NBCUniversal's Presentation of Spectacular Paris Olympics Dominates Media Landscape Across All Platforms

Paris Olympics Delivers 30.6 Million Viewers Across NBCU, Peacock and Key NBCU Platforms – UP 82% from Tokyo

August 13, 2024

The Olympics reestablished its unique power to reassemble the American media audience. That shared experience extended over 17 consecutive days across NBC, Peacock, NBCU’s linear channels, and in short form on social and digital channels, as America rallied around the 594 Team USA athletes and their stories. Benefitting alongside the American audience were our Olympic advertisers who believed, as we always have, in the unifying power of the Games.

— Gary Zenkel, President, NBC Olympics:

The Closing Ceremony on NBC and Peacock concluded NBCUniversal’s innovative presentation of the 2024 Paris Olympics – highlighted by 7,000 hours of coverage, 329 events in and around the City of Light (and Tahiti!), and numerous breakout stars for Team USA, which won more medals (126) than any country and tied for the gold-medal lead (40).

The world’s biggest media event, the Paris Olympics was consumed in massive numbers on NBCU platforms. Highlights include:

A Total Audience Delivery (TAD) of 30.6 million viewers across the combined live Paris Prime (2-5 p.m. ET) and U.S. primetime (8-11 p.m. ET/PT) time periods – up 82% from the Tokyo Olympics (16.9 million), according to fast national data from Nielsen and Adobe Analytics.
The NBC Broadcast Network extended its streak to 152 consecutive Summer Olympics nights as primetime’s No. 1 show.
Led by Peacock, 23.5 billion minutes of Paris Olympics coverage were streamed – up 40% from all prior Summer and Winter Olympics combined (16.8 billion minutes across NBCUniversal digital platforms).
USA Network ranked as the #1 cable sports/entertainment network in Total Day and primetime viewership over the two weeks of competition.

Our NBCUniversal team matched the occasion of this transformative Paris Olympics, presenting peerless coverage in daytime and primetime across all platforms, including the NBC broadcast network, which once again was home to the most-watched night of television for 17 consecutive days. The Games marked a groundbreaking moment for Peacock, which delivered a flawless user experience and cutting-edge innovation while shattering all-time Olympics streaming records. USA Network went around-the-clock and ranked #1 in cable sports and entertainment for the past two weeks. Telemundo Deportes provided extensive Spanish-language coverage. NBC News broadcast from on-location in Paris and dominated the competition, while our owned-stations and affiliates had soaring local news ratings. We sold more advertising for the Paris Olympics than for any other Games, and we delivered for all of our partners. Parks and Studios received unmatched promotion, as the ‘halo effect’ boosted all of our businesses. The Paris Olympics was as exciting as we could have hoped, and we can’t wait to work with our partners at the IOC and USOPC in Milan-Cortina in ’26 and LA28.

— Mark Lazarus, Chairman, NBCUniversal Media Group

Paris Olympics in Primetime

NBCU’s lead Olympics host Mike Tirico anchored nearly 100 hours across two primetime presentations – live “Paris Prime” coverage from 2-5 p.m. ET and the traditional U.S. primetime at 8 p.m. ET/PT – as NBCU featured the best events live while adding context and special elements for the large evening audience.

From the most-watched Opening Ceremony since 2012 through last night’s Closing Ceremony, NBCUniversal posted a Total Audience Delivery* of 30.6 million viewers across the combined live Paris Prime (2-5 p.m. ET) and U.S. primetime (8-11 p.m. ET/PT) time periods – up 82% from Tokyo (16.9 million).

Over the full Games, Paris Prime (daytime) and U.S. primetime coverage posted a streaming TAD of 4.1 million viewers daily across Peacock and NBCU Digital platforms.

*Total Audience Delivery is based upon live-plus-same day fast national figures from Nielsen and digital data from Adobe Analytics. Live viewership from 2-5 p.m. ET (Paris Prime) is inclusive of NBC, Peacock, USA Network, E!, Paris Extra 1, Paris Extra 2, and additional NBCU digital platforms. Primetime viewership includes NBC, Peacock, USA Network, Paris Extra 1 and Paris Extra 2. Official Nielsen data for the final days of the Games will be available on Tuesday.

“Must See” NBC Dominates

As the 2024 Paris Olympics concluded with last night’s Closing Ceremony, the NBC Broadcast Network extended its streak to 152 consecutive Summer Olympics nights as primetime’s No. 1 show – dating to the Closing Ceremony of the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

NBC has dominated broadcast primetime since the beginning of the Paris Olympics, which has boosted NBC to No. 1 among Adults 18-49 in the 2023-24 season. NBC is now on pace to win the demographic for the 12-month season, which concludes in September.

New Orleans led all markets in local NBC station ratings during the Paris Olympics (“Paris Prime” + primetime windows). A chart of the Top 20 markets is at bottom.

Peacock Power

Led by Peacock, 23.5 billion minutes of Paris Olympics coverage were streamed – up 40% from all prior Summer and Winter Olympics combined (16.8 billion minutes across NBCUniversal digital platforms).

As the streaming home of the 2024 Paris Olympics, Peacock provided fans with the most comprehensive Olympic destination in U.S. media history. Through innovative new features like Peacock Discovery Multiview, Live Actions and the generative A.I.-powered “Your Daily Olympic Recap on Peacock,” fans were able to navigate more than 5,000 hours of Olympics coverage in a way that best fit their interests or timetable.

Peacock managed up to 60 concurrent single live event streams and up to 300 live events a day during the first week alone – leading to a total of over 3,200 live events over the course of the Games. As one of the most popular offerings of Peacock’s comprehensive Paris Olympics coverage, Gold Zone consistently ranked among Peacock’s top five most-watched Olympics titles and nearly quadrupled its viewership over the course of the Games, with one in five Olympics viewers tuning in.

More than a quarter of Olympics viewers on Peacock watched via Multiview, with half of the time spent in the featured live events, and half watching in the quad box view. Six of 10 viewers used the Browse by Sport navigation menu in the Olympics hub to quickly dive into a specific sport.

USA Network Tops the Charts

USA Network dominated the cable landscape during the two weeks of Paris Olympic competition, ranking as the #1 cable sports/entertainment network in Total Day and primetime in both total viewers and the Adults 18-49 demo.

With its strong performance, USA Network is now the #2 entertainment cable network in the demo for 2024.

Source: Nielsen Most Current Linear P18-49 & P2+ viewing through 7-Days, 2024 Summer Olympics period-to-date (7/26 - 8/8/24) in Prime (Mon-Sun 8p-11p) and Total Day (Mon-Sun 6a-6a). Cable entertainment networks exclude Sports & News networks | Cable networks includes Sports and News networks.

NBC News #1 Across the Board for Paris Olympics

TODAY and NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt ranked No. 1 in total viewers and the key Adult 25-54 and Adult 18-49 demos during for the two weeks of the 2024 Paris Olympics, according to Nielsen.

TODAY and Nightly posted their largest Summer Olympics across-the-board advantages vs. the competition since the 2016 Rio Olympics.

For more information on NBC News’ viewership success during the Paris Olympics, click here.

Telemundo Increases Viewership for Largest-Ever Spanish-Language Olympics Presentation

Telemundo Deportes presented the most Spanish-language coverage of an Olympics to date, including the first-ever broadcasts of the Opening and Closing Ceremonies on Telemundo. The network deployed its largest Olympic commentary team, with 40+ hosts, commentators, and in-country reporters, representing the different disciplines and countries relevant to Hispanic audiences.

Through Thursday, Aug. 8, Paris Olympic viewership on Telemundo increased 26% from the comparable period for the Tokyo Olympics, while Universo viewership spiked 138%. In addition, Telemundo streamed a record 3.1 billion minutes of content through Thursday – up 18% from the full Tokyo Olympics.

Content Creation, Viral Moments, and More Boost NBC Sports Social Media Platforms to New Heights

Paris Olympics content registered a record 6.55 billion impressions across NBC Sports social channels – a 184% increase vs. the Tokyo Olympics and 53% above the Rio Olympics.

In addition, NBC Sports social channels:

Delivered a 497% increase in social video viewership over the Tokyo Olympics and 566% over Rio
Added 4.7 million new followers to the full portfolio of accounts/channels
Scored 7X social engagement for On Her Turf over the Tokyo Olympics, speaking to the continued power and growth of women’s sports

Source: Sprout Social, Oracle for the following accounts across multiple platforms: NBC Olympics, NBC Sports, On Her Turf, Golf Channel, NBC Sports Soccer

2024 Paris Olympic Games Delivered Lasting Halo Effect for Advertisers

Paris 2024 provided massive scale and high engagement across all platforms for NBCUniversal’s advertising partners – generating both immediate return and lasting impact. Thes Paris Olympics delivered significant lifts throughout the brand funnel vs. competitive TV among the 30.6 million multiplatform viewers:

+27% Greater Ad Attention
+44% Greater Message Recall
+14% Higher Brand Search Engagement
+17% Increased Purchase Intent

For NBCUniversal brand partners, this impact among 30.6 million viewers isn't just transactional – it’s transformational – with 3 in 4 viewers saying they trust Olympic advertisers and 2 in 3 consumers finding Olympics advertisements more credible vs. other ads.

NBCUniversal delivered the highest Olympic and Paralympic advertising revenue in history for Paris 2024, with more advertisers than Rio and Tokyo combined and more than half a billion dollars coming from first-time sponsors.

Source: iSpot attention index, NBC Paris Olympics through 8/8/24; MarketCast: Paris Olympics 7/26/24-8/7/2024, A18+, NBC Total Day vs. PY competitive broadcast/cable; EDO: Paris Olympics 7/26/24-8/8/2024, NBC Prime vs. competitive broadcast/cable; BPI/NBCU Paris Olympics Tracker, 8/1/2024 - 8/4/2024