Peacock is looking to upgrade its user experience with a host of new features, including two multiview modes, Live Actions, and more. These new features have been announced ahead of the Paris Olympic Games, which are set to stream on Peacock later this year.
Multiview has become a hot topic in the world of streaming and Peacock is now getting in on the action with its own version, Discovery Multiview, which allows up to four live feeds to be shown on the screen at the same time. While that’s far less than the up to 40 events that might be happening at once during the Olympics, it still provides users with access to more feeds than usual on the one screen.
Not to mention, NBCU says Discovery Multiview will include “real-time on-screen descriptions from NBCU’s Olympic experts informing viewers about what is at stake, such as a medal event, an elimination risk or a first-time Olympian.”
The use of Discovery in the name is intentional as NBCU also confirmed that a traditional Multiview experience will be available for general sports, including soccer, track & field and wrestling. Similar to the Discovery version, the traditional Multiview experience will also feature the ability to watch up to four matches on one screen and will begin testing during select events this spring.
Regardless of which Multiview version is in use, users can move around the screen to select individual feeds, switch the audio and click through to the full-screen experience.
In terms of Live Actions, these are essentially on-screen prompts that will be visible during live and primetime coverage. According to NBCU, Live Actions allow the user to “choose their own viewing journey” by providing them with alerts of “the best and most exciting moments” and the ability to quickly switch to the prompted live event or continue watching the same event. Likewise, if the Gold Zone live whip-around show the viewer is watching moves to another event, Live Actions will also provide an opportunity to stay with the current event.
Further adding to their usefulness, Live Actions shown during the NBC Primetime simulcast will allow users to add upcoming events to their “My Stuff” list to watch later.
Other features and improvements Peacock users can look forward to include:
- Spotlight of the biggest live events prominently displayed at the top of the screen when fans enter the Olympics hub.
- A “Browse by Sport” rail to allow fans to quickly find all live events, highlights and replays for their favorite competitions. Fans can easily jump between different sports hubs through connected navigation at the top of their screens.
- A new “Search by Star Athlete” feature, so fans can find live events or replays that include their favorite athletes, regardless of whether they are an individual competitor or part of a team sport. As in previous Olympics, fans can also search by sport, event and team, including country names and three-letter country codes.
- An enhanced Interactive Schedule, so fans can plan their Olympics viewing day-by-day, join events live, watch replays or add events to their “My Stuff” to watch later.
- Up-to-date Medal Standings sponsored by Delta for fans to keep track of every country competing in Paris.
- Peacock’s award-winning “Catch Up with Key Plays,” which allows fans to easily access key moments when joining an in-progress game or revisit their favorite plays, will now be available for basketball and golf, in addition to soccer.
It is no surprise that Peacock has opted to launch these new features in conjunction with the Paris Olympics, as the streaming service will be home to more than 5,000 hours of live Olympic content, including all 329 medal events.
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