Peacock’s Olympic victory, Venu Sports pricing

Jared Newman   |   August 2, 2024

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This week on TechHive: Olympics on Peacock are better than cable

With all the ways that streaming TV is gradually getting worse, it’s worth commending when something goes right.

In this case, the plaudits go to Peacock, whose 2024 Paris Olympics coverage has been a revelation. Instead of doing the bare minimum, Peacock made the games more interactive, with split-screen viewing, a vast array of live coverage formats, and extensive replay archives. It all seems to encourage bouncing between sports and getting caught up in the excitement of the event.

Peacock’s Olympics coverage isn’t perfect, but it’s a huge turnaround from the mess that NBCUniversal created a few years ago, and it should be a blueprint for every other live sports streaming service to follow.

Read the full column on TechHive →

Weekly rewind

Venu Sports details: We’ve officially got a price for Venu Sports, the joint live TV streaming venture between Disney, Fox, and Warner Bros. Discovery. It’ll cost $43 per month with a seven-day trial, and the plan is to launch in time for football season.

As I’ve written previously, Venu is a skinnier bundle than the likes of YouTube TV and Hulu + Live TV, partly because it excludes non-sports channels, and partly because it excludes a bunch of programmers that carry lots of live sports on their own, such as NBC and CBS. Figuring out whether it’s worth it will take some careful math, which I’ll likely do for next week’s column.

Bally Sports back on Comcast: After a three-month blackout, Comcast has restored Bally Sports channels to its lineup, but only in its top-tier Xfinity Ultimate TV package. In other words, Comcast got the big concession it was seeking from Diamond Sports Group, as it didn’t want to make its entire subscriber base pay for regional sports whether they watched them or not.

Diamond’s aversion to being stuck in higher pricier tiers is a big reason its regional sports channels have disappeared from other TV services over the years, including YouTube TV, Hulu + Live TV, and Dish. Just speculation on my part, but I wonder if this paves the way for a comeback via regional sports add-ons.

Over-the-air DVR updates: Over at TechHive, we’ve got an updated guide to the best over-the-air DVRs, plus an updated review of the ZapperBox M1, my current top pick. I’m planning to re-evaluate some more options in the months ahead and will keep updating the guide accordingly.

MLB Network clarification: Last week, I reported that MLB Network is now available as a standalone subscription and included with MLB TV at no extra charge. Turns out there’s a catch: If you’re getting MLB TV for free (for instance, via T-Mobile), you won’t get MLB Network. Your only option—other than getting the channel via a big pay TV package—is to pay for the $7 per month standalone service. (Thanks for the heads up, Ryan.)

More catch-up

Save more money

MLB TV is having another sale, this time bringing the price to $35 for the remaining season. With a little under two months of regular season play remaining, that equates to about a 42% discount on the regular $30-per-month price.

Other notable savings:

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Until next week,
Jared