Paris Olympics reach record audience numbers thanks to coverage from NBC and Peacock

The Paris Olympics aired on NBC and Peacock from July 26 to August 11. NBC and Peacock’s coverage was a resounding success in terms of viewership and engagement. NBC’s 16-day broadcast averaged 31.3 million viewers, combining primetime in the U.S. (8-11 p.m. ET) and primetime in Paris (2-5 p.m. ET).

Before the success of Paris, the Olympics did not generate as much excitement. Part of the higher ratings between Tokyo and Paris can be attributed to the more convenient time zone difference for the U.S. Paris is 6 hours ahead of Eastern Time, making it much more convenient than Tokyo’s 13-hour time difference. For many in the U.S., this makes it almost impossible not to hear the results of events that take place while they sleep.

At the Tokyo Olympics, viewership dropped to an average of 15.6 million viewers per night, a significant drop from the highly successful Rio Games, which averaged 27.5 million viewers per night. A year later, the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics in the United States saw even lower numbers, becoming the least-watched Olympics in modern times, averaging just 11.4 million viewers per day.

The highest attendance of the Paris Games was recorded during the men’s basketball gold medal game, where the United States defeated France 98-87 in a thrilling final against the host nation that featured several NBA players, including Rookie of the Year Victor Wembanyama.

The opening ceremony in Paris reached record numbers, making it the most streamed event of all time and the biggest entertainment highlight in Peacock’s history. The closing ceremony drew 20.9 million viewers, more than double the 9.8 million viewers for the Tokyo Games.

In Tokyo, NBC had to give its advertisers extra advertising time when ratings fell short of expectations. At this year’s Games, NBC sold its reserved commercials for more money than those it had bought before the Games.

An NBC spokesman said the final advertising revenue for the Paris Olympics would set a new record and be the highest for any television event in history.

The Nine Network, Australia’s official broadcaster of the Paris Olympics, also recorded new viewing records. In the first week of Nine’s Olympic broadcast, the national television audience reached 17.5 million viewers, the highest weekly reach in VOZ’s history. To put it in context: VOZ, or Virtual Australia, serves as the basis for Australia’s new reporting standard, Total TV.

The second day of the matches saw the highest ratings, with the night session achieving a national television reach of 5.741 million and an average national audience of 2.332 million. On the night, Mollie O’Callaghan and Ariarne Titmus took part in the semi-finals of the women’s 200 m freestyle swimming and secured gold and silver in the final the next day.

In Canada, a record-breaking 24.3 million hours of Paris content were broadcast on CBC/Radio-Canada’s digital and streaming services, a 170% increase over Tokyo. In addition, 7 in 10 Canadians tuned in to the coverage.