Peacock Will Livestream All of NBCUniversal's Winter Olympics Coverage

Following last year’s complaints that streaming service Peacock had only scattershot coverage of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, NBCUniversal has made a big change for next month’s Winter Games. Peacock Premium subscribers in the U.S. will be able to livestream all of NBCUniversal’s coverage of the Beijing Games, which will be held Feb. 2-20. The streamer will have all of the events airing on NBCUniversal's broadcast and cable networks, live competition streams across all 15 sports, and the Opening and Closing Ceremonies. Premium subscribers—who pay at least $5 per month—will also have access to NBC’s nightly primetime show and full replays of all competition immediately after each event ends, as well as daily studio programming, highlights and medal ceremonies. Customers that sign up for Peacock's free tier will have only access to on-demand highlights and select live coverage via Peacock’s daily studio shows. More details on specific programming will follow. Tokyo Olympics Boosted NBCUniversal’s Quarter—But It’s Unclear If It Helped Peacock “As the streaming destination of the 2022 Winter Olympics, Peacock will offer the ultimate fan experience all in one place,” said Kelly Campbell, president of Peacock, in a statement. “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.” This marks a significant change from NBCUniversal’s strategy when it came to last summer's 2020 Tokyo Olympics. For the Summer Games, Peacock had a 2020 Tokyo Olympics destination hub that featured some of the Games’ biggest events, including men’s and women’s gymnastics, track and field and the U.S. Men’s Basketball Team. All of the coverage was available on the streamer’s free tier, with the exception of live men’s basketball, which was behind the paywall on Peacock Premium. 2020 Tokyo Games viewer frustration Peacock's Olympics programming expansion comes after viewers expressed frustration that the streamer didn’t have all the Tokyo coverage or access to on-demand content. “We are excited to offer NBC Olympics’ storytelling and complete streaming coverage of the 2022 Olympic Winter Games on Peacock,” said Molly Solomon, executive roducer, NBC Olympics & Paralympics, in a statement. “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.” The move seems to be part of a push to increase subscriptions for Peacock's Premium tier, which costs either $5 or $10 a month. In the company's last earnings report last October, NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell declined to share sign-up numbers or any other metrics for Peacock, the first quarter the company neglected to do so since the streamer debuted nationally in 2020. NBCUniversal last reported that 54 million people had signed up for the service ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The Winter Olympics take place alongside Super Bowl 56, which will air Feb. 13 on NBC. The network has already decided against airing one of its new or returning entertainment shows in the coveted post-Super Bowl time slot, and instead will broadcast Beijing Games coverage.