NBC’s new Peacock steaming service is set to air four daily live Tokyo Olympics studio shows starting July 24th. The shows will stream for free on Tokyo NOW, the Peacock channel created for Olympics coverage.
The programming will be the following:
6-11 am: “Tokyo LIVE”
This program will feature live competition, interviews, highlights, medal ceremonies, athlete profiles and the usual gamut of expected content regarding live coverage of Olympic events.
11 am - 12 pm: “Tokyo Gold”
This show will feature recaps of outstanding moments from the day as well as athlete interviews and in-depth analysis. The program will repeat every hour between 12 pm and 7 pm Monday through Saturday and between 12 pm and 6 pm on Saturday.
7 - 7:30 pm: “On Her Turf at the Olympics”
This show will cover and celebrate female Olympic competitors. It will feature interviews and special coverage.
7:30 pm - midnight: “Tokyo Tonight”
This program intends to give viewers an inside look at the Olympic Games. Live reports, interviews, and special features will be broadcast with the goal of making viewers feel like they are at the actual event.
“Peacock is thrilled to stream the most anticipated Olympics in history,” said Jen Brown, SVP of Topical Programming and Development for Peacock. “Our shows on the Tokyo NOW channel will give audiences the latest and greatest from the Games, including live competition each morning and quality coverage every night, all for free.”
The news of these shows comes a little over three months before the games are scheduled to begin and amidst continued anxiety over whether they will even be able to take place as the world and Japan in particular struggle to navigate the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
The country is currently in the midst of a fourth wave of infections resulting in Olympics organizers scrambling to consider every option when it comes to how to proceed with the Summer Games. From an outright cancellation to arenas sans spectators, it seems that everything is up in the air.
The apprehension is a bad look for Peacock. The platform was banking on launching at the same time as the games were originally slotted to begin, all but ensuring a swift gain in viewership. In the absence of Olympics programming, the service has floundered and languished with very little must-see content to stand toe to toe with its competitors.
Peacock has also quickly earned a reputation for bungling sporting events with WWE viewers crying foul over it’s streaming of WrestleMania without the ability to rewind the show and Premiere League fans lodging similar complaints.
With the initial postponement of the games and now a possible complete cancellation, this Peacock may regret laying all of its eggs in one basket.