Paris Olympics is the latest test of whether sports can win subscribers for NBC’s Peacock

The Paris Olympics will offer Comcast another chance to lift its streaming platform, Peacock, as it aims to not only attract more subscribers but keep them.

Although this Olympics is the third since Peacock debuted in 2020, it’s becoming the first real opportunity for Comcast’s NBCUniversal, CNBC’s parent company, to use its long-standing U.S. media rights to boost the streaming service.

“In some ways, Comcast is starting with a clean slate, in that this will be the first Olympics for Peacock since the games were blown up by the pandemic and distorted time zones,” said analyst Craig Moffett of MoffettNathanson. “But they’ve also had the opportunity to learn quite a bit, so they will be much better prepared for capitalizing on the Olympics than before.”

There are a handful of reasons this Olympics looks better for Peacock than recent Games, such as the favorable time zone — Paris is six hours ahead of the East Coast in the U.S., versus 13 hours for Tokyo in 2021. The end of the restrictions from the early days of the Covid pandemic is also a big factor, along with the allure of the host city of Paris.

But most importantly, Peacock will air the entirety of the Summer Olympics for the first time.

“It was different times, since Peacock didn’t have the rights to show all of the Olympics back in 2021,” said Molly Solomon, NBC’s executive producer of the Olympics. “But we’re in a different era of streaming with rights deals. Peacock is now the streaming home of the Olympics, and there’s no limits if you’re a super fan or casual fan, since it will all be available on Peacock.”

Some fans were confused during the 2021 Summer Games in Tokyo about what exactly was available live on the streaming platform.

“I don’t know that there is a great comparison to be made,” said Kelly Campbell, president of Peacock. “This will be the most comprehensive Olympic destination in U.S. history.”

The Olympics come at an important moment for Peacock, as legacy media companies are pushing for their streaming services to retain customers and become profitable in a tumultuous industry landscape. Live sports, in particular, have drawn the most viewership to traditional TV and streaming.

The Olympics have long been a big part of NBCUniversal’s sports portfolio. The relationship dates back to 1936, when NBC Radio covered the events. NBC first broadcast the games during the 1964 Summer Olympics.

Paris marks NBC’s 18th Olympic Games. Comcast paid $7.65 billion to renew its media rights deal through 2032.

The 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which were held in 2021 due to the Covid pandemic, drew the lowest-ever audience for the Summer Games. The Beijing Olympics in 2022 had the lowest viewership ever for the Winter Games, which are notably smaller than the Summer Olympics.

Between the favorable time difference and the backdrop of France this year — for instance, the opening ceremony will air Friday afternoon from along the Seine River, the equestrian teams will compete at the Palace of Versailles, and beach volleyball will be played next to the Eiffel Tower — NBCUniversal and others are betting on a return to big viewership for the Olympics.

A majority of U.S consumers are expecting to watch the Olympics this year, with 60% likely to stream the Games and 47% planning to watch on traditional TV, according to Numerator’s recent survey of more than 10,000 consumers.

Also, advertisers have been flocking to the Paris Games. NBCUniversal said in April it had already sold more than $1.2 billion in advertising for the Summer Games, a record for the Olympics.

Ad-supported streamers, including Peacock, and digital companies have seen an influx of ad dollars as the market rebounds.

While competitions will play out live during the day in the U.S., NBC has branded the evening as “Primetime in Paris” and will replay big events along with in-depth programming such as interviews.

Overall, there will be more hours of the Olympics on broadcast network NBC than in previous years, and cable networks including USA will also feature a lot of live content. Every event will be live on Peacock and available to replay, so fans can watch the entirety of the Games without a traditional cable TV subscription.

Plus, the U.S. audience is likely to tune in for events such as men’s and women’s basketball, which both include star-studded lineups; Simone Biles’ final run with the gymnastics team, and the U.S. swim team’s heated rivalry with Australia.

“I’m sure basketball will tell its own story in terms of ratings and everyone watching, but [the] no-guaranteed-big-victory part of this is something that will keep everyone watching when Team USA plays in men’s basketball,” NBC prime-time and daytime Olympic host Mike Tirico said during a press call this week, referencing the fact that the U.S. men’s basketball team faces a tougher path than ever to a gold medal.

Live sports remains the last opportunity to attract large TV audiences and for streaming services to sign up and keep customers.

This has been especially true for Peacock.

The streaming platform — which costs $7.99 with ads or $13.99 commercial-free — has benefited from its parent company’s portfolio of sports rights. The National Football League, English Premier League, Nascar, Big Ten college football, golf and the Spanish-language broadcast of the World Cup have all played a role in keeping customers.

Earlier this year, Comcast said the exclusive NFL Wild Card game on Peacock helped to add more customers than expected.

“We sort of used the Wild Card game as a hook to bring in millions of new subscribers but then also used that opportunity to expose them to new content,” said Campbell. After a big cohort of viewers comes in for a major sporting event, she said, 90% of what they watch after that is entertainment.

Over a three-day period, an estimated 3 million people signed up to watch Peacock’s NFL Wild Card game, according to TV data provider Antenna. Comcast had said it retained more customers than expected from the game, and Antenna’s data showed 71% of those customers remained as subscribers seven weeks after the game.

However, the longevity of those customers remains to be seen. Peacock had 33 million paid customers as of June 30, the company reported earlier this week. The total was down about 500,000 customers from the period ending March 31.

The prior Olympic Games that aired on Peacock also led to a bump in sign-ups, according to Antenna data.

NBCUniversal has also deepened its bet on sports, announcing this week an 11-year media rights deal with the NBA, which includes exclusive games for Peacock, beginning in the 2025-2026 season.

“None of this promises that Peacock is actually going to be a successful business,” said Moffett. “It doesn’t change the fact that streaming is almost certainly a worse business than linear TV used to be.”

“But I think it’s now much clearer than it was before that Peacock’s plan is all around sports,” he said.

In addition to thousands of hours of live events, Peacock will also offer replays and its own original content. That includes a watch-along show led by Alex Cooper, who hosts the popular podcast “Call Her Daddy,” and “Gold Zone,” hosted by Scott Hanson of “NFL Red Zone” and in a similar format.

“I wanted to try a ‘Watch With’ companion program, where a popular personality would be watching along with the audience,” said Solomon. The expectation is that fans of Cooper, who is a former collegiate soccer athlete, will tune into the program, as well as Olympics fans. “We have chosen some of the biggest events in the Olympics, and hope to create new fans.”

Peacock will also introduce an artificial intelligence function for the Olympics. Users will be able to get daily recaps in the voice of Al Michaels, the longtime Sunday Night Football host who is now part of Amazon’s Thursday Night Football broadcast.

Disclosure: Comcast’s NBCUniversal is the parent company of CNBC.