Four-Day Total Viewing of Olympics up 77% over Tokyo

NBCUniversal
(Image credit: NBCUniversal)

STAMFORD, Conn.—NBCUniversal’s coverage of the Paris Olympics continues to draw large audiences with four-day total viewership average up 77% from Tokyo Olympics and its Monday July 29 coverage delivered 31.3 million viewers on NBC, Peacock, and key NBCU platforms according to official data from Nielsen and Adobe Analytics.

The Monday July 29 figures were up 70% from the opening Monday of competition for the Tokyo Olympics (18.4 million across all platforms).

Monday's coverage was highlighted by the U.S. men’s gymnastics team winning its first medal (bronze) in the team competition since 2008, beach volleyball, and medal-winning swimming performances by Katie Grimes, Emma Weyant, Luke Hobson, and Ryan Murphy (for the third consecutive Olympics in the 100m backstroke), NBCU reported. 

Beginning with Friday’s Opening Ceremony, NBCUniversal has a posted four-day Total Audience Delivery (TAD) average of 33.8 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 77% from Tokyo (19.1 million).

Aiming for an unprecedented eighth consecutive gold medal, the U.S. women’s basketball team won its opening game against Japan, and averaged 3.0 million viewers on USA Network and Peacock – topping all men’s and women’s basketball at the Tokyo Olympics, excluding the gold medal games.

In addition, NBCU reported record audiences for its streaming platform Peacock. 

Peacock’s Paris Olympics usage through Monday’s competition surpassed the combined total of the full Beijing and Tokyo Olympics, with Paris streaming minutes up 25% over those previous Games combined.

Monday’s coverage was streamed by 4.5 million viewers on Peacock and NBCU Digital platforms.

Total Audience Delivery is based upon live-plus-same day custom 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, and USA Network. Official viewership will be available on Tuesday.

George Winslow

George Winslow is the senior content producer for TV Tech. He has written about the television, media and technology industries for nearly 30 years for such publications as Broadcasting & Cable, Multichannel News and TV Tech. Over the years, he has edited a number of magazines, including Multichannel News International and World Screen, and moderated panels at such major industry events as NAB and MIP TV. He has published two books and dozens of encyclopedia articles on such subjects as the media, New York City history and economics.