”There are likely a number of consumers that would initially only visit to watch the event,“ Brandon Riney, Parks Associates analyst, tells TheWrap
If the coronavirus leads to the cancellation or postponement of the Summer Olympics, which would be the first since World War II, it could threaten not only NBC’s wallet as primary broadcast partner but also its attempt to launch its new streaming service, Peacock.
NBCUniversal is throwing its hat into the ultra-competitive streaming space, with a soft launch on April 15, meaning it will be available only to Comcast subscribers. The service will have its “Grand Opening” on July 15, which happens to be nine days before the Tokyo Games are scheduled to begin.
Continue reading
Join WrapPRO for Exclusive Content,
Full Video Access, Premium Events, and More!
NBCUniversal is banking on the Olympics to draw in potential subscribers, both by airing certain events on Peacock, as well as using the massive platform the Olympics provides as a marketing tool. The 2016 Rio Games averaged nearly 26 million viewers in primetime. Peacock will have live coverage of the opening and closing ceremonies as well as three daily shows.
Also Read: San Diego Comic-Con, Next Month's WonderCon Are Still on Despite Coronavirus Scare - For Now
Using the Olympics to boost a new programming initiative would not be a new thing for NBC. In 2014, NBC exploited its coverage of the Sochi Winter Olympics to launch Jimmy Fallon’s version of “The Tonight Show.”
NBCUniversal was already facing an uphill battle in streaming. When it becomes available to everyone not already paying Comcast a monthly fee, it will be the last of the three major streaming newcomers to hit the full U.S. market this year. HBO Max is debuting sometime in May, while the short-form Quibi service will become available on April 6. That’s not even counting the two new streaming services launched late last year — Apple TV+ and Disney+ — which joined entrenched players like Netflix, Hulu and Amazon. (We see you, CBS All Access, but we’re waiting until you unveil this new “House of Brands” platform.)
“While initially available to Comcast’s footprint of users in April, NBCUniversal certainly timed the national rollout of Peacock to coincide with the start of the Olympics in July,” Brandon Riney, Parks Associates analyst, tells TheWrap. “Although Peacock offers much more than the Olympics’ coverage, there are likely a number of consumers that would initially only visit to watch the event. Without it, Peacock loses an enticing ‘gateway’ to a large pool of Olympics fans that could later convert into regular viewers or paid subscribers. Instead, NBCUniversal will have to solely rely on its other media assets to raise awareness of its service.”
Simply put: Peacock will be walking into a crowded bar and will have to fight its way through the masses to make it to the bartender. Unlike the others, it is offering a free version of its service, but that won’t include a lot of the original series that can act as a fishing lure for potential paying subscribers.
Also Read: Coronavirus Fears Hit TV Business, Are Upfronts Next to Go?
But as the spread of Covid-19 continues to put major events around the world in jeopardy, the Olympics as of now are scheduled to begin on time in July. “The Games are going ahead, we’re confident they will go ahead, and we’re confident they will start on the 24th of July,” International Olympics Committee spokesman Mark Adams told reporters last week. But the Games will remain on shaky ground. Last month, IOC senior member Dick Pound told the Associated Press that the committee would have to make a call by May whether or not to cancel or at least postpone the Games. The IOC is also considering holding spectator-free events.
Any Olympics cancellation would harm NBC, which counts on the biennial event to bring in billions of ad dollars. NBC Sports has already secured a record $1.25 billion in ad sales. The 2020 Games are the last under the $4.38 billion rights deal the NBC signed with the IOC; NBC is paying more than $1 billion just for these Games alone.
At least in that regard, Comcast says it’s covered.
Comcast CEO Brian Roberts said last week that the Games are moving “full steam ahead,” but if there is a “disruption,” Comcast has “insurance for any expenses.” The company is “protected” in other ways by the contract that is in place. “There should be no losses should there not be an Olympics,” he continued. “There just wouldn’t be a profit this year.”
Also Read: 'Jeopardy,' 'Wheel of Fortune' to Tape Without a Live Studio Audience
A postponement would be a softer fall for NBC, which would still get to put events on Peacock and use it as a marketing tool. But it would have to wade through a few months of low subscriber counts. Airing the Olympics in the fall wouldn’t be completely without precedence: The 2000 Olympics from Sydney took place from Sept. 15-Oct. 1.
Ironically, Roberts said the effects of the global anxiety surrounding the coronavirus, which has led to mass cancellation of big events and forced many to stay home, could have a positive effect on other parts of its business.
“With 70% of our company being cable and broadband, and that consumption taking place in the home, we’re in a very good set of businesses that actually can see more improvement in our digital service and using your device to transact with our company,” Roberts said. “It could actually accelerate trends that we’re already having.”
But if the disease spreads into the summer months, Peacock’s feathers may have trouble flying as high as NBC expected.
Sean Burch contributed to this story.
10 Olympics Opening Ceremonies Ranked, From Beijing Drummers to That Shirtless Tongan (Photos)
-
Getty ImagesThe broadcasters of the Olympics opening ceremonies tend to wax poetic about the majesty and unity of the event, showcasing a glitzy, often over-produced pageant. But sometimes those broadcasters aren't exaggerating at all, and the best of the best opening ceremonies are a stunning showcase of national culture and pride. This year's Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, had a high bar to match some of these stunners, ranked by TheWrap from great to best.
-
Getty Images10. 2014 - Sochi
Russia's take on the opening ceremony was elegant and graceful, if slightly underwhelming. A little girl floats through the stadium chasing a kite and a ballet of "Swan Lake" gives way to the Olympic symbol of the Dove of Peace. There was a technical error at one point: Five snowflakes were meant to grow into the Olympic Rings, but only four expanded.
-
Getty Images
9. 2010 - Vancouver
Vancouver's opening ceremony was perfectly Canadian and tasteful, transforming the stage into a massive ocean of cracking ice caps and graceful whales. It also featured a performance from a fiddler and K.D. Lang singing Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah," which got the audience swooning, if not with their jaws on the floor.
-
Getty Images
8. 2012 - London
Director Danny Boyle played up Britain's star power for the London Games opening ceremony, staging an elaborate opera of sorts in which Kenneth Branagh proclaimed the birth of a new British village. From there, the humble pastures of green gave way to the industrial revolution and a bunch of Oliver Twist orphans in beds parading around stage underneath a giant puppet Lord Voldemort that looked like something out of Pink Floyd's "The Wall." Mr. Bean showed up at one point, too. Weirdest of all, though, was a filmed sketch in which James Bond, played by Daniel Craig, escorted the Queen (yes, the real Elizabeth II and her Corgis) to the ceremony and followed her as she leapt out of a helicopter. (Clearly the helicopter stunt was performed by a stunt person.)
-
Getty Images
7. 2006 - Torino
Only Italy could go from an homage to the Renaissance and Dante to a red Ferrari rally car wildly spinning out on stage. So yeah, it was kind of a mess. But this opening ceremony earns points for featuring the final public performance from the tenor Luciano Pavarotti, who sang the aria "Nessun Dorma" magnificently shortly before his death.
-
Getty Images
6. 2002 - Salt Lake City
This was a more mournful opening ceremony than usual, as it took place in America just months after the 9/11 terror attacks. An American flag flown at the World Trade Center was salvaged from Ground Zero and carried through the stadium during a moment of silence. John Williams composed music for the occasion, dancers performed on ice skates center stage, and LeAnn Rimes sang "Light the Fire Within."
-
Getty Images
5. 2000 - Sydney
Australia kicked off the new millennium right with their impressive opening ceremony. A massive, elaborate stage with rising arms and shifting platforms called "A New Era and Eternity" was the headliner of the evening. But the real show stopper was a bizarre, levitating UFO of a stage that took flight after Australian sprinter Cathy Freeman used the torch to light a ring of fire in a cauldron filled with water, which then poured out in a glorious waterfall.
-
Getty Images
4. 2016 - Rio de Janiero
Directed by Fernando Meirelles ("City of God"), the 2016 Opening Ceremony operated on a lower budget but dazzled with an acrobatic light show that charted the history of Brazil and the changing landscape of the country's rainforests. It used parkour and a touching return for Gisele Bündchen to the catwalk to make a plea for the world to address climate change. But mostly everyone just remembers it for that shirtless, oiled up Tongan flag bearer.
-
Getty Images
3. 2004 - Athens
The Athens opening ceremony in 2004 was historic for two reasons: It was a return to the birth place of the Olympics and its ancient tradition. But more importantly for the viewers at home, it was the first series of games broadcast in HD. So yeah, if you were lucky enough to watch it in pristine high definition before anyone else, it looked pretty majestic. This opening ceremony also set the stage for future broadcasts, with a luminous, iridescent stadium floor and advanced lighting technology that future ceremonies have tried to emulate ever since.
-
Getty Images
2. 2018 - Pyeongchang
There was so much behind the scenes news and drama that took center stage ahead of the 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchang. North and South Korea would appear united during the games, with the two countries marching in under the same flag and running up a massive staircase to light the torch. Kim Jong-Un's sister made an appearance with world leaders, and Mike Pence left early. The shirtless Tongan was back and braved frigid temperatures. Hackers even targeted the event. And yet somehow the opening ceremony found a way to squeeze "Gangnam Style" and "Imagine" into the same broadcast. They found a new way to do a dazzling light show by incorporating a record number of flying drones into a constellation dome pattern and into soaring snowboarders. And perhaps most crucially of all, because Americans saw it pre-taped, it was short.
-
Getty Images
1. 2008 - Beijing
Nothing will top this grand display of a country declaring its place in the world. Zhang Yimou organized exactly 2008 unpaid drummers pounding on illuminating displays in what must've been a years-long, meticulous work of art. The initial countdown was a marvelous technical display -- but the real spellbinding sight was once they turned the lights on, showing viewers the scope of the perfectly uniform faces and bodies that seemed to embody an entire populace. And that was just the first 10 minutes!
TheWrap rates the best openings of the 21st century
The broadcasters of the Olympics opening ceremonies tend to wax poetic about the majesty and unity of the event, showcasing a glitzy, often over-produced pageant. But sometimes those broadcasters aren't exaggerating at all, and the best of the best opening ceremonies are a stunning showcase of national culture and pride. This year's Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, had a high bar to match some of these stunners, ranked by TheWrap from great to best.
Tim Baysinger
TV reporter • tim.baysinger@thewrap.com • Twitter: @tim_bays