Kevin Hart’s ‘Olympic Highlights’ went viral. Can his LOL brand be a global force?

Pairing Kevin Hart and Snoop Dogg for an Olympics highlights show wouldn’t have been an obvious move to many Hollywood executives. “Olympic Highlights with Kevin Hart & Snoop Dogg” became one of the most-watched Olympics programs on Comcast Corp.’s year-old streaming service Peacock. Earlier this year, Roku released Hart’s action-comedy “Die Hart” on its free service after the show’s original home — Jeffrey Katzenberg and Meg Whitman’s ill-fated Quibi — collapsed. NBCUniversal’s direct-to-consumer chairman Matt Strauss, in a statement, called the Olympic highlights series “a great example of the success we will find by providing a platform that allows Kevin to just be himself, develop fresh programming that embraces his unique personality and style of humor, entertain existing fans and engage new ones around the world.” Laugh Out Loud’s strategy has changed significantly since Hart launched it in 2017 through a partnership with Santa Monica studio Lionsgate. The business is composed of four distinct units: LOL Studios, responsible for video productions including the Olympics series and the talk show “Hart to Heart,” which debuted on Peacock this month; an audio division with a SiriusXM deal, which expanded last year; LOL Network, the company’s free, ad-based streaming channel, available through streaming services like Pluto TV, Peacock, Tivo and Redbox; and LOL X, which produces live events.