Roku Goes for Gold in Olympic Deal With NBCUniversal (NewFronts)

Paris Olympics
(Image credit: Anthony Dibon/Icon Sport/Getty Images)

Let the games begin on Roku, which made a deal with NBCUniversal to create a new destination on the Roku homepage screen menu that highlights coverage of the upcoming Paris Summer Olympics and pushes users to NBCU’s streamer Peacock.

The NBC Olympic Zone on Roku will feature a replay row, clips, and highlight reels that will take users directly to Peacock, which will live-stream every Olympic event.

Roku and other streamers have been sprinting to add sports to their lineups.

“Our users are going to have an amazing summer with the NBC Olympic Zone on Roku, directing them to Peacock and all the highlights, replays, and live competition coming straight from Paris,” Tedd Cittadine, VP of content partnerships at Roku, said. “This is a unique, exciting opportunity for us, streamers, and sponsors looking to align their brands with this global powerhouse sports moment.” 

Peacock, going for the gold, announced a pre-Olympics $2-per-month price increase.

“Creating partnerships like the NBC Olympic Zone on Roku, which emphasize tentpole content in the user experience on our partner platforms, has proven to provide deeper engagement,” Matt Schnaars, president, NBCUniversal Content Distribution, said. “NBCUniversal’s coverage of the Paris Olympics will be the can’t-miss event of 2024 and this partnership displays the type of experience we can create with partners like Roku to drive users into Peacock.”

The NBC Olympic Zone on Roku will help streamers discover live and upcoming events, stay up to date with a Medal Count module, watch pre-Olympics highlights from the U.S. team trials and engage with athlete profile and other Olympics-related content.

Jon Lafayette

Jon has been business editor of Broadcasting+Cable since 2010. He focuses on revenue-generating activities, including advertising and distribution, as well as executive intrigue and merger and acquisition activity. Just about any story is fair game, if a dollar sign can make its way into the article. Before B+C, Jon covered the industry for TVWeek, Cable World, Electronic Media, Advertising Age and The New York Post. A native New Yorker, Jon is hiding in plain sight in the suburbs of Chicago.