NBCUniversal and CBC report historic Olympic viewership in U.S. and Canada

The GIST: U.S. Olympic media partner NBCUniversal and Canadian broadcaster CBC released their final numbers from the 2024 Paris Olympics, proving the post-pandemic slump is over. The sky-high numbers also position them to cash in when they broadcast the Summer Games’ return to North America during LA28. Hella stoked.

📺 The 17 days of competition averaged 30.6M U.S. viewers across NBC platforms. This figure is the network’s biggest for the Olympics since London 2012 and is 82% higher than the average U.S. audience during Tokyo 2020.

• Paris’ popularity allowed NBC to continue the Summer Games’ 152-night streak as primetime’s No. 1 show and put USA Network atop cable TV through two weeks of competition. The Olympics also pushed NBC to the top primetime spot and USA Network into second among the 18-49 demo for 2024.

📱 Americans streamed 23.5B minutes of Olympic coverage across NBCU platforms. With prominent NBC streamer Peacock leading the charge, that number is 40% higher than streaming consumption for Tokyo 2020 and Beijing 2022 combined.

• It’s worth noting that over a quarter of Peacock viewers consumed Olympic coverage through the app’s novel multiview feature, which was rolled out this summer. NBC also debuted Gold Zone, a show offering whiparound coverage of Olympic highlights in real time that won over fans early in the Games.

💰 The Olympics were well worth the price tag for NBC. In 2011, the company signed the biggest Olympic media rights deal in history ($4.38B through 2020), superseded by 2014’s $7.75B extension through 2032. The 2014 deal is already paying dividends — NBC expected to pocket a record $1.25B in ad revenue for Paris alone.

• Plus, more than 70% of NBC’s 2024 sponsors were new and spent nearly $500M combined. This trend should continue through LA28 too, as the network has established a joint partner program that lets advertisers buy with NBC and enjoy Olympic spots. It pays to be the top Dogg.

🇨🇦 The Paris Olympics weren’t just a hit in the U.S. CBC revealed in its post-Olympic wrap report that 70% of Canadians (27M) tuned into the network’s Olympic coverage throughout the Games. This turnout is impressive, especially when considering that TSN and Sportsnet also competed with CBC for Olympic coverage, unlike NBC’s exclusive programming. Oh Canada!