The world’s biggest media event, the Olympic Games, set records for the number of online viewers around the world. Online services provided flexible viewing. In the United States, Peacock viewers could access up to 60 concurrent live events, with up to 300 a day, and over 3,200 over the course of the games.
With 7,000 hours of coverage, NBCUniversal claimed a total audience delivery of 30.6 million viewers in the United States. Led by the Peacock online services, 23.5 billion minutes of Paris Olympics coverage were streamed, up by 40% from all previous Summer and Winter Olympics combined. A total of 4.1 million viewers daily watched across the Peacock and NBCU Digital platforms.
In Europe, Warner Bros Discovery claimed record viewership and engagement across free-to-air, pay-television, and online, during the Olympic Games. With the launch of Max in 25 European markets, it said it marked “the first real ‘streaming Olympics’ in Europe”. It meant less coverage was available online through the BBC in the United Kingdom.
Warner Bros Discovery reported a cumulative reach of more than 215 million people in Europe viewing the Olympics on its platforms, up by 40 million or 23% on the Olympic Games in Tokyo. That includes Eurosport TV channels, free-to-air networks in Nordic countries, and the online services Max and discovery+.
There were four times as many online viewers through Warner Bros Discovery platforms compared to the last summer Olympics, with more than 7 billion minutes streamed over the course of the games, which was six times more than for Tokyo. 600 million minutes were delivered in a single day on Sunday 45 August, which included the final of the Men’s 100 metres final, the final day of the swimming and tennis.
Warner Bros Discovery reported a “record number of new paid steaming subscribers over the Games period”. It did not provide any figures, but JB Perrette, the chief executive for global streaming said: “We’ve added millions of new paying subscribers”.
The company will continue to provide the only way to view every moment of the Olympics through to Los Angeles in 2028 and Brisbane in 2032.
It meant that in the United Kingdom the BBC had limited rights to the Olympics coverage, under legislation that preserves it as a listed event.
The BBC said it showed every Team GB medal moment live. The total television reach of people watching for 15 consecutive minutes of more on BBC television was 36.1 million people, or 59% of the population, with a peak reach of over 6 million on 14 separate days.
The most watched event saw Keely Hodginson win the 800 metres final with 9.1 million on BBC One and iPlayer, while 8.4 million watched Noah Lyles in the men’s 100 metres and 7.9 million saw Gabby Thomas win the women’s 200 metres. The opening ceremony was watched by a peak of 8.1 million and an average audience of 6.8 million, while 7 million watched the closing ceremony.
12.2 million accounts accessed the Olympics through the BBC iPlayer, with 218 million streams delivered, more than double the number of streams for Tokyo.
In comparison, the London 2012 Olympics opening ceremony had a peak audience of 27.3 million and an average audience of 23.4 million across all channels in the United Kingdom, which was 84% of those watching television, while the closing ceremony had a peak of 26.3 million and an average of 23.2 million.
In Australia, Nine Entertainment had coverage with a national total television reach of 19.5 million, out of a population of 27 million, with a daily average reach of 9.9 million across Channel 9, 9Gem and the online service 9Now.
Offering over 40 live streams, along with on-demand and live streaming of Channel 9 and 9Gem, 2.7 million viewers watched the Olympics exclusively through 9Now, with an overall reach of 7.5 million.
The highest rating session of the Games achieved a national total television reach in Australia of 5.74 million, with an average audience of 2.33 million.
Michael Healy, the director of television for Nine, said: “The Olympics is more than just a sporting event. It’s a cultural phenomenon that resonates deeply with Australians from all walks of life. It unites the nation in a way that few other events can, bringing together millions of viewers across the country.”
Nine has the Australian rights for the summer and winter Olympics through to Brisbane in 2032.