The NFL’s streaming partners have come under significant, well-founded criticism for their game-day broadcasts. However, one of those partners has just come up with an idea that will make many fans very happy indeed.
Peacock is integrating new Dolby products into their broadcasts that will “enhance the sights and sounds of the games.”
“Our livestreams on Peacock are already in HDR, and we introduced Dolby Atmos as well last year, which made a massive jump in the immersiveness,” said David Bohunek, NBCUniversal SVP of Global Video Engineering. “You have to have a great sound with a great picture, but then with Dolby Vision, we think we can push it into the next level.”
One of those innovations will allow fans to do away with announcers they don’t like.
“With AC-4 and the personalization of the audio, we can let the customers do what they prefer with a very simple control in our own UI,” Bohunek said, “and maybe let them turn off commentary completely if that’s what they want.”
So, if you’re sitting there watching a Sunday Night Football game and you’ve become nauseated over Cris Collinsworth’s incessant fawning over Josh Allen or Pat Mahomes, you finally have a way to tune him out without muting the game.
However, as with all great things, there’s a catch. The new enhancement will only be available on the Peacock app, not on TV broadcasts.
“In streaming, we’re able to operate at a pace of change that’s just a lot faster than we could ever do in more traditional broadcast,” said John Couling, Dolby’s SVP of Entertainment.
AC-4 is expected to be available sometime in late 2026.
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