Smith School Professor Breaks Down Historic Olympic Games Viewership Ratings

As Team USA delivered the gold medal count win at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, NBC Universal also took home top honors in viewership ratings.

Recently published Nielsen ratings and internal NBC data indicate an average audience of 30.6 million viewers tuned in for one of the world’s most significant media events across its linear TV properties and streaming service Peacock. 

The results are in stark contrast to the 16.9 million viewers who tuned in for the Tokyo Games and similar to the Rio and London Games, with 27.5 million and 30.3 million viewers, respectively.

So, what were the difference-makers this time around? Bobby Zhou, an associate marketing professor at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, credits three main factors: an enticing Paris backdrop, ideal time zones for viewers and the Olympics’ innate potential to create a moment of unity. 

The first factor points to Paris's position as a global center for art, fashion and culture and its reputation as one of the most “romantic” cities in the world (the Paris Games set a new record for the most marriage proposals ever at an Olympics with nine reported engagements) that naturally was set to draw eyes. The second factor has a more discernable and straightforward impact on viewership figures—the six-hour time difference played well with Western audiences.

However, the third factor, the Olympics establishing a “moment of unity” for the world, is an underappreciated aspect concerning viewership, says Zhou. 

“Compared to three or four years ago, there’s so much that’s happened and continues to happen worldwide,” says Zhou. “We are looking at ongoing wars in different regions, division among groups and ethnic backgrounds, climate change and the battle against infectious diseases like Covid-19. The reception to these Olympic Games symbolizes a craving and desire from viewers for a moment of peace and joy.”

Equally instrumental in generating high viewership figures was NBCU’s implementation of its streaming service, Peacock, for Olympic coverage. NBCU reports that the 23.5 billion minutes streamed of the Paris Olympics is a 40% increase from all prior Summer and Winter Olympics combined. At its essence, those figures support major audience trends with sports, drawing viewers in droves to streaming services in an effort to not miss important action, says Zhou.

“Sports is some of the last remaining content online where folks just have to watch it live,” says Zhou. “There is so much uncertainty and excitement embedded within that. People need to tune in to know if their team or athletes are winning.”

Peacock's multi-viewing capacity also deserves recognition, according to Zhou. The streaming service managed up to 3,200 events throughout the Games, and its Gold Zone, a “live whip-around show that features the most exciting Olympic moments,” nearly quadrupled its viewership over the two weeks, attracting one in five viewers. Additionally, over 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.

“This is where the contemporary platform for digital content stood out. Gold Zone synthesizing the most exciting moments across different sports provided a transformational platform to educate viewers about things they otherwise would never have been exposed to,” Zhou says. 

Eyeing the 2026 Milan Winter Olympics and the 2028 Games in Los Angeles, Zhou believes NBCU’s task is to retain viewership and build on the momentum it generated this summer. The company must continue to leverage Peacock by showing off the most exciting moments from the Games and bringing interesting individual stories to life, he says.

“Consumers love stories. They want to know how an athlete proposed to their partner at the Games or the obstacles someone overcame just to compete in Paris,” says Zhou. “But the key is curation. How can NBCU and Peacock identify the most relevant, exciting and interesting content and keep it front and center with audiences? That’s the way forward.”