Tokyo Olympics Attract Smallest Summer Games TV Audience Since 1988

Tokyo Olympics withdrawn the smallest audience The company said Monday it has attracted an average of 15.5 million viewers for its nightly prime-time broadcast and digital offerings since NBCUniversal began covering the Summer Games in 1988.

from low attendance opening ceremony Until Sunday, July 23 silent closing eventNBCUniversal’s coverage of the Games has been weighed down by the lack of audiences kept at bay by coronavirus protocols and the cord-cutting and go-live by viewers in the US. Also, the 13-hour difference from New York didn’t help, and according to many viewers, 7,000 hours of footage spanned several channels and platforms.

While NBCUniversal can showcase dramatic and triumphant moments like the American gymnast Sunny Leevictory in all-round event, strong rating drivers like gymnast Simone Biles and tennis player Naomi Osaka they were either absent or left early.

Final attendance was 42 percent lower than the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, with an average of 26.7 million viewers. That was less than half of the 2012 London Games. 31.1 million.

But the Tokyo Games, postponed for a year during the pandemic, were still profitable for NBCUniversal. The company said its ad sales exceeded $1.2 billion, but offered some free ad space to companies disappointed by viewers. He also noted that its coverage dominated the TV audience during the Olympics, reflecting an increased focus on digital coverage, making it popular on social media and streaming platforms like NBCUniversal’s one-year Peacock service.

The media giant paid more than $1 billion for the exclusive rights to the Tokyo Games in the United States, which is part of a deal for the Olympics by 2032. He said 150 million Americans watched the Tokyo news.

Pete Bevacqua, president of NBC Sports, said in a statement, “Despite a number of curveball throws in the last 18 months, the power of the Olympics presented to viewers across the NBCU’s various platforms has proven unmatched.” Said. “The pandemic has fundamentally changed almost every aspect of these Games, but our team turned around and reimagined it in the midst of putting on history-making performances across 41 sports.”