Peacock's NBA streams are going vertical

"Peacock is rolling out a native vertical video format for live sports, allowing you to watch games without turning your phone sideways. The feature will roll out to NBA games first this spring and will use an algorithm to track players and zoom in on the action."

"The launch of this feature comes just months after a report from Nikkei Asia revealed that NBC Sports plans on using a player tracking system called viztrick AiDi. The technology was developed by a Japanese broadcaster and uses facial recognition to allow viewers on mobile to tap their screen to focus on specific players."

"Bringing a vertical view to live sports is yet another move by Peacock to get bigger on mobile. The streaming service added playlists with vertical clips from some of its most popular shows last year, brought multiview to mobile for the 2026 Winter Olympics, and is now launching an endless feed dedicated to clips from Bravo shows."

Peacock is introducing a native vertical video format for live sports, starting with NBA games this spring. The feature uses an algorithm to track players and automatically zoom in on action, allowing viewers to watch without rotating their phones. This development follows reports of NBC Sports planning to implement viztrick AiDi, a player tracking system using facial recognition that lets mobile viewers tap to focus on specific players. The technology's application to Peacock's vertical streams remains unclear. This vertical format represents Peacock's continued mobile expansion strategy, following previous additions including vertical show clips, multiview for mobile, and a dedicated Bravo clips feed.

Read at The Verge