Peacock on Ice

Happy February, and welcome to a jam-packed edition of Buffering. Tomorrow marks the official start of the 2022 Winter Olympics, and it promises to be (another) big test for Peacock. After getting some pretty negative feedback last summer, the streamer has revamped its offering this year and is hoping the changes yield better reviews — and lots more subscribers. Meanwhile, a yet-to-launch streaming offering, CNN+, will now be moving forward without one of its key architects, the just-departed CNN boss Jeff Zucker. Hot take alert: This could actually be good news for both CNN and its new subscription offering. And then, this week’s newsletter wraps up with some very good news for fans of David Letterman. Thanks as ever for reading, and if you’ve got a case of the midwinter blues, here’s something which (may) cheer you up: Daylight Saving Time begins in just 38 days. —Joe Adalian

Reach Joe on Twitter @tvmojoe or email [email protected].

For Peacock, last summer’s Olympics were supposed to offer a chance to hit the reset button following a rocky, pandemic-marred launch. Instead, the Games turned into a massive headache: Not every big event could be seen live on the platform, and finding the ones that were was a chore for even the most tech-savvy consumer. At times, it seemed as if complaining about Peacock was more popular than anything going on in Tokyo. Unsurprisingly, the NBCUniversal streamer is hoping things go more smoothly with this month’s winter games in China — and on at least one front, there is reason to think they will.

The case for optimism is bolstered by one big difference from last year: Peacock is promising every minute of every Olympic event covered by NBC Sports will also be streamed live on its platform and available for later on-demand viewing. Unlike last year, you won’t need to be a cable-TV subscriber in order to watch select sports live, nor will you need to download and sign in to the separate NBC Olympics app. As long as you fork over the $5 needed for a one-month subscription to Peacock Premium, you should be good to go. “For the first time, all Olympic programming will be available to all customers across all platforms, whether you’re a pay TV customer or a cord-cutter,” Peacock president Kelly Campbell said last week at a pre-recorded media briefing.

While nobody at NBCU is publicly offering a mea culpa for last summer’s nonsense, comments from Campbell and other execs have made it clear they got the message. In addition to making sure subscribers will no longer need to jump between platforms to get their Olympics content, the streamer has been working to address the other big complaint from 2021: namely, that it was often difficult to figure out how to stream specific events (or when they’d be available) and that the overall user experience was needlessly complicated. To fix things, Campbell said, the streamer “focused our efforts on three key areas: simplicity, choice, and control.” Among the changes:

➼ A revamped user interface anchored by what Campbell calls “a one-stop shop for all Olympics programming on Peacock.” This new hub is actually already live on the platform and lets users begin planning their viewing by browsing specific sports and then adding individual events to their “My Stuff” watchlists. In addition, every major sport will have its own curated mini-hub with listings of current and upcoming events as well as clips and feature stories related to said sport.

➼ In response to complaints from viewers about not knowing which events were taking place when, Peacock now has comprehensive listings incorporated into the Olympics UI. The app lets subscribers plan by day (starting with an early curling match between Sweden and Great Britain on February 2 and going all the way through to the women’s 30 kilometer freestyle skiing event on February 20) or browse through playlists of events and clips connected to star athletes. The interface even identifies which sports will be airing on NBC primetime or USA Network, in case you juggle between traditional live TV and streaming.

➼ Campbell says there will be “full DVR controls” for Peacock Olympics coverage, letting users easily navigate to the beginning of an event if they join one already in progress, as well as fast-forward and rewind live coverage. And when subscribers reach the end of one event, Peacock will prompt them to start streaming the next one being featured by NBC or give them the chance to choose something else.

While Peacock’s all-out effort to correct last year’s mistakes will hopefully pay off with improved subscriber satisfaction — and less social-media grousing — the larger question is whether the Olympics will mark a much-needed turning point for the streamer. While Peacock did see a notable increase in sign-ups around the time of the 2021 Games, just-reported data shows about half of those new customers were gone within a few months. That’s actually not awful, and Peacock’s current subscriber base — 9 million customers who pay full price and another 7 million who access via their cable or broadband packages — is not atrocious for an 18-month-old platform. But it’s also not great.

That’s why a priority for Peacock during the next few months will be convincing folks who come to the platform for the Games to stick around. The streamer will soon unleash some of its most high-profile content to date, including Bel-Air (the buzzy dramatic reboot of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air); the day-and-date premiere of Universal Pictures’ new Jennifer Lopez rom-com, Marry Me; and the Tiger King-inspired scripted series Joe vs. Carole, starring Kate McKinnon and John Cameron Mitchell. Those three events, which will roll out between February 11 and March 3, will be heavily promoted during coverage of the Olympics, as well as during Peacock’s other massive tentpole for the month: the February 13 simulcast of the Super Bowl on NBC.

The Big Game was supposed to air on NBC last year, but the network worked out a deal to swap places with CBS so that this year’s Super Bowl would air in the middle of the Olympics, creating maximum synergy and momentum for Peacock (not to mention some lucrative advertising sales for NBCUniversal). In another sign of how Peacock has eclipsed the NBC broadcast network within the company, the big post–Super Bowl slot normally reserved for a new or returning entertainment series will instead be filled with coverage of the Olympics. Mostly, that’s a ploy to maximize ratings and ad dollars, with NBC betting the Games will be more popular than any entertainment show. But Peacock has also slotted the first three episodes of Bel Air to drop the morning of Super Bowl Sunday, and you can bet NBC Sports announcers — or at least NBC’s promos — will be constantly letting viewers know the show is available for immediate streaming. Even if nobody at Peacock is describing it this way, in essence, Bel Air is the de facto post-Super Bowl telecast for 2022.

While the NBC/Peacock Olympics strategy appears to be pretty sound, there are, of course, still lots of things that could go wrong. Because of their location in China, there’s a bit of a pall over the games: Beijing’s record on human rights has prompted a U.S.-led diplomatic boycott. COVID restrictions, and outbreaks, could once again result in star athletes not being able to compete or in events appearing more low-key because of reduced (or absent) crowds. (NBC has already said it’s keeping almost all of its hosts and analysts in the U.S. because of COVID concerns.) And if no exciting narratives develop around Team USA, NBC and Peacock may struggle to generate interest in the Games. Folks like to mock the syrupy human-interest pieces NBC produces, but that emotional connection to competitors is what drives tune-in among viewers who aren’t hard-core sports fans.

Still, it might not be too difficult for NBC to clear the very low ratings bar that has been established for Beijing. Nielsen numbers for the 2021 summer Olympics were historically bad, plummeting 40 percent from the already so-so 2016 Rio Games. And signs are NBC isn’t expecting Beijing to be much better: Beyond the fact that Winter Olympiads have almost always drawn a smaller crowd than their warm-weather counterpart, Business Insider’s Claire Atkinson last week reported that NBC is now telling its advertisers to be prepared for Beijing 2022 audience impressions to come in well below earlier forecasts. While none of this means NBC gets a pass if the Olympics bomb in the ratings department, it does mean it won’t come as a shock — and, in theory, it could even result in the Games surpassing the sea-level expectations.

NBCUniversal and parent company Comcast can also correctly note that traditional ratings, in general far less relevant than ever, simply no longer accurately measure precisely how many folks watch a multiplatform event such as the Olympics. Indeed, the more successful Peacock’s effort is, the harder it will be for NBC to slow its Nielsen declines, since those viewers aren’t counted in the next-day ratings that get widely reported by media outlets. There will similarly be hundreds of millions of impressions for clips on social media and YouTube that won’t be reflected in the official ratings results.

So yes, it will certainly be a form of spin control when NBCU issues a press release touting record sign-ups for Peacock or how many digital streams its Beijing programming has generated. But it will also happen to be true. Nielsen is no longer the final report card for regular TV shows, and there’s no reason its tally alone should determine the perceived success or failure of NBC (and Peacock’s) 2022 Winter Olympics effort. That role will now be filled by our society’s new arbiter: What people are saying about it on Twitter.

From a strictly business perspective, CNN boss Jeff Zucker’s sudden departure Wednesday could not have come at a more inopportune time. The cable-news pioneer is just weeks away from both the launch of a new subscription streaming platform (CNN+) and a move into the corporate clutches of Discovery Inc. (which is awaiting government approval of a deal for it to acquire CNN parent company WarnerMedia from AT&T). Now with Zucker gone, CNN has lost both the driving force behind its move to streaming and a powerful leader whose close ties to Discovery CEO David Zaslav were expected to smooth out the choppy waters that come with any corporate merger.

Here’s another point of view: In the long run, CNN will be much better off without Zucker at the helm.

I say this despite knowing Zucker has many fans within the company, particularly among the anchor talent whose careers he helped build. His resignation could lead to some unhappy staffers in the months ahead. (Puck’s Dylan Byers got a recording of an internal CNN staff meeting, and it is extraordinary to hear so many of the network’s stars attempt to one-up each other in defending their beloved leader.) It also increases the odds of clashes between what is left of CNN management and the new bosses at Discovery. Zucker’s connection to Zaslav probably would have given CNN a small layer of protection from the worst aftershocks of consolidation.

But outside CNN, Zucker had a vast army of detractors arrayed against him. Among news purists and many progressives, Zucker’s relentless focus on ratings and buzz — even if it meant covering poop cruises and empty podiums — managed to erase whatever was left of CNN founder Ted Turner’s legacy and turned CNN into a cable-news dystopia dominated by shouting heads and tabloid-style coverage of politics. Folks on the right, meanwhile, saw Zucker as a partisan hack devoted to the destruction of the GOP and Donald Trump (ironic given that Zucker’s coverage decisions at CNN played a key role in building up the reputation of candidate Trump, Zucker’s star employee during the era of The Apprentice.)

While it is normally a good thing for people in journalism to piss off both sides of the aisle, in Zucker’s case, the ire was not earned through becoming some sort of nonpartisan ideal of a reporter. Rather, it came mostly from a series of decisions motivated by a desire for higher ratings, bigger profits, and, in some cases (such as the coddling of Chris Cuomo), protecting his pals. You don’t have to think the progressive and conservative critiques of Zucker are equivalent — they’re not — to believe there’s an upside to being rid of someone who’s so widely disliked for all the wrong reasons.

Zucker’s broader unpopularity is not the only way his exit could be a win for CNN. Before the Discovery merger was announced, Zucker had been signaling he planned to leave when his current deal was up. Perhaps he was simply trying to negotiate a better contract by hinting he was ready to leave, but I suspect he really was ready to move on. And that would have been best because right now, as CNN desperately needs to be reinventing itself for the streaming age, Zucker simply was not the best choice to lead the network into that future. I don’t want to render any sort of actual judgment on the about-to-launch CNN+ based on the limited information released about the platform to date. But at a time when cable-news ratings are collapsing, creating a new pay platform focused on rehashed versions of existing CNN shows and staffed with existing high-profile talents feels … half baked? CNN should be focused on how it can become a content factory for HBO Max or a bigger player in the ad-supported streaming marketplace. Instead, with CNN+, Zucker seemed to be chasing what feels like an early-aughts dream of a CNN2 for Wolf Blitzer and Jake Tapper superfans.

The other upside of Zucker exiting CNN now, just before the merger with Discovery, is it could allow a new generation of leaders to take his place and demonstrate their value. Zucker molded CNN after his own image for the better part of a decade, and he is an insanely hands-on exec despite how far up the corporate ladder he had climbed at WarnerMedia. I don’t pretend to know the particulars of who at CNN might step up to take his place, but there are plenty of incredibly talented execs who surely have a vision for the CNN brand different from Zucker’s. Having a leader without his baggage calling the shots at CNN could give the venerable institution a chance for a much-needed reinvention.

On the other hand, one should never underestimate the importance of personal friendships in Hollywood and the media world. I have no clue what Zaslav is thinking about current WarnerMedia boss Jason Kilar’s decision to push Zucker out. But given their reported closeness, it wouldn’t totally shock me if Zaslav gives his buddy a role within the merged Warner Bros. Discovery at some point — perhaps even a post which puts Zucker back in charge of CNN in some form. Barring new revelations, you can already see the spin: “Zucker’s departure didn’t come from a Matt Lauer or even Chris Cuomo-sized extinction event, so why shouldn’t his missteps be treated like the temporary setbacks which beset the likes of Ryan Lizza and Jeffrey Toobin?” To be clear, I think such a rationale would be gross, and a horrible message to send. But if nothing else, Zucker did a good job lifting profits at CNN. It wouldn’t be the first time corporate America looked the other way in order to benefit the bottom line.

Tuesday marked the 40th anniversary of David Letterman’s first late-night show for NBC, and he marked the occasion by launching a new YouTube channel packed with a treasure trove of classic clips from both Late Night and Late Show. It was a long overdue development: While national treasure Don Giller has been filling YouTube with tons of classic Dave for years now, he’s just one man (and also reliant on VCR recordings from TV). The new Letterman YouTube channel is officially sanctioned, with high-quality video pulled directly from NBC and CBS master recordings and the benefit of several staffers curating it with “new” clips on a regular basis. For anyone who loves Dave, it’s a very big deal.

YouTube is arguably the best possible place for this collection of all things Dave, given the site is free, widely available and allows for easy discovery — especially among folks under 30 who never saw the NBC show and perhaps were never into the CBS series.

But I’m somewhat perplexed that vintage Letterman remains absent from another streaming service where it would fit in quite nicely: Peacock.

After all, NBCUniversal still owns the rights to every episode of Letterman’s Late Night, and it had to sign-off on the launch of Letterman’s digital effort. So why isn’t there a 24/7 virtual channel of Dave’s best housed on Peacock, which already has channels devoted to clips of Saturday Night Live and Jimmy Fallon’s The Tonight Show? Ideally, there’d even be complete episodes of Late Night on Peacock, but given the difficulty — and expense — of music rights, I’m not holding my breath for that. Plus, the number of people who want to regularly watch an entire 45-minute episode of a talk show from the 1980s is also probably not as big as I would like to believe it would be.

But given the effort that’s being put into this new YouTube collection, why wouldn’t Peacock want to spend a little bit of its own money to turn Letterman into an asset for its signature streamer? It makes at least as much sense as The Bob Ross Channel, which is a thing you can stream on Peacock.

Sign up to receive Vulture’s 10x10 crossword every weekday.

Enjoying Buffering? Share this email with your network or sign up to get the newsletter in your inbox every week.