Podcaster Alex Cooper is hosting a show on Peacock during the Paris Games, and she said her goal is to make the global event "accessible to everyone." Cooper, who rose to fame with her "Call Her Daddy" podcast, is hosting several "watch alongs" with NBC's main feed. She said, "If you never played a sport, you want to tune into the Olympics but you don’t want to feel like, ‘I don’t know what’s going on. What are they doing?’ So that’s what the show is about." She added, "I’m going to have on celebrities, comedians, guests. I’m going to have fans interacting. You basically can tune in; we’re going to watch the Olympics together. But it’s going to be digestible for everyone. ... Everyone can watch it and it will be fun" ("Today with Hoda & Jenna," NBC, 7/8).
AN OBVIOUS FIT: In D.C., Ben Strauss profiled Cooper and noted while NBC is “leaning heavily on celebrity this year” during its Olympics coverage, Cooper is a celebrity “in a different demographic: young women.” The "watch alongs" include a companion telecast for a U.S. women’s soccer game and the gymnastics all-around competition. She will "host celebrities, will answer questions live and probably will appear across NBC’s social media channels and other NBC shows." NBC Olympic Production Exec Producer & President Molly Solomon said that the “fit was obvious” because the Olympics, “unlike the vast majority of major sporting events, has a majority female audience.” That means Cooper’s listeners “are potentially both NBC’s current and future viewers.” Solomon: “We know that women in their 20s are watching less television, and they’re on their phones and on social media and listening to podcasts.” She added, “How do we convert them into Olympic fans?” Strauss noted Cooper “brings some sports bona fides, too.” She played soccer at Boston Univ. and her father was a sports TV producer (
WASHINGTON POST, 7/8).
