Okay, let’s pivot from the gravity of the Olympics show tested from NPR + CBC and back to NBC with a show pulling in talent and humor from Saturday Night Live:

Two Guys, Five Rings 

One thing that you can see NBC really emphasizing in the Olympics coverage this year is pulling in casual and new sports fans into the broadcasters and programming. Of course that’s not a new trend - the Olympics has always been a sporting touchstone like the Super Bowl that attracts massive numbers of viewers that aren’t diehard sports fans.

This year, you can see it in the broadcast with Snoop Dogg being pretty much everywhere - at the opening ceremonies, watching the women’s gymnastics with Jordan Chiles’ family, and calling highlights with Mike Tirico. It’s fun, smart, and not coincidentally a way to reinforce Snoop’s other new job on NBC’s The Voice.

But back to podcasting, another new member of the NBC team is podcast superstar Alex Cooper, who sat down for extended interviews with Simone Biles and other athletes. Two Guys, Five Rings is essentially this strategy in podcast. In the iHeart produced show, hosts Bowen Yang (from SNL) and Matt Rogers cover the games with a purposeful focus on the pageantry around the games - Paris culture, the Olympic village, and the non-sports fan perspective.