Paris Olympics Average 30.6 Million Viewers, 82% Bump From Tokyo

(Bloomberg) -- About 30.6 million people on average watched the Paris Olympics on Comcast Corp.’s US media outlets each day, an 82% increase from the Tokyo Olympics.

The number includes the NBC broadcast network, cable channels such as USA and the Peacock streaming service, NBC Sports said in a release on Monday. Sunday’s closing ceremony attracted a US audience of 20.8 million, more than double Tokyo’s.

Comcast used the event as a showcase for Peacock, which trails rivals such as Netflix, Disney and Max in total subscribers. The service allowed viewers to stream all 329 medal events on demand, after their initial airing. Gold Zone, a daily program that bounced around between live events, drew praise from many viewers.

NBC pulled out all the stops for the event, which included renting a Parisian restaurant with a view of the Eiffel Tower for studio broadcasts. The closing ceremony featured aerialists and music performances from artists such as the French rock band Phoenix. Actor Tom Cruise rode a zipline down to the stage in a sequence that had him bringing the Olympic flag to Los Angeles, which hosts the Summer Games in four years.

Individual events also performed well. The US men’s basketball gold-medal victory over France on Saturday drew an average audience of 19.5 million, the highest for that event since 25.8 million people watched the Atlanta final in 1996, NBC said.

The BBC said the Games were streamed 218 million times on its platforms, more than doubling Tokyo. Warner Bros. Discovery Inc., which has rights in Europe, set records with 215 million viewers and a 77% increase in paid streaming subscribers versus Tokyo.

Many media outlets have compared their results to Tokyo, among the least-watched Games in recent years because of the time difference and because they were held a year late due to the Covid pandemic. 

Warner Bros. said on an earnings call last week that it will lose $100 million on the Games, the final year of a contract signed in 2015. A new contract signed for the 2026 Winter Games is better aligned with the company’s streaming and pay-TV outlets, Chief Financial Officer Gunnar Wiedenfels said.

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