There is a phrase that has been repeated a lot in recent days when taking stock of Paris 2024: “The Olympic Games are back.” The analysis points out that the world’s biggest sporting event overcame the doubts of previous editions, modernized itself, and regained all its brilliance. And no one can attest to this better than the company NBCUniversal, which announced a historic audience for its 17-day coverage.
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The company, which broadcasted the recent Olympic Games through various channels and platforms such as NBC, USA Network, CNBC, Peacock, Telemundo, and Universo, announced an average audience of 30.7 million viewers during prime time (which includes coverage from 2 to 5 pm and evening highlights in the United States).
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This means an 82% increase compared to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, which had an average daily audience of 16.9 million, although, of course, with empty stadiums during the COVID-19 pandemic, at a bad time for the American audience... and without seeing Simone Biles shine.
How does this audience compare to that of London 2012 and Rio 2016?
In terms of rounded numbers, this year’s Summer Olympics also surpassed those of 2012 (30.3 million daily audience) and 2016 (26 million), but that would be comparing apples to oranges, because in those events streaming platforms did not have the consolidation they have these days.
In addition, in Paris 2024 NBC broadcasted events that took place in the afternoon (evening in Paris) and then repackaged them again in prime time (8 to 11 pm), and each audience counted twice.
For the London 2012 Olympics, which had a five-hour time difference in relation to the East Coast of the United States, NBC decided to broadcast most of the major events in prime time (after 7 pm) on a delayed basis. At that time, the Nielsen company also did not include out-of-home viewers in their ratings report, as they do now.
NBC's big bet paid off.
NBCUniversal went all out for these Olympic Games, with coverage that involved the work of over 3,000 people in Paris and at the headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut. Additionally, they hired a wide range of celebrities to comment on the event, such as former swimmer Michael Phelps, former basketball player Dwyane Wade, former NFL star Peyton Manning, and rapper Snoop Dogg, who was paid $500,000 per day.
The "Golden Zone," inspired by the NFL's "Red Zone," was also a success on the Peacock streaming service, broadcasting live coverage of every medal event.
Among the most outstanding broadcasts by NBCUniversal was the Opening Ceremony, with 28.6 million viewers, and the final of the men's basketball between the United States and France, which gathered an audience of 20.3 million, becoming the most-watched basketball game since Game 5 between the Cavaliers and the Warriors in the 2017 NBA Finals.
The Latin audience also flocked in record numbers to watch the Olympic Games on Telemundo Deportes (+26% compared to Tokyo 2020) and Universo (+138%).
The figures for Paris 2024 compared to other events in the USA
The daily average of 30.7 million viewers for NBCUniversal at this year’s Olympic Games is only surpassed by the NFL, which for example had a record audience of 123.7 million people for the 2024 Super Bowl. The finals of both football conferences, in turn, attracted around 56 million viewers each game.
The famous presidential debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump in CNN had an audience of 51.3 million people.
But the Paris 2024 Games far surpassed other recent major sporting events:
- 2024 College Football Playoff National Championship (25 million).
- 2024 NCAA women’s basketball championship game (18.9 million).
- 2024 NCAA men’s basketball championship game (14.8 million).
- NBA Finals 2024 (12.3 million viewers for the most-watched game).
- 2023 World Series (11.6 million viewers for the most-watched game).
The last Olympic Games were also above the Oscars, which were viewed by an average of 19.5 million people last march.