympics, Peacock will offer the ultimate fan experience all in one place,” said Kelly Campbell, president, Peacock. “From every live event and gold medal moment to exclusive daily shows, channels and original documentaries, viewers will be able to easily catch-up and keep up on all the action throughout the Games with our comprehensive Olympics hub on Peacock.”
“We are excited to offer NBC Olympics’ storytelling and complete streaming coverage of the 2022 Olympic Winter Games on Peacock,” said Molly Solomon, executive producer, NBC Olympics and Paralympics. “This approach provides the American audience with a dynamic, easy-to-use Olympic viewing hub where not a single moment, live or on-demand, will be missed.”
Last summer’s Olympics happened to be watched by 42% fewer viewers than the Rio Games in 2016, according to total audience delivery (TAD) tallies.
The all-in number of 15.5 million average viewers across the Tokyo Games includes NBC, its cable channels and digital properties — including Peacock. The numbers come from a combination of Nielsen and Adobe data, and combined are down from the 26.7 million total viewers, per night, from Rio.
NBC is likely looking at an even-more challenging ratings environment for the Winter Games, which typically are less watched than their summer counterparts. It doesn’t help that China’s human rights abuses have led to multiple countries, including the U.S., staging diplomatic boycotts, and the Omicron variant continues to rage around the world.