Telemundo Deportes to Provide Record Amount of Spanish-Language Olympic Coverage From Tokyo
NBCUniversal’s Telemundo Deportes will serve the U.S. market with the largest amount of Spanish-language Olympics coverage and content ever provided, beginning on Tuesday, July 20 with the women’s soccer competition.
“Our Spanish-language digital coverage will enhance the audience’s Olympic experience with many options for consuming and engaging with the best of Tokyo,” said Eli Velazquez, executive vice president of sports content for Telemundo Deportes. “Telemundo’s digital offering across our platforms and on Peacock, will connect seamlessly with our linear programming, focusing on the biggest stories, athletes and sports competitions that Latino audiences are eager to follow.”
Telemundo Deportes’ Olympics offerings will provide over 300 hours of linear Spanish-language programming accessible via TelemundoDeportes.com, as well as the Telemundo Deportes app. More than 150 hours of replays will also be available on both platforms, as well as over 1,000 other bits of content ranging from highlights to original series.
Spanish-language Olympics content will also be provided for NBC’s Peacock.
Peacock
Peacock is a subscription video streaming service from NBCUniversal that includes original shows, blockbuster movies, and classic television series. Peacock is home to “Yellowstone,” and “The Office,” as well as original hits like “Poker Face” and “Bel-Air.” You can also watch live sports including NFL, MLB, WWE, Olympics, Premier League, NASCAR, French Open, College Football and Basketball, and PGA Tour. Premium Plus subscribers can stream their local NBC feed in all 210 markets.
Univision is preparing to launch a proprietary streaming platform next year that promises more than 6,000 hours of Spanish-language content and more than 30 original productions on the service in the first year alone via its premium subscription tier.
NBCUniversal is definitely looking to maximize its exclusive Tokyo Summer Olympics programming after already suffering some severe setbacks due to the events being postponed due to the pandemic. With much handwringing taking place at NBC as the lead-up to the Games seemed to point towards outright cancellation, the Olympics seem all but inevitable and the company appears to be looking forward to making up for lost time.
With a partnership with Twitch bringing the Games to a younger, more fickle audience, exclusive Peacock programming, and Telemundo Deportes’ extensive Spanish-language programming, NBCUniversal’s CEO Jeff Shell said the company is anticipating what could be “the most profitable Olympics” in the network's history.
The U.S. market for overall Spanish-language content has, thus far, been largely untapped, but over the past year or so, streamers have been catching on and making bold gestures to capture a large community that is often starved for high quality, meaningful programming.
Earlier this year, Pluto TV launched a dramatic expansion into its Spanish-language programming with Pluto TV en Español, and Philo CEO Andrew McCollum has publicly confirmed that the budget streaming service is considering the creation of a Spanish-language package of channels and programming.