NBC’s 2024 Paris Olympics Coverage Is Worthy of a Gold Medal

By Terry Terrones  |  August 5, 2024 | 10:05am
Photo Courtesy of NBC
TV Features NBCUniversal
NBC’s 2024 Paris Olympics Coverage Is Worthy of a Gold Medal

The XXXIII Olympiad is in full swing and for fans of the Games, the focus has been on the intense competition between the athletes. However, there’s another group that’s feeling just as much pressure as the men and women competing in the Olympics: the executives sitting in the NBC C-Suite. 

The 2021 Tokyo Games saw NBC viewership drop significantly. According to Nielsen, the average primetime audience for Tokyo was 15.1 million compared to 25.8 million for Rio (2016) and 31.1 million for London (2012). And Peacock, which launched in July of 2020 and was meant to be a hub for Olympic content, wasn’t podium ready. With Comcast, who owns NBCUniversal, paying $7.65 billion for the right to broadcast the Olympics through 2032, the company wants to demonstrate it invested well. Thankfully, the 2024 Games is shaping up to do just that. 

In a recent podcast interview with Puck News’ Matt Belloni, NBCUniversal Media Group chairman Mark Lazarus said he wanted Paris Olympics coverage to be “less about school and more about fun,” and, so far, NBC has delivered on that goal. NBC’s coverage hasn’t just been fun, however, it’s so comprehensive that it’s made the 2024 Summer Games the most accessible in Olympic history. Here’s a look at where NBC coverage has earned gold, silver, and bronze medals.

GOLD 

Peacock (with ads)

I’ve loved the Olympics since I was a kid and never had the ability to watch as many events as I have during these Games. This summer, Peacock is streaming 5,000 hours of Olympic programming and all 329 medal events. Best of all, everything is right at your fingertips, and it’s easy to find whatever you want. You can add future events to your My Stuff list, watch highlights of the day’s events, see an up to date medal count, and watch replays of anything you might have missed. Peacock has been a phenomenal Olympic host, in part due to some features listed below that deserve their own gold medal. 

– Gold Zone: An Olympic version of NFL RedZone that features 10 hours of live coverage daily, Gold Zone is sports TV for the TikTok era. During one 30-minute segment, I watched judo, cycling, gymnastics, handball, basketball, boxing, and canoe slalom. It was awesome! Rapid shifts from one sport to another provide variety, never let you miss a big moment, and pop ups let you go to full coverage if you see a sport you want to stick with. 

–  Multiview: A companion to Gold Zone is Multiview, where you can watch up to four events at once. This is a more customizable version of Gold Zone, as you can choose to Multiview one particular sport (i.e. tennis) or whatever top events are happening when you’re on Peacock’s Olympic hub. You can easily switch the audio to whatever you’re most interested in or watch full coverage with a click of a button. 

– AI Al Michaels: Only available on the Peacock app via a smartphone, tablet, or web browser is Your Daily Olympic Recap, a 10-minute summary of the previous day’s events hosted by the AI-generated voice of sportscasting legend Al Michaels. This fully customizable feature, where you choose the events to have Michaels report on, is astounding. It works seamlessly, perfectly blending AI-Al’s voice with highlights and mixes in some video clips for good measure. If you want to see the potential of artificial intelligence and how it can be used in sports broadcasting, Your Daily Olympic Recap is a good place to start.  

– Olympic Highlights with Kevin Hart and Kenan Thompson: This series perfectly fits NBCUniversal chairman Mark Lazarus’ “less about school and more about fun” Olympic coverage mandate. Part-Weekend Update, part-Ridiculousness, and part-talk show, Olympic Highlights is a hilarious look at sports filled with funny clips, laughter-filled interviews, and more than a few off-color colloquialisms. 

Primetime in Paris: The Olympics

If Peacock is an all-you-can-eat Olympic buffet, the nightly Primetime in Paris show on NBC is a lovingly prepared chef’s tasting menu. The wonderfully produced 3-4 hour program takes all of the action from the day and whittles down hours of events into a tight summation. Gobbling down Olympic content on Peacock is a blast, but getting the bespoke version with player profiles and background stories on the coaches and families involved in the Games is just as satisfying.

Snoop Dogg as Team USA Ambassador 

No one is having more fun at the Paris Olympics than the iconic rapper. Whether he’s c-walking with the Olympic Torch, hanging with family members of athletes, or breaking down badminton in a way only he can, anytime Snoop is on screen, you know it’s going to be a good time. Athletes, even big name ones like Simone Biles and LeBron James, drop their guard when he’s around like a kid meeting Santa Claus. Best of all, his positivity is contagious. 

SILVER 

Peacock (without ads)

I have Peacock without ads, but during the Opening Ceremonies, the evening Primetime in Paris coverage, and almost every other event, I have to watch commercials anyway. I understand Comcast has to pay the bills, but if someone’s paid for Peacock without ads, then I’m sure they’d much rather see the views from Paris that sometimes pop up between events than the same repetitive commercials. If you’re signing up for Peacock just for the Olympics, you might as well get it with ads. 

BRONZE

 Watch with Alex Cooper

In this program, the multi-hyphenate creator of the Call Her Daddy podcast hosts a virtual viewing party. Cooper watches events, banters with a myriad of guests, plays fun games, and provides commentary. Unfortunately, this show is less Manning Cast and more People Chatting While a Sporting Event Plays in the Background. Cooper is playful, silly, and a good conversationalist, but she gets distracted often, and the show has a loose structure.

Terry Terrones is a Television Critics Association and Critics Choice Association member, licensed drone pilot, and aspiring hand model. When he’s not daydreaming about Snoop being a member of the White House Press Corps, you can find him hiking in the mountains of Colorado. You can follow him on Twitter @terryterrones.

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