An event set to highlight NBCU's approach stayed on message: that these Games could be "the most meaningful Olympics of our lifetime" and that it's planning to broadcast 7,000 hours of coverage.
Ad sales have been "robust," NBCU's Mark Lazarus says, and the company expects it will exceed ad-sales levels from 2016's Rio de Janeiro Olympics (during which NBCU came away with $250M in profits). But there's still more inventory to sell, he notes.
A key difference in coverage plans vs. past Olympics is the presence of NBCU's streaming center in Peacock, allowing for programming to be more customized to the company's various outlets.
That means viewers could "watch a highly-curated primetime show on NBC; delve into specific, long-form coverage on cable outlets like USA and CNBC, and watch a host of specialty programs on streaming hub Peacock," Variety's Brian Steinberg notes.
NBCU was set to draw $1.2B-plus in ads for the 2020 games before their postponement.