NBCU: Paris Olympics Viewing up 82% from Tokyo

STAMFORD, Conn. —NBCUniversal is reporting that its coverage of the Paris Olympics attracted viewing audiences that were up 82% from the Tokyo Olympics and that the games produced record levels of streaming and engagement on social media.

More specifically, the games delivered a Total Audience Delivery (TAD) of 30.6 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 82% from the Tokyo Olympics (16.9 million), according to fast national data from Nielsen and Adobe Analytics.

In addition, NBC Broadcast Network extended its streak to 152 consecutive Summer Olympics nights as primetime’s No. 1 show and USA Network ranked as the #1 cable sports/entertainment network in Total Day and primetime viewership over the two weeks of competition.

Led by Peacock, 23.5 billion minutes of Paris Olympics coverage were streamed – up 40% from all prior Summer and Winter Olympics combined (16.8 billion minutes across NBCUniversal digital platforms).

“Our NBCUniversal team matched the occasion of this transformative Paris Olympics, presenting peerless coverage in daytime and primetime across all platforms, including the NBC broadcast network, which once again was home to the most-watched night of television for 17 consecutive days,” said Mark Lazarus, chairman, NBCUniversal Media Group. “The Games marked a groundbreaking moment for Peacock, which delivered a flawless user experience and cutting-edge innovation while shattering all-time Olympics streaming records. USA Network went around-the-clock and ranked #1 in cable sports and entertainment for the past two weeks. Telemundo Deportes provided extensive Spanish-language coverage. NBC News broadcast from on-location in Paris and dominated the competition, while our owned-stations and affiliates had soaring local news ratings. We sold more advertising for the Paris Olympics than for any other Games, and we delivered for all of our partners. Parks and Studios received unmatched promotion, as the ‘halo effect’ boosted all of our businesses. The Paris Olympics was as exciting as we could have hoped, and we can’t wait to work with our partners at the IOC and USOPC in Milan-Cortina in ’26 and LA28.”

“Led by our best-in-class engineering and production teams in Paris and Stamford, a staff of more than 3,000 worked tirelessly to present these reimagined Games in new and innovative ways in all dayparts and on all platforms,” added Rick Cordella, president, NBC Sports/

NBCU described the other highlights as follows:

• NBCU’s lead Olympics host Mike Tirico anchored nearly 100 hours across two primetime presentations – live “Paris Prime” coverage from 2-5 p.m. ET and the traditional U.S. primetime at 8 p.m. ET/PT – as NBCU featured the best events live while adding context and special elements for the large evening audience.
• Over the full Games, Paris Prime (daytime) and U.S. primetime coverage posted a streaming TAD of 4.1 million viewers daily across Peacock and NBCU Digital platforms.
• NBC has dominated broadcast primetime since the beginning of the Paris Olympics, which has boosted NBC to No. 1 among Adults 18-49 in the 2023-24 season. NBC is now on pace to win the demographic for the 12-month season, which concludes in September.
• New Orleans led all markets in local NBC station ratings during the Paris Olympics (“Paris Prime” + primetime windows).
• Led by Peacock, 23.5 billion minutes of Paris Olympics coverage were streamed – up 40% from all prior Summer and Winter Olympics combined (16.8 billion minutes across NBCUniversal digital platforms).
• As the streaming home of the 2024 Paris Olympics, Peacock provided fans with the most comprehensive Olympic destination in U.S. media history. Through innovative new features like Peacock Discovery Multiview, Live Actions and the generative A.I.-powered “Your Daily Olympic Recap on Peacock,” fans were able to navigate more than 5,000 hours of Olympics coverage in a way that best fit their interests or timetable.
• Peacock managed up to 60 concurrent single live event streams and up to 300 live events a day during the first week alone – leading to a total of over 3,200 live events over the course of the Games. As one of the most popular offerings of Peacock’s comprehensive Paris Olympics coverage, Gold Zone consistently ranked among Peacock’s top five most-watched Olympics titles and nearly quadrupled its viewership over the course of the Games, with one in five Olympics viewers tuning in.
• More than a quarter of Olympics viewers on Peacock watched via Multiview, with half of the time spent in the featured live events, and half watching in the quad box view. Six of 10 viewers used the Browse by Sport navigation menu in the Olympics hub to quickly dive into a specific sport.
• USA Network dominated the cable landscape during the two weeks of Paris Olympic competition, ranking as the #1 cable sports/entertainment network in Total Day and primetime in both total viewers and the Adults 18-49 demo.
• With its strong performance, USA Network is now the #2 entertainment cable network in the demo for 2024.
• TODAY and NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt ranked No. 1 in total viewers and the key Adult 25-54 and Adult 18-49 demos during for the two weeks of the 2024 Paris Olympics, according to Nielsen.
• TODAY and Nightly posted their largest Summer Olympics across-the-board advantages vs. the competition since the 2016 Rio Olympics.
• Telemundo Deportes presented the most Spanish-language coverage of an Olympics to date, including the first-ever broadcasts of the Opening and Closing Ceremonies on Telemundo. The network deployed its largest Olympic commentary team, with 40+ hosts, commentators, and in-country reporters, representing the different disciplines and countries relevant to Hispanic audiences.
• Through Thursday, Aug. 8, Paris Olympic viewership on Telemundo increased 26% from the comparable period for the Tokyo Olympics, while Universo viewership spiked 138%. In addition, Telemundo streamed a record 3.1 billion minutes of content through Thursday – up 18% from the full Tokyo Olympics.
• Paris Olympics content registered a record 6.55 billion impressions across NBC Sports social channels – a 184% increase vs. the Tokyo Olympics and 53% above the Rio Olympics.
• In addition, NBC Sports social channels delivered a 497% increase in social video viewership over the Tokyo Olympics and 566% over Rio; they added 4.7 million new followers to the full portfolio of accounts/channels; scored 7X social engagement for On Her Turf over the Tokyo.
• Paris 2024 provided massive scale and high engagement across all platforms for NBCUniversal’s advertising partners – generating both immediate return and lasting impact. The Paris Olympics delivered significant lifts throughout the brand funnel vs. competitive TV among the 30.6 million multiplatform viewers: +27% greater ad attention; +44% greater message recall; +14% higher brand search engagement; +17% increased purchase intent.
• For NBCUniversal brand partners, this impact among 30.6 million viewers isn’t just transactional – it’s transformational – with 3 in 4 viewers saying they trust Olympic advertisers and 2 in 3 consumers finding Olympics advertisements more credible vs. other ads.
• NBCUniversal delivered the highest Olympic and Paralympic advertising revenue in history for Paris 2024, with more advertisers than Rio and Tokyo combined and more than half a billion dollars coming from first-time sponsors.