Five Reasons the Olympics Are Must-See TV Again

Only three years after the Tokyo Games’ poor showing as the least-watched prime-time Olympics on record, NBCUniversal’s coverage of the 2024 Paris Games is posting high marks.

The opening Sunday of competition drew NFL-like TV numbers, averaging 41.5 million viewers across various NBC platforms. (That nearly equaled the 42 million viewers who tuned in to watch the NFL’s most-watched regular-season game last year—the Cowboys vs. Commanders—on Thanksgiving weekend.) Through Thursday, NBC’s prime-time coverage was averaging 34 million viewers across all platforms, up 79% from Tokyo. 

Mark Lazarus, chairman of NBCUniversal, hasn’t seen so much enthusiasm from Olympic viewers and spectators since London in 2012. “Clearly, the Olympics are back,” he said on a conference call Thursday.

The rebound in Olympic viewership vindicates NBCUniversal’s decision in 2014 to fork over $7.75 billion to the International Olympic Committee for U.S. media rights to six Games through 2032. It’s sweet satisfaction for Olympic sponsors and marketers, who’ve committed a record $1.25 billion to advertise during the Paris Games. More than 70% of NBC’s Paris advertisers are new, according to the network, with a half-billion dollars in revenue coming from first-time sponsors.

NBC’s arresting visuals of the City of Light and the medal-winning heroics of U.S. athletes are just two of the factors driving NBC’s Olympic rebound. This week, Front Office Sports asked business experts and NBC insiders why the Olympic rings are posting gold-plated ratings again.

Dream Setting

The picturesque TV appeal of Paris can’t be overstated. As Gertrude Stein said, “America is my country, and Paris is my hometown.” U.S. viewers are captivated by the famous sights of the Palace of Versailles, Eiffel Tower, Seine river, and Arc de Triomphe. Event sites including the Eiffel Tower Stadium, hosting beach volleyball, may perhaps be the coolest venues ever.

“Undoubtedly, Paris provides a stunning backdrop for the Games on television,” sports media consultant Jim Williams tells FOS. “The decision to host events at historic sites rather than traditional venues adds significant allure.” 

As one NBC executive noted to FOS, Paris and 2012 host London are two of the world’s most popular tourist destinations. Americans who’ve never been to those cities want to go; those who have been want to return. It’s no accident that these host cities have drawn two of the largest U.S. TV audiences. Paris’s six-hour time-zone difference to Eastern time is also much more convenient for U.S. viewers than Beijing’s (12 hours) and Tokyo’s (13 hours).

“Lost in the fog of three consecutive Asian Olympics, two impacted by COVID-19, these Olympics are in Paris with its glorious locations and excited live crowds. It looks and feels Olympian,” says John Kosner, former ESPN executive turned founder of Kosner Media.

Coverage Like Never Before

NBC has taken a more “innovative” approach this year, according to Kosner. 

Peacock’s whip-around highlight show, Gold Zone, is the breakout star of early Olympics coverage. NBC wisely hired the master of the format—NFL RedZone host Scott Hanson—to lead the coverage. The streaming hit is fast-moving, funny, and compelling, focusing on the highest-stakes moments. As Hanson told FOS this week: “We will trim the fat off everything and bring you the best of the best in a one-stop [shop] on Peacock for Gold Zone. That will lend itself to a very fun viewing experience.”

Hanson and fellow hosts Andrew Siciliano, Jac Collinsworth, and Matt Iseman whip viewers in and out of “gold medal alerts” 10 hours a day. The boisterous Hanson got so excited over one event, he cut his hand banging it on his TV desk. 

Its appeal is only spreading. The number of accounts watching Gold Zone doubled between its Saturday debut and Tuesday’s coverage. As of Thursday, NBC had piled up eight billion streaming minutes and counting, with plenty of events still to go, Lazarus said.

“NBC has brought a slick, modern, high-gloss production to the 2024 Games in Paris,” says Kosner. “They’ve been genuinely innovative, launching Gold Zone and the [AI-generated] Al Michaels highlights as two examples. They have improved the discovery and viewing experience on Peacock.”

The IOC’s scheduling of high-profile events has also lined up perfectly with U.S. viewing windows, giving NBC big opportunities for their audiences. For example, the Team USA men’s basketball game versus Serbia with Nikola Jokić aired mid-Sunday.

Compelling Weekday Lineups

Alongside innovative coverage, there are simply lots more opportunities to watch live events on TV. 

Forget the old days when NBCUniversal used to hold back TV coverage of the biggest events for prime time. For the first time, virtually all events are being televised live in the afternoon, then replayed in prime time, noted Rick Cordella, president of NBC Sports on a conference call Thursday. This “Paris Prime” strategy is delivering a one-two punch, generating big numbers, Cordella said—and daytime broadcasts aren’t cannibalizing the prime-time audience.   

On Tuesday afternoon, a staggering 12.7 million live viewers watched Simone Biles (at top) lead the U.S. women’s gymnastic team to gold on NBC and Peacock, according to Sports Media Watch. The U.S. women’s basketball team’s opening win over Japan on Monday afternoon averaged 3 million viewers on USA Network and Peacock. That was more than any men’s or women’s basketball game in Tokyo, excluding the gold medal games.

As Kosner says: “They have taken the logic of the NFL’s late Sunday afternoon window, which is considered prime time by advertisers, and used that model every day to supplement actual prime time with late-afternoon live coverage. That’s a fairly ingenious way to tackle the Paris time-zone issues.”

Rival sports TV networks are taking note. As Fox programming guru Michael Mulvihill asked on X: “Is the door opening for more sports on weekday afternoons?” Plenty of workers covertly streaming big Olympic moments at their desks indicate maybe yes.

Abundance of Superstar Athletes

NBC executives tell FOS that the better Team USA performs, the better the ratings. Viewers are tuning in at all times of day for the big stars, including Biles, LeBron James, and Katie Ledecky. And many of them are snagging medals left and right.

But there are also the perennial viral breakouts, including rugby sensation Ilona Maher (above), and bespectacled pommel horse specialist Stephen Nedoroscik who factor in. As the U.S. continues to perform better than they did in Tokyo, great results are rocketing non-household names into meme dominance and turning their competitions into can’t-miss events for NBCUniversal.

“I believe the number-one reason [for the Olympic comeback] are the American Olympic stars,” says sports TV ratings expert Douglas Pucci, programming insider at Awful Announcing. “There are many more to watch at these Olympics compared to Tokyo three years ago. The fact that this is the first normal Olympics post-COVID-19, with spectators filling the stands cheering on the athletes, and no disqualifications because of COVID, is a benefit.”

Yearlong Marketing Blitz

Olympic sports marketing expert Rob Prazmark, founder of 21 Sports & Entertainment Marketing Group, tells FOS his “number-one reason” for the rebound is NBCUniversal’s savvy decision to start marketing the Paris Games more than a year ago. 

Going back to CBS Sports’ coverage of the 1960 Rome Olympics—the first Games fully covered on TV—this has never happened, according to Prazmark. “Historically, the Olympic network in the U.S. and worldwide counted on sponsors to promote the Games a year in advance. That does not happen in today’s environment because of all of the clutter in sports marketing.” He says he doffs his cap to NBCUniversal chairman Mark Lazarus and NBC Olympics president Gary Zenkel in “bucking the historical trend.”

Meanwhile, NBC studded its programming and marketing efforts with famous faces, including Snoop Dogg, Peyton Manning, Emily in Paris star Lily Collins, Megan Thee Stallion, and Call Her Daddy podcast host Alex Cooper. The strategy has attracted new and younger viewers, according to NBC viewer research.  

Now, what does this gold-medal showing for NBCUniversal mean for the future? The Olympics are coming back to the U.S. with the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles and the 2034 Winter Games in Salt Lake City. Paris is setting the tone for future U.S. ratings success that could parallel this year’s numbers, or even exceed them. 

“We Americans love the Games on U.S. soil,” says Prazmark. “In 1984, everyone thought [the L.A. Summer Olympics] would be a ratings flop, but it was a blockbuster without the Soviet Union. I suspect that the Russians will be back in 2028—and it will be an amazing drama.”