LAS VEGAS — NBCUniversal's Peacock streaming service announced a major upgrade on Monday evening at the Consumer Electronics Show here, integrating the full suite of Dolby Laboratories' picture and sound technologies in what the company is calling a streaming first. The move aims to enhance the viewing experience for premium content, including pay-1 movies from Universal Pictures and high-profile live sports events such as NFL games, NBA matchups, and Premier League soccer.
Under the partnership, Peacock will roll out Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos for live sporting events later this year, bringing more immersive audio and high-dynamic-range video to subscribers' screens. Looking further ahead, the service plans to incorporate Dolby Vision 2 and Dolby AC-4 audio formats once they launch later in 2026. These technologies are designed to address common viewer frustrations with streaming quality, such as overly dark scenes, muted colors, and muffled dialogue, while delivering crisper sound and a more vibrant atmosphere, particularly from packed sports venues.
"Peacock is raising the bar for what streaming entertainment can be with Dolby," said John Couling, senior vice president of entertainment at Dolby Laboratories, in a statement released during the CES announcement. "This partnership reflects our vision to push the boundaries of live sports and entertainment, delivering experiences that truly stand apart. With Dolby, Peacock stands as the premier destination for viewers who expect nothing less than exceptional entertainment at home."
The integration comes at a pivotal time for Peacock, which reported 41 million subscribers as of its latest figures — a number that lags behind competitors like Netflix, Disney+, and Amazon Prime Video in the crowded streaming market. To bolster its offerings, Peacock implemented a price increase last fall, raising the monthly fee for its ad-supported Premium tier by $3 to $10.99. Officials at NBCUniversal say the Dolby enhancements will help ensure that viewers experience programming "exactly as creators intended — with breathtaking picture and immersive sound that brings every moment to life," according to David Bohunek, senior vice president of global video engineering at NBCUniversal.
February is shaping up to be a marquee month for Peacock, with a lineup that could drive subscriber growth. The service will stream the Winter Olympics from Milan-Cortina, Italy, alongside the Super Bowl and the NBA All-Star Game. These events, combined with the new audio-visual upgrades, are expected to make Peacock a go-to platform for sports fans seeking top-tier production values at home.
Dolby Laboratories has long been a leader in audio and visual innovations, with technologies like Atmos providing object-based surround sound that simulates a three-dimensional audio environment, and Vision offering enhanced contrast, brightness, and color accuracy. By embedding these into Peacock's live streams, the partnership addresses a key pain point in streaming: the variability of quality across devices and internet connections. According to Dolby, the upgrades will make colors more vibrant, dialogue clearer, and overall immersion deeper, particularly for fast-paced sports broadcasts where split-second details matter.
NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, launched Peacock in April 2020 amid the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, positioning it as a hub for NBC's vast library of shows, movies, and live events. Since then, the service has carved out a niche with exclusive sports rights, including deals for the Olympics, Premier League, and Big Ten college football. However, Peacock has faced challenges in scaling its user base, with executives pointing to aggressive content investments and pricing adjustments as strategies to close the gap with rivals.
The CES announcement underscores a broader trend in the streaming industry toward premium technical standards to differentiate services. While Netflix and Disney+ have also adopted Dolby technologies in select content, Peacock's full integration for live sports marks a step forward, according to industry observers. This could appeal to cord-cutters who demand cinema-like quality without leaving their living rooms.
Bohunek emphasized the creative intent behind the upgrades during the Las Vegas event. "The Dolby partnership aims to ensure that viewers are experiencing programming exactly as creators intended," he said. For Universal's pay-1 window — the period shortly after theatrical releases when movies become available on streaming — this means blockbusters like recent hits from the studio will benefit from enhanced visuals that highlight intricate special effects and dynamic soundscapes.
Live sports, a cornerstone of Peacock's strategy, stand to gain the most from the Dolby rollout. NFL Sunday Night Football, NBA games, and Premier League matches often draw massive audiences, and the addition of Atmos could recreate the roar of the crowd or the thud of a basketball on the court with unprecedented realism. The Winter Olympics, set for February 6-22 in Milan-Cortina, will feature events like alpine skiing and figure skating, where Dolby Vision's clarity could make subtle nuances in athlete performances more apparent to viewers.
Peacock's subscriber count of 41 million reflects steady growth but highlights the competitive pressures in streaming. For comparison, Netflix boasts over 260 million global paid memberships, while Disney+ has around 150 million. NBCUniversal has invested heavily in sports rights, spending billions on deals that include the 2028 and 2032 Olympics, to attract live viewers who might otherwise subscribe seasonally.
The price hike to $10.99 for Peacock Premium, which includes ads, follows a similar adjustment for the ad-free Premium Plus tier at $19.99. These changes, effective since late 2025, aim to improve profitability as the service reports narrowing losses. Analysts note that enhanced technical features like Dolby integration could justify the costs for quality-conscious consumers, potentially reducing churn rates.
Looking ahead, the full rollout of Dolby Vision and Atmos later this year will coincide with Peacock's busy fall sports schedule, including the start of the NFL season and Premier League fixtures. The introduction of Dolby Vision 2 and AC-4 in 2026 promises even more advanced capabilities, such as improved bandwidth efficiency for 4K streaming and next-generation audio codecs that support personalized sound profiles.
This partnership positions Peacock as a leader in streaming innovation, particularly for live content where real-time quality can make or break viewer engagement. As the service eyes further growth, events like the Super Bowl on February 9 — where Peacock will air coverage tied to NBC's broadcast — could serve as a proving ground for the Dolby enhancements. With 41 million users already tuned in, the upgrades may help Peacock climb the ranks in a market where technical excellence is increasingly a battleground.
In the end, the collaboration between Peacock and Dolby signals a commitment to elevating home entertainment to theatrical levels. As Couling put it, it's about delivering experiences that "truly stand apart." For subscribers, this means more than just watching — it's about feeling the thrill of the game or the drama of a film in ways that streaming has rarely achieved before.