The Year of Peacock

November 14, 2024

Throughout the year, NBCUniversal’s Peacock has dominated cultural conversation, breaking streaming and viewership records. From breakout hits like The Traitors and Love Island USA to must-see sports moments like the Paris Olympics and NFL exclusive games, Peacock’s growth trajectory remains one of the strongest with domestic audiences. Momentum continues to grow as fans recognize all Peacock has to offer, including addictive scripted series like Poker Face and Based on a True Story, new NBC and Bravo series, can’t-miss live events like Macy’s 4^th of July Fireworks and the People’s Choice Awards, and the exclusive first window for Universal films. 

NFL Wild Card Exclusive

Peacock kicked off the year with a bang, making U.S. media history as it hosted the first-ever exclusively streamed NFL Wild Card game. The Miami Dolphins vs. Kansas City Chiefs match-up on January 13 was the biggest live-streamed event ever in the U.S., reaching more than 32 million viewers, and helped drive Peacock to its highest concurrent streams and usage day in the platform’s history. This industry-defining moment is a testament to the technological power and resiliency of Peacock’s platform and the perfect showcase of its leadership in live streaming. The record-breaking live viewership that drove 30% of U.S. internet traffic the evening of January 13 also drove millions of new viewers who ultimately stayed on to discover and engage with the platform.

Ted: A Peacock Original

Those viewers kept watching all weekend, helping to make the day after the game Peacock’s highest usage for on-demand entertainment content ever, and propelling comedy series Ted to launch as Peacock’s most-watched original title over its first seven days. Peacock’s winning combination of sports and entertainment continued as one of the year’s top trends for the platform, with the streamer’s sports viewers staying and spending nine out of every 10 hours watching entertainment content.

Universal Pictures' Oppenheimer and Focus Features' The Holdovers

With the awards season in full swing in February, films stepped into the spotlight in a big way on Peacock, as it was the only streaming platform that month to be the home of two Best Picture nominees: Universal Pictures’ Oppenheimer and Focus Features’ The Holdovers. When it dropped exclusively on Peacock on February 16, Academy Award Best Picture winner Oppenheimer became the #1 film across streaming and Peacock’s most watched Pay 1 title in the platform’s history. Oppenheimer continued to draw huge audiences during its time on Peacock, with the film enjoying a 61% increase in viewership in the days following its seven wins at the Academy Awards. Similarly, during its Peacock run, The Holdovers, featuring Best Supporting Actress winner Da'Vine Joy Randolph, saw a major 132% viewership bump after the Oscars. 

WWE and WrestleMania 40

Audience bumps were just beginning as WWE stepped into the ring on April 6th and 7th for a record-breaking WrestleMania 40, exclusively on Peacock. WrestleMania 40 saw massive viewership, with 1.3 billion minutes of the two-day event streamed. Based on the average minute audience, night one of this year’s show was up 26% over night one from last year, while night two was up 30% over last year.

Love Island USA

Peacock kept up its record-breaking pace with an unmatched summer of content, starting in Fiji with Love Island USA season 6, which took the country by storm when it premiered on Peacock in June. Millions tuned in as soon as new episodes premiered on Peacock each night to participate in the lively conversations happening across social media. Fans couldn’t get enough of the Islanders; Love Island was the #1 reality series across all streaming services for more than seven straight weeks, according to Nielsen, leading up to the finale, which became the most-watched episode on a premiere day of any Peacock original series.

2024 Paris Olympic Games

Once Love Island USA wrapped, audiences were ready to cheer on Team USA during the 2024 Paris Olympics, which marked a gold medal moment for the platform. In total, Peacock streamed all 329 medal events and over 5,000 hours of coverage during the Games, handling up to 60 concurrent streams and 300 live events a day. Fans streamed an incredible 23.5 billion minutes of Olympic coverage, led by Peacock - up 40% from all previous Summer and Winter Games combined to achieve the most-streamed Games in U.S. history. 

Peacock’s groundbreaking Olympics hub vaulted the platform’s viewing experience into the zeitgeist. On Peacock, fans could catch the action their way: witnessing the must-see moments live on the “addictive” Gold Zone, following multiple events through Multiview, which was deemed a “Games-changer” by media, or getting up to speed fast with Catch Up With Key Plays. In an industry first, “Your Daily Olympic Recap on Peacock” (also known as “A.I. Al”) helped fans easily watch the highlights they cared about most every morning, featuring a Gen AI-powered recreation of Al Michaels' iconic voice. NBCUniversal's Olympic coverage dominated national conversation, trending on social media daily and generating hundreds of press stories. According to the Nielsen Gauge report in August, Peacock accounted for 2.1% of all TV viewing time in the U.S., due in part to incredible fan engagement with the Olympics. The 2024 Paris Paralympics also were the most-streamed Paralympics ever, with 207 million minutes streamed led by Peacock.

The Traitors

From gold medals to gold statues, Peacock’s momentum continued with 10 Emmy nominations. In September, Peacock won its first-ever series Primetime Emmy, with The Traitors awarded Outstanding Reality Competition Program, and The Traitors host Alan Cumming also received his first Emmy for Outstanding Host for A Reality Or Reality Competition Program, following season two’s launch as Peacock’s biggest original reality series. In the same month, Peacock premiered the star-studded limited series Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist, starring Kevin Hart, Samuel L. Jackson and Taraji P. Henson, which premiered as Peacock’s most-watched original drama through its first weekend.

Election Night

With many Americans glued to their screens going into the 2024 election, Peacock expanded its popular Multiview feature to election night, once again giving Americans a new way to watch. Peacock users loved the curated three-view experience featuring NBC News NOW, a Kornacki Cam spotlighting analysis from National Political Correspondent and fan-favorite Steve Kornacki, and the dynamic Election Results and Balance of Power Map. One out of every five Election viewers on Peacock watched via Multiview. Multiview will expand to Premier League on Peacock starting Dec. 4, allowing fans to watch up to four matches at once.

2025 and Beyond Brings More Big Moments to Peacock

The year of Peacock is set to end strong with the launch of The Day of the Jackal, a thriller series based on the all-time classic 1971 novel of the same name that the Wall Street Journal called “relentlessly good”; the new comedy Laid, a rom-com series with a fatal twist; as well as some of the holiday’s biggest events, including the live simulcasts of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and Christmas in Rockefeller Center. 

With Peacock celebrating its 5th birthday in 2025, there’s no slowing down for the platform that will continue to couple must-see exclusive content with innovative viewing experiences. Upcoming highlights include all-new seasons of The Traitors (January 9) and Poker Face (spring), Saturday Night Live’s 50th anniversary, the exclusive streaming debut of Wicked, and the arrival of the NBA on Peacock in the fall. This year, fans told us a lot about all the ways they watch and why they tune into their favorites, whether it’s sports, movies or TV, and Peacock is ready to give them more exciting entertainment to look forward to.