NBCUniversal continues Olympic viewership hot streak

The GIST: One thing that seems to get better with time? NBCUniversal’s viewership numbers during the 2024 Paris Olympics. On Friday, NBCU shared metrics through the previous 14 days of programming, with the latest data proving that Team USA primetime victories are always a ratings winner. Same old story.

👀 NBC’s 14-day primetime viewership averaged 31.6M viewers. Starting with the Opening Ceremony on July 26th, which drew an audience of 28.6M, the average viewership during Paris and U.S. primetime periods over 14 days of competition was up 77% from Tokyo’s 17.8M during comparable times.

📱 Peacock led a historic 20.3B minutes of streamed coverage in Paris. These numbers are up 21% from Tokyo 2020 and Beijing 2022 combined. Previous Olympics drew a total of 16.8B minutes across NBC’s digital platforms, but it’s worth noting that Peacock has only been leveraged in Olympic coverage since 2021.

💪 NBC finished last Thursday strong with 28.5M viewers across its platforms. That’s nearly double the viewers for the comparable Thursday of competition in Tokyo, which drew 14.5M. Thursday’s Olympic events included plenty of track and field, along with 13.5M viewers tuning in for Team USA’s close men’s basketball semifinal win over Serbia.

📈 Team USA women athletes drove the gold medal count and NBC viewership. Around 12.7M fans tuned in for Simone Biles and her teammates on July 30th, while track and field wins from hurdler Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and long jumper Tara Davis-Woodhall headlined NBC’s Thursday highlights.

• And with Team USA’s women’s soccer and basketball gold medal wins over the weekend, expect big viewership numbers driven by NWSL and WNBA stars. The women’s hoops team won its eighth straight gold medal, while the USWNT’s gold medal game against Brazil boasted 26 total NWSL stars. Talk about free advertising.