NBC's Peacock Makes First Big Move to Attract NFL Audience With Addition of 'Rich Eisen Show'

After months of speculation, the Rich Eisen Show has a new home. Andrew Marchand reports Rich Eisen's eponymous show will now go live on NBC's new streaming service, Peacock. NBC and Eisen confirmed it soon after. The show will still be broadcast on SiriusXM and release daily podcast recordings of each episode.

This is a really interesting move for a few reasons. As Marchand notes in his column, the video aspect of sports talk shows like Eisen's has grown significantly over the last few years. You can find the Dan Patrick Show or the Pat McAfee Show streaming on YouTube daily. But none has made the jump from a video platform to what the general public would recognize as a major broadcaster streaming service. Eisen's will be the first of its kind, the natural next step in the evolution of sports talk TV.

Obviously we're still a long way away from major network studio shows ending up on a streaming platform as opposed to cable. But if Eisen's show finds an audience on Peacock, it opens up intriguing dualcast possibilities for some of the more niche audience shows that air in the middle of the day on ESPN and other networks.

The quest for eyeballs is never-ending, and even if there's a marginally positive return on putting in the resources to dualcast via streaming service, the networks will go for it. It wouldn't solve the problem of cable-cutting, but it would help alleviate it. Eisen's show on Peacock will be an experiment in that regard.

As far as NBC goes, this is a no-brainer. Eisen's show isn't a massive ratings winner, but Eisen himself brings a big brand, especially for football fans. As one of the NFL's broadcast rights holders, NBC knows they have a substantial football following and are capitalizing on it here. Especially considering the show will be on the free side of Peacock's paywall for its other content.

The fact that NBC is willing to do this also raises the question of how they might further capitalize on that audience. Streaming the pregame and postgame for Sunday Night Football seems like a logical next step. And if Eisen proves worth the money, NBC will likely explore other options to bring aboard. It would help boost Peacock's visibility and bring in viewers, even if many of them don't end up subscribing to Peacock's paid services.

Nothing will change in the near future, but the Rich Eisen Show's success (or lack thereof) on a streaming service will certainly be worth watching. This could open the door to a world of possibilities for networks, the leagues, and streaming platforms. And if it flops, NBC doesn't lose out on much. A good bet made by the network, and a new home for Eisen.