LONDON—Discovery has reported record Olympic Winter Games viewership and engagement on its digital platforms.
More than 156 million Europeans visited Discovery's platforms with over one billion streaming minutes consumed, 19 times more than the last Olympic Winter Games, the company said.
The discovery+ and Eurosport streaming services saw 8 times more streaming viewers during this Games as users consumed more than double the content with average consumption exceeding 7 hours per viewer.
The same trend was seen on linear television with viewers on average watching 24% longer than PyeongChang 2018. The ad-supported Eurosport.com, and its local country editions, reached over double the amount of users compared to the same period.
Average linear TV audiences, both free-to-air and Eurosport, “remain resilient and in line with PyeongChang 2018, despite an overall 10% reduction in total TV usage since 2018,” the company also noted.
High audience shares on Discovery's free-to-air networks in the Nordic markets continued with highs of 88% (Norway), 83% (Sweden) and 82% (Finland). Eurosport channels saw significant audience and share growth in many key markets - including Poland (+36%), Romania (+23%), and Italy (+250%) - and Discovery's channels across both free-to-air and pay-tv saw an overall increase in audience share.
"The Winter Olympics has proven to be a terrific success for discovery+ and all our channels and platforms across Europe,” said Jean-Briac Perrette, president and CEO, Discovery Streaming & International. “Discovery is leading the way in building global scale in streaming whilst also maintaining strength in traditional television viewership, significantly outperforming the market across both.”
"Well over half of all new Olympics subscribers also enjoyed discovery+'s entertainment content, reinforcing the increased depth and value of our offering,” he added. “These subscribers remain engaged and retained for longer, which meaningfully improves subscriber lifetime value."
Discovery presented Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 in 50 markets in Europe featuring 11 national productions and coverage in 19 languages.
