Peacock-exclusive sporting events will soon be available through YouTube TV, with the noted exception of the streamer’s exclusive NFL games.
John Ourand of Puck reported Monday that the recent NBCUniversal-YouTube TV carriage deal includes the launch of a channel consisting of Peacock-exclusive sporting events, but not Peacock-exclusive NFL games. The streamer contractually has one NFL game per season, and two years ago carried a Wild Card playoff game.
Though Ourand would seem to be obviously referring to the new “NBC Sports Network” (NBCSN) that NBCU announced as part of the YouTube TV carriage agreement last week, it should be noted that he did not refer to the venture by that (or any) name, and he characterized it as being launched by YouTube TV. NBCU in its release last week said that it will be launching NBCSN, and described the channel as a complement to the NBC broadcast network rather than a simulcast of Peacock. It is possible, if unlikely, that these are separate ventures.
It is unclear whether any other Peacock-exclusive sports programming would be expressly withheld, though it is certain that not all Peacock programming will end up on the new channel. As a streaming service, the nature of Peacock is such that it can carry multiple events simultaneously. Shifting its content to a linear channel will necessarily require some picking and choosing, particularly during an event like the Winter Olympics, when Peacock carries all events live.
Ourand reported that in situations where Peacock is carrying multiple sporting events simultaneously, NBC is considering a secondary overflow channel. But it unclear how a situation with three or more simultaneous events will be handled. For example, Peacock has three overlapping NBA games scheduled for March 16: Magic-Hawks at 7 PM ET, Suns-Celtics at 8:00 and Lakers-Rockets at 9:00.
Peacock programming will also be available to YouTube TV subscribers via the YouTube Primetime Channels feature, which users can use to purchase the Peacock Premium service. There seems to be some dispute as to whether that constitutes YouTube “ingesting” Peacock, though it appears to be the case that services purchased through “Primetime Channels” are available to watch inside the YouTube app.
