Peacock adds AI guides, vertical clips, and games for live sports

In short: Peacock is rolling out new AI help, vertical highlight clips, and mobile games to keep people watching more live sports on its app.

What's going on

Peacock, NBCUniversal’s streaming service, is adding several new features that are built around mobile viewing and interaction. The goal is to make big sports events easier to follow and more engaging, especially on phones.

For the 2026 Winter Olympics, Peacock is introducing a mobile feature called Rinkside Live. It shows live highlights in a vertical video format, with multiple camera angles and closer, more “in the action” views alongside the regular broadcast. On larger screens, Peacock can show all camera angles at once.

Peacock is also adding “Can’t Miss Highlights,” which lets you swipe through quick recaps like Instagram Stories. Another addition is “Prediction Games,” which lets viewers guess outcomes, track results, and answer trivia about Olympic history and athletes.

NBCUniversal is also launching an upgraded AI-powered viewing guide called OLI on January 20, 2026. AI, or artificial intelligence, is software that can sort information and make suggestions (like a personalized TV guide that learns what you care about). OLI will offer recommendations, medal counts, athlete profiles, highlight clips, and calendar reminders based on things like your schedule and time zone.

Peacock is betting on short vertical clips more broadly, too. The company said mobile viewership is up 244% over four years, and short-form viewing is up 257% in one year. Peacock also plans to open this vertical format to advertisers in 2026.

What to watch

The next question is whether these features become part of how most people watch sports, or if they stay as extra options for heavy fans. It is also worth watching how much advertising ends up inside these new vertical clips and game-like experiences.

Source: TechCrunch AI