Viewers tuning into the Winter Olympics are finding much in common with their 2024 Paris Olympics experience, but there are a few new wrinkles behind the scenes and on the screen.
The frozen fortnight in Milan-Cortina began Friday with an eclectic opening ceremony and a few initial events, but the main kickoff is this weekend before the Games conclude on February 22.
Comcast (and before that NBC) has had Olympics rights for more than three decades, and the company has made them a cornerstone of tech innovation, advertising partnerships and linear and streaming programming initiatives. As a major pay-TV and broadband provider, Comcast’s Xfinity typically rolls out new features and offerings around the Olympics, and this year is no exception.
NBCUniversal is continuing its coverage of the Games, with NBC and Peacock the twin pillars, but a significant maneuver last month changed the corporate structure a bit. Most of NBCU’s former cable network portfolio spun off into Versant, a new, publicly traded company.
Because that roster includes sports-centric outlets like The Golf Channel and USA Network, some familiar sports entities have extended carriage on what are now Versant-owned networks. Talent and production still continues to cross over – NASCAR, for example, is now a Versant property, with USA airing the majority of its races. Four NASCAR races will air on NBC, with Versant producing. As a similar bridge between the pre- and post-spin eras, the companies reached a deal for NBCU to handle Versant’s advertising sales.
It’s hard to predict where Versant heads from here, especially given management’s vow to pursue non-cable revenue opportunities. During the past several months, execs have taken steps to wean themselves from NBCU, decamping to a new Midtown Manhattan corporate headquarters and making deals with a number of other suppliers for news, sports and entertainment programming. Given the uncertainty in cable (one major player, Warner Bros. Discovery, which has Olympics rights in Europe, is in the process of spinning off its cable networks before merging with Netflix), the long-term future of the Games on Versant is hard to forecast. Comcast renewed its Olympics rights deal last year through 2036.
For this edition of the Winter Olympics, the arrangement means a lot of the action will air on USA and CNBC, albeit without the familiar peacock on-screen logo.
In all, about 3,200 hours of coverage will air, of which a record 700 hours will be on linear TV. The remaining 2,500 hours will be on NBCU streaming flagship Peacock, which has revived the Gold Zone, a popular offering launched for the Paris games.
While “A.I. Al Michaels” won’t be back, Peacock has other personalization tools and ways to customize the viewing experience.
As detailed last month at a press event touting its “Legendary February” consisting of the Olympics, the Super Bowl and NBA All-Star Game, Peacock is debuting Rinkside Live, a feature offering close-up, customizable views of figure skating. Peacock is also bringing back features like Discovery Multiview, Live Actions, Live in Browse, in-page sports hubs, interactive schedule, medal standings and expanded search.
Xfinity has also amped up the personalization. Executives offered Deadline a tour through the operator’s Olympics experience, which gives viewers features like Fan View, customizable Multiview (allowing four different events to be shown on one screen) and RealTime 4K.
AI-powered highlights and ready access to stats and the latest medal count are also part of the Xfinity offering, and viewers can also take “flyover tours” of snowboard halfpipes, the bobsled track and ski slopes. Xfinity also recorded exclusive interviews with a wide range of American athletes competing in the Games and is incorporating them into the overall offering.
“The Olympic Games capture the attention of the nation like no other sporting event, making them a perfect stage to showcase what Xfinity does best when it comes to live sports,” said Vito Forlenza, VP, Sports Entertainment, Connectivity & Platforms, Comcast. The provider’s approach, he added, “lets fans choose how they want to engage.”
CNBC is airing Olympics coverage on the weekends and during the week after business day programming ends. The network has once again started airing curling, which will appear on the network every day through February 21, when the gold medal game is played.
Versant’s USA Network is being positioned as “the 24/7 home of Team USA,” as it has been in the past. The programming day will feature alpine skiing finals in the morning, leading into freestyle skiing, snowboarding, sliding sports, and most of the hockey schedule.
Skiing, a notable draw for Team USA given high-profile members Lindsey Vonn and Mikaela Shifrin, will be a significant property airing on USA as well as Peacock. With Vonn, incredibly, still competing despite a ruptured ACL and meniscus in her knee, the women’s downhill early Sunday morning promises drama. She will then take part in the super-G on Thursday, aiming to become the first U.S. woman to medal in the event since she did in 2010.
Shifrin has pared back and will ski in only three events (slalom and giant slalom, plus team combined), compared with six in the 2022 Games. She is in the spotlight this time around given her last appearance in an Olympics ended in disappointment, with her failing to finish three of the events or take home any medals.