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While Ive caught some of the Games, I am not an Olympics person myself.
Peacock, NBC, cable?
Jen Chaney:I have the Olympics on pretty much all day.
Get into it!)
As good a job as NBCUniversal is doing in handling the Olympics, there is always room for improvement.
Nick Quah:Oh, God.
About the same intensity as Jen.
Well, sort of.
(The exception, of course, is whenever surfing comes on.)
The NBC prime-time programming is less my speed.
(She got silver.)
This is probably why I spent most of my time on theGold Zonestream.
Its great for sickos like me.
Anyway, this is all a long-winded way of saying: Peacock rules.
Has it been easy to use and easy to find what you want to watch quickly on there?
:Yes and no.
J.A.:Right.
Thats my chief rap against Peacock.
Theres almosttoomuch there, and it can be hard to know where to start.
J.C.:Joe, I totally agree with you aboutGold Zone.
Its all killer, no filler.
Same goes with the Olympics.
Most of any given sporting match can be pretty dull, especially for newcomers.
But by zooming into an exciting moment, youre often seeing the most desirable seconds of a new sport.
- Which is incredible and educational!
Lets talk more about Peacocks overall presentation.
We all seem to agree it could do a better job at making it easier to find things.
Is there too much content, or too many options?
But as Jen said, maybe that just is because Im (just) outside the adults 1849 demo.
What advice would you give Peacocks designers to make things better?
And also: How has the app been from a technical point of view?
Do things load quickly and without a lot of, ahem,buffering?
[Pause for laughter]
N.Q.
:The clip thing is so weird.
or youre down with watching highlights on TV in the social-media-esque manner (which also feels unlikely?).
I have trouble believing its getting much use, and Id be interested to see data indicating otherwise.
J.C.:I have been watching Peacock through my Apple TV and it has not been glitchy.
My son, sometimes watching through a smart TV in another room, has complained about occasional slowness.
As far as having too many options, thats just inevitable with the Summer Olympics.
What Peacock can do better is highlighting the best stuff more prominently.
It makes sense for the interface to enable you to scan through all the sports.
I wish it would more prominently highlight specific athletes as well.
Thats something it had avoided doing in the past.
Did it make the right call?
J.C.:It was absolutely the right call.
And I just dont see a downside to offering viewers as many ways to watch as possible.
Thats what people want: options.
:Oh yeah, right call.
Two thoughts on this.
Limiting it to just Peacock would have been a half-measure.
Thats an affiliate thing, and those affiliates need to realize its not 1994 anymore.
Anyway, lets get to the bottom line.
And how did you get there?
I love Kelly Clarkson, but she does not need to be involved in Olympic coverage.
And Mike Tirico continues to be an effortlessly informative, engaging host.
Sports, the Olympics, games of human athleticism its all ultimately as ridiculous as it is wonderful.
:I havent watched enough to give them a grade, but what I have seen, Ive enjoyed.
The Olympics are all about tradition, and this one needs to be respected for the big prime-time show.
