Sports journos Michael Smith and Michael Holley are co-hosting Peacock’s first original sports talk show, a three-hour weekday show set to debut next month on NBCUniversal’s recently launched streaming service.
“Brother From Another” with Smith, a former ESPN “SportsCenter” anchor, and Holley, host and columnist for NBC Sports Boston, will stream live from 3-6 p.m. ET weekdays on Peacock starting in September. Holley and Smith also will co-executive produce the show, in which the longtime friends will discuss the latest news across sports, as well as culture, entertainment and politics.
Peacock will feature the sports talker on a new free, ad-supported channel, NBC Sports on Peacock, debuting Aug. 24. The channel will stream daytime live sports talk programming, including “PFT Live with Mike Florio,” “The Dan Patrick Show” and “The Rich Eisen Show.” Next month, “Brother From Another” and “PFT PM” will join the lineup.
“Brother From Another” is produced by NBC Sports for Peacock. Smith, who recently co-founded content studio Inflection Point Entertainment, also entered into a development and production deal with Peacock.
“When coming up with our show’s name and thinking about the vibe we wanted to create, we kept coming back to just that — family — and to this brotherhood,” Smith said. “We want this show and the conversations between us and with our guests to feel relatable — literally. As in, if you’re giving us time out of your day, then you’re family to us.”
Smith and Holley’s friendship goes back more than 20 years, “so viewers will immediately sense our authenticity and honesty with one another,” Holley added. “We became colleagues by covering similar events in sports. We became brothers when we shared our experiences in that space, as well as other aspects of our lives. We’re excited to now bring our discussions to Peacock.”
Peacock launched nationwide July 15, offering a mix of free and paid-subscription options, and NBCU said the streamer had over 10 million signups by the end of July (although the company did not report monthly active users).
“Brother From Another,” along with other programming from NBC Sports, is the latest in the streamer’s regular cadence of content designed to reel in new viewers.
“There’s certainly an appetite for honest, intelligent conversation while having some fun, and Michael and Michael have established reputations for delivering that kind of commentary,” said Rick Cordella, EVP and chief revenue officer at Peacock. “Peacock is always on, always topical, so we are proud to be the exclusive platform for their new show.”
Smith and Holley met when they both worked at the Boston Globe in the early 2000s. Smith went on to spend 15 years at ESPN, beginning as an NFL reporter before co-hosting “His & Hers” and the 6 p.m. edition of “SportsCenter” with Jemele Hill (who’s now with The Atlantic).
Holley is currently a host and columnist for NBC Sports Boston. He has written six New York Times bestselling books, he hosted sports talk radio at WEEI for 12 years and spent another dozen years working for daily newspapers, including the Akron Beacon Journal, Boston Globe and Chicago Tribune.
“Brother From Another” and the other sports talk shows will be available on demand in addition to streaming live on the NBC Sports on Peacock channel. Peacock also will feature highlights in the service’s Trending section, updated daily.
Starting in September, the weekday schedule for the 12-hour block of programming on NBC Sports on Peacock will be: “PFT Live with Mike Florio,” 7-9 a.m. ET; “The Dan Patrick Show,” 9 a.m.–noon; “The Rich Eisen Show” (exclusivity begins Oct. 5), 12-3 p.m.; “Brother From Another,” 3-6 p.m.; and “PFT PM,” 6-7 p.m.
“PFT PM,” from the creators of “Pro Football Talk Live,” covers news from around the NFL. The show is hosted by Mike Florio with regular guests including Charean Williams, Peter King, Rodney Harrison, Tony Dungy and Chris Simms.
Peacock had hoped to get a boost off the launch pad from the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympic Games, but those were postponed because of the COVID pandemic. Still, the streamer touts a slate of upcoming live sports on Peacock, including coverage of golf’s U.S. Open and U.S. Women’s Open, Premier League soccer, an NFL Wild Card Playoff Game in January 2020, and select events from the rescheduled Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and Beijing Winter Olympics in 2022.
NBCU’s Peacock is currently unavailable on Roku and Amazon Fire TV, in an ongoing dispute over distribution terms. The streaming service is available on the web; Apple devices including iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Apple TV 4K and Apple TV HD; Google platforms and devices including Android, Android TV devices, and Chromecast; Microsoft’s Xbox One; Sony PlayStation 4; and smart TVs from Vizio and LG.
In addition, Comcast Xfinity X1 and Flex customers and Cox Contour subscribers can access Peacock Premium with ads (regularly $4.99/month) at no additional cost. The no-ads Peacock Premium tier is an extra $5 per month.