HDR10+ Technologies — a multi-industry association that encompasses more than 170 adopters and nearly 20,000 certified devices — has confirmed that the France 2 UHD TV channel will be broadcasting the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics in 4K Ultra HD using HDR10+ metadata technology to optimize video image quality on a scene-by-scene basis.
The broadcasts, which will run Feb. 6-22, are just the latest example of how HDR10+ is being used for a variety of applications in the entertainment industry.
In addition to providing superior video quality, France 2 UHD will be offering three different immersive audio mixing options on compatible televisions: a traditional mix balancing commentary and ambient sounds; a mix where the commentary volume is increased by 6 dB for greater voice intelligibility; and a mix that contains ambient sounds only, without any commentary.
“We are pleased to work with France Télévisions Group to utilize HDR10+ to help the Olympic Games enthusiasts to enjoy the highest quality video and audio possible,” Bill Mandel, co-manager of HDR10+ Technologies, said in a statement.
“France 2 UHD is proud to deliver the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics in native UHD,” Jacques Donat-Bouillud, director of distribution for France Télévisions Group, said in a statement. “This exceptional image quality and more immersive sound will enable our viewers to experience these Olympic Games as if they were on the slopes or ice rink.”
Live sports have been steadily moving to streaming, but Feb. 8 may mark a decisive shift. On that day, NBC and Peacock will broadcast both Super Bowl LX and the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics. For an industry that has long debated whether streaming can support the biggest live sporting events at scale, this month will serve as a real-world, high-stakes test.
Francesca Pezzoli
For Peacock, this moment represents more than a programming milestone; it is an opportunity to validate its ambitions in live sports.
The stakes are high. Live sports viewers are less forgiving than on-demand audiences; even minor issues with access, discovery or technical performance can quickly erode trust. However, the rewards are substantial if Peacock delivers a seamless experience.
Success will not be measured only by subscriber growth or viewing time. It will be defined by visibility, consistency and execution: how often Peacock appears on the home screen, how effectively it surfaces live moments, and how intuitively it guides viewers between events, highlights and replays. In a crowded streaming environment, winning sports isn’t just about having the rights; it’s about owning the digital shelf.
CTV: The New Battleground for Attention
Connected TV (CTV) is becoming increasingly important as live sports viewing shifts to this platform. Currently, 80% of U.S. CTV users stream live sports, according to the “LG Ad Solutions report: Stadium to Screen,” making the TV home screen a critical gateway to reach fans.
On Feb. 8, the competition will extend beyond Peacock versus other streaming services. It will be a visibility contest across Roku, Fire TV, Samsung, LG, and other platforms, where device-level discovery determines which audiences see first. Which apps and live events are featured on home screens, and which platforms successfully convert viewer intent into action, will ultimately determine success.
For viewers, the experience will feel simple: turn on the TV and watch. Behind the scenes, however, the CTV merchandising strategy will play a disproportionate role in determining who wins attention during one of the most competitive live sports days of the year. This is the turning point where home-screen visibility becomes as valuable as the rights themselves.
The Paris 2024 Olympics set viewership records across linear, digital and social platforms. The 2026 Winter Olympics are expected to be even more multichannel. Fans will move between live broadcasts, streaming apps, highlights, social clips and second-screen experiences. For Peacock, this means alignment across content strategy, CTV execution and device-level partnerships.
Last year’s Super Bowl on Fox and Tubi was the most-watched Super Bowl and telecast in U.S. history. Tubi provided a top-tier streaming experience for free, a key message highlighted in their most prominent placements across Samsung TV, LG TV and Google TV.
To achieve success this year, Peacock needs to secure premium advertising environments, establish dominant home-screen placements, and ensure effective promotion across CTV devices, including Roku, Amazon Fire TV, and smart TVs.
Why This Matters
February will be an important case study for sports streaming. In addition to the Super Bowl and Olympics, Peacock will air the 2026 NBA All-Star weekend. It will show how audiences behave when major live events are available on streaming platforms, how well CTV environments facilitate discovery, and whether the execution can meet expectations under such demanding live conditions.
Francesca Pezzoli is VP of marketing at Looper Insights, a company that helps major Hollywood studios, global streamers, local broadcasters, and entertainment platforms understand how content is promoted across connected TV and digital storefronts and how that visibility translates into audience engagement and viewership.
Threshold, a documentary about Olympic gold medalist and most-decorated American cross-country skier ever Jessie Diggins, will debut on the streaming Peacock Feb. 23.
It also follows her painful fight with an eating disorder at the peak of her career. Through unprecedented access to Diggins and those closest to her, the film offers an intimate look into the complexity of a disorder that often hides in plain sight.
Threshold unfolds over the course of a single, high-stakes season, while moving fluidly through time to reveal the deeper roots of Jessie’s struggle. Present-day vérité — embedded with Diggins and the U.S. Ski Team — intercuts with formative moments from her past, tracing how a relentless pursuit of perfection took hold early in her career as she internalized the belief that control of body mass was essential to success.
What follows is not a retrospective, but a season lived in real time — where progress and pressure coexist. From grueling races above the Arctic Circle to the first World Cup on American snow in more than 25 years, the film tracks a season of mounting pressure at the highest level of sport.
More than 87% of all Xfinity X1 pay-TV subscribers (13.1 million) watched NBC Sports’ live coverage of the recent Paris Olympics — up 78% from the national average across other broadcasters, according to Comcast, which cited Nielsen data.
The Paris Games proved a milestone moment for Comcast, driving massive viewership and engagement across NBCUniversal’s broadcast and cable networks, and streaming on Peacock.
More than 65% of X1 households engaged with one of X1’s Olympics product features such as the Olympics Hub, the interactive schedule, and curated playlists, among other options, according to Comcast
From July 26 to Aug. 11, the collective views of 2024 Paris Olympics coverage on the networks of NBCUniversal and streaming on Peacock represented approximately 20% of total viewing across X1 and Xfinity Stream.
NBC’s marquee programs, “Paris Prime” from 2-5 p.m. and “Primetime in Paris” from 8-11 p.m. were the most-viewed shows on X1 across all linear channels during the Olympics.
Comcast reports X1 viewers were able to see live Olympics results up to 42 seconds ahead of other broadcast providers. In super-fast events such as the 100-meter dash in track and field, and the 50-meter freestyle in swimming, Comcast reports Xfinity households watched athletes finish their races before they even left the starting blocks in many other homes across the country.
“We also delivered this programming over our network with ultra-low latency, meaning that X1 households got to experience gold medal moments in stunning picture quality,” Comcast said in a blog post.
The number of sports documentaries released by leading commissioners reached a new peak in the run-up to the Paris Olympic Games with 103 new (first-run) sports documentaries and docuseries released between May and July 2024, according to new research from Ampere Analysis.
The last time Ampere saw these levels was in the run-up to the 2022 Football World Cup with 109 documentaries in the three months leading to November 2022. However, this was in a time of higher overall commissioning volumes. Within the current commissioning context, the new sports documentaries released in July 2024 represent 25% of all new documentaries released globally during the month, a record share to date.
This is a new high watermark for documentary sports content, which has grown its share of first-run documentary releases from 6% in 2020 to 9% in 2022 and 12% so far in 2024. Primarily driven by SVOD services, the trend is increasingly being picked up by public broadcasters. European public broadcasters, led by France Televisions and the BBC, released the highest volume of new sports documentaries from May to July. In comparison, the global streamers — which have become the market leaders in the sports documentary genre over the last few years — took a back seat over the last three months.
In addition to these documentaries, several other sports-related entertainment and reality programs were also launched during the period. This pushed sports content to hit a record 17% share of all new unscripted commissions released in July.
The thematic focus of much of this content pointed to this shift in origin. The majority of these documentaries were reflective of public broadcasters’ focus on the history of the Olympics, portraits of local athletes, and analyses of national stakes in the Games. The Olympics featured less prominently in global streamers’ new sports documentary releases, which continue to prioritize topics likely to appeal to a broad international subscriber base. The focus was on sports such as football or access to high-profile sports personalities, including tennis player Roger Federer at Amazon Prime Video, and Formula 1 driver Checo Perez at Disney+.
“Content producers had prepared in earnest for the spike in interest in sport of all kinds that the Olympics produces,” Cyrine Amor, senior analyst at Ampere Analysis, said in a statement. “This year there’s been a huge increase in the number of sports documentaries, docuseries, reality, and entertainment programming. Unusually, public broadcasters created more of this material than the global streamers. Sports fans have enjoyed a true summer of sport and documentary creators have turned July 24 into a record month for global releases.”
With Team USA averaging a leading 6.75 medals won per day through the first four days of competition at the Paris Summer Olympics, exclusive U.S. media partner NBCUniversal is setting its own records at the quadrennial sports spectacle.
The media giant is averaging 33.8 million viewers over the first four days of the Games (including the opening ceremony) across its distribution channels, which include NBC Sports and Peacock streaming. That’s up 77% from 19.1 million average viewers over the same period at the Covid-delayed Tokyo Olympics.
The data does not include Tuesday (July 30) events, which included Team USA’s gold medal in the women’s gymnastics all-around competition featuring Simone Biles, Jordan Chiles, Suni Lee, Jade Carey and Hezly Rivera.
The opening game for the U.S. women’s basketball team against Japan generated 3 million viewers across the USA Network and Peacock. The women are seeking their eighth consecutive gold medal. The streamer has generated more than 4.5 billion minutes of viewer consumption, more than the entire Tokyo Games.
On the advertising front, NBCUniversal said it expects to generate a record $1.25 billion in advertising revenue after securing more advertisers than the Rio and Tokyo Games combined. More than 70% of the Paris sponsors are first time advertisers. Digital ad revenue is more than doubling Tokyo digital, setting a record high according to the company.
NBCUniversal has held the exclusive U.S. media rights to the Olympics since 1988, with future rights secured through the 2032 Games.
“The 2024 Paris Games have delivered a uniquely powerful halo for brands at an incredible scale with a highly engaged and passionate audience,” Mark Marshall, chairman of global advertising and partnerships at NBCUniversal, said in a statement. “Together, we have innovated the advertising experience with authentic and inspirational creative that is leaving a lasting impact on consumers.”
NBCUniversal June 14 unveiled its first-of-its-kind “Paris Creator Collective” for its social media coverage of the Olympic Games Paris 2024.
The media giant, in partnership with Meta, Overtime, Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube, has developed a multi-platform social creator program that will employ 27 social media creators to create content through on-the-ground access in Paris.
The Paris Creator Collective aims to reach out to younger (i.e., teenage) Olympic Games followers with personalities, content, and voices they consistently engage with in their daily lives across social media, says Gary Zenkel, president of NBC Olympics.
The organizers of Paris 2024 are reimagining the Games to make them more accessible to the public and to showcase their city to the world. In a first, competitions will be held amid iconic Parisian landmarks — beach volleyball at the Eiffel Tower, equestrian at the Palace of Versailles, and urban sports at Place de la Concorde.
“Creators will bring a unique perspective … from the athletes to the food to the celebration, they will offer their communities of fans a truly unique, engaging look at this summer’s global gathering in Paris,” Zenkel said in a statement.
The creators will create custom content while attending the Games this summer, and certain U.S. Olympic Team Trials in June. Advertising partners will work with NBCUniversal to create sponsored posts with the creators, who include:
Overtime: Megan Eugenio, @overtimemegan, Maddy Sells, @overtimemaddy , Peter Dunks @overtimepeter and Kieran Hickey-Semple @carebearkieran. Talent on the ground for Overtime, as well as talent from Brooklyn, will post content exclusively to Overtime’s social channels, including TikTok, Instagram, and dedicated talk shows.
NBCUniversal previously announced that the NBC broadcast network and streaming service Peacock will be the company’s primary platforms for its coverage of the Olympic Games Paris 2024, scheduled for July 26-Aug. 11.
NBCUniversal owns the U.S. media rights to the Olympic Games through 2032, which are scheduled for Paris (2024), Milan Cortina (2026), Los Angeles (2028) and Brisbane (2032). The host city for the 2030 Olympic Winter Games has not yet been chosen.
Warner Bros. Discovery March 21 announced that its flagship streaming service will launch in the first European countries May 21, a year after its U.S. debut, with more countries to be added before the Olympic Games in Paris start July 26.
The initial rollout will be across central and eastern Europe, as well as in Iberia and the Nordic countries of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. Launches will follow in Belgium, France, the Netherlands and Poland.
By the time the Olympics start, Max will be available in 25 European countries. That will boost the platform’s presence to 65 countries and territories worldwide.
The HBO Max-Discovery mashup is banking on heavy Euro-appeal thanks to the inclusion of content from Eurosport, a French group of pay television networks in Europe and parts of Asia owned by WBD through its international sports unit. WBD says Max will be the only service in Europe to stream Olympic Games Paris 2024, with the competitions included in all subscription plans.
“Max … builds on our long heritage in Europe, bringing together an incredible breadth and depth of culture-defining entertainment from our services and networks, all in one place,” JB Perrette, CEO and president of global streaming and games at Warner Bros. Discovery, said in announcing the Max rollout at the Series Mania TV festival in Lille, Hauts-de-France. “The unrivaled content we’ve got on Max from ‘House of the Dragon’ to Olympic Games Paris 2024 and beyond means whatever your mood or the occasion, Max has something great for everyone, every time.”
The launch of Max in Europe comes less than one month before the return of the hot HBO Original series “House of the Dragon,” which is scheduled to bow on Max in Europe June 17.
A sports add-on will allow European subscribers to watch major international and European sports, including the four tennis Grand Slams (Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open); cycling’s three Grand Tours (Giro d’Italia, La Vuelta a España, and the Tour de France) in addition to the Tour de France Femmes; the popular car race 24 Hours of Le Mans; and every major winter sports World Championship and World Cup events.
A selection of flagship live linear networks will also be available on Max in some countries in select plans, including CNN International in France and Poland, TVN in Poland, TV Norge in Norway, and Kanal 5 in Sweden — as well as Eurosport, in all countries.
A number of different plans will be available to European subscribers, including a basic plan that will include advertising and be offered at a lower price. The basic plan will initially be available in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Netherlands, Romania, Poland, France and Belgium and allow users to stream content, in full HD resolution, on two devices simultaneously.
A higher-priced standard plan will also allow up to 30 downloads of available content to watch offline. A premium plan will let viewers stream content in full HD or 4K resolution on up to four devices simultaneously with Dolby Atmos sound. The premium plan allows up to 100 downloads of content for offline viewing.
Existing HBO Max subscribers will be able to keep their current profiles and viewing history. In some cases, the HBO Max app will be automatically updated to the Max app. In other cases, when users open their HBO Max app, they will be prompted to download the new Max app.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Netflix have collaborated for a celebratory look at the 2008 U.S. Olympic Men’s Basketball victory with the documentary The Redeem Team.
The documentary debuts globally on Netflix Oct. 7.
Using unprecedented Olympic footage and behind-the-scenes material, The Redeem Team tells the story of the U.S. Olympic men’s basketball team’s quest for gold at the Olympic Games Beijing 2008 following the previous team’s shocking performance four years earlier in Athens that brought only a bronze medal for third place. The documentary offers a portrait of team building and features interviews with athletes and coaches from Dwyane Wade and LeBron James to Mike “Coach K” Krzyzewski, who reflect on how the team set a new standard for American basketball.
The Redeem Team is an Olympic Channel, Kennedy/Marshall Company and Mandalay Sports Media production in association with 59th and Prairie Entertainment, UNINTERRUPTED, NBA Entertainment and USA Basketball.
This is Netflix’s first collaboration with the Olympic Channel, which is the media studio owned and operated by the IOC, and also marks the Olympic Channel’s first time producing a film exclusively for a global streaming service.
“The IOC has opened up their never-before-seen archives for this documentary, including basketball footage from the past 70 years of Olympic history,” according to a Netflix release.
The film is directed by Jon Weinbach, a producer, filmmaker, and writer who is also the president of Skydance Sports, a division of Skydance Media. He was formerly the executive producer and EVP of Mandalay Sports Media, a content venture founded in 2012 by Peter Guber and Mike Tollin. His portfolio at MSM included producing The Last Dance, executive producing The Comedy Store, and executive producing nine documentary films for the International Olympic Committee’s OTT platform, the Olympic Channel. Prior to joining Mandalay, he produced and wrote Producers Guild of America Award-nominated The Other Dream Team, and was also a staff reporter at The Wall Street Journal.
“The Redeem Team represents the very best of what the Olympics are all about,” Mark Parkman, GM of Olympic Channel Services, said in a statement. “This film will bring viewers directly inside that team and the Olympic Games Beijing 2008 by showcasing the personality and dynamics of a special group of superstars who came together as one to reclaim basketball supremacy on the biggest stage in sports.”
“In 2008, I played with heroes of mine, all stars, friends and future teammates,” said executive producer Dwyane Wade in a statement. “Outside of winning and showing the world that we were still the most dominant, our other big challenge was changing the perception of what everyone thought about the NBA and USA Basketball. I’m excited for everyone to get an opportunity to go behind the scenes and see all the work that went into this iconic team — The Redeem Team.”
Premiere Digital and Windfall Films on Dec. 15 announced the Jan. 18 launch of The Wall — Climb for Gold, a feature-length documentary that follows four elite female climbers on their quest to make the Tokyo Olympics.
The 90-minute film will be available globally for digital rental and purchase through Apple TV, Google Play and Amazon Prime Video, depending on a viewer’s country.
In the United States, the documentary will also be available for transactional video-on-demand (TVOD) viewing on Redbox On Demand, Vudu and DirecTV. Other platforms are expected to join in before the film’s release. Later in the year, The Wall will be accessible on global streaming platforms.
The Wall — Climb for Gold follows the four climbers over a two-year period as they battle to make it through the qualifying events to get to Tokyo for the first-ever Olympic climbing competition. Their original plans fall apart as the COVID-19 pandemic results in the Olympics being postponed for a year.
The four climbers profiled in the documentary are Brooke Raboutou (USA), Janja Garnbret (Slovenia), Miho Nonaka (Japan), and Shauna Coxsey MBE (Great Britain).
Garnbret, 22, was a child phenomenon and holds the most world titles in the sport. The overwhelming favorite for the Olympic title, she is under extraordinary pressure to deliver when it matters most.
Raboutou, 20, is one of the youngest competitors at the Games and must balance training and being a student at the University of California, San Diego. Raboutou’s mother and father are both legends of the sport, winning numerous World Cup titles in the 1990s.
Nonaka, 24, the 2018 Bouldering World Cup champion, is a Tokyo native and must overcome the pressure of representing her country in her home city.
Coxsey, 28, is one of the most successful British climbers in history, with Bouldering World Cup titles in 2016 and 2017. Coxsey has fought to overcome serious injury and seeks to continue her success with a record-shattering performance at the Olympics.
The film was directed by Nick Hardie (Formula 1: Drive to Survive), features a score by multi-award-winning composer Nainita Desai (The Reason I Jump, For Sama) and is edited by Emily West.
The Wall — Climb for Gold was created by Windfall Adventures Ltd., a subsidiary of Windfall Films, part of the Argonon Group. Windfall was supported by Adidas in the making of the film, but it retained complete independence and editorial control throughout. Premiere Digital is handling the global distribution.
In addition to these documentaries, several other sports-related entertainment and reality programs were also launched during the period. This pushed sports content to hit a record 17% share of all new unscripted commissions released in July.
