For those longing for an Olympic fix following the thrilling Paris Games, here is some good news for the future: Peacock’s “Gold Zone” will return for the L.A. Games in 2028, and possibly for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milano-Cortina as well.
Molly Solomon, the executive producer and president of NBC Olympics production, confirmed in an interview with The Athletic this week that Peacock’s “Gold Zone” coverage, an “NFL RedZone”-inspired whip-around show that streamed the Olympics daily and was an addictive and uber-modern way to watch the Games, will be back for the L.A. Games four years from now.
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In its Olympics debut, Peacock’s ‘Gold Zone’ has been an addictive hit with fans
“We’ll definitely bring it back in Los Angeles,” Solomon said. “We’re also going to go wipe the whiteboard clean and start to think about how it works in a Winter Olympics and what that best presentation could be. But how could you not have a returning ‘Gold Zone’ in Los Angeles, and it may even be more hours a day.”
“Gold Zone” ranked in the top five most-watched Olympic titles on Peacock and was a technological success given all the elements at play. The channel provided coverage of all the gold medals awarded at the Paris Games. The hosts included Scott Hanson, who has served as the host of “NFL RedZone” since its inaugural season in 2009 and is also an NFL Network host.
“’Gold Zone’ was a passion project of mine,” Solomon said. “I think it’s a good example of experimenting with the Olympic presentation. Take a whip-around concept and give it personality. The Summer Olympics just lends itself to ‘Gold Zone.’ The heroes of this production really were the researchers who were constantly interacting with [hosts] Matt [Isman], Jac [Collinsworth], Andrew [Siciliano] and Scott, and made this thing come to life.
“I just can’t say enough about that production, which was very hard to pull off for 10 hours a day at that speed.”
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(Photo: Emma McIntyre / Getty Images for LA28)