FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, July 26th, 2021

NBC’S TOKYO OLYMPICS MOMENTUM CONTINUES AS PRIMETIME VIEWERSHIP INCREASES FROM OPENING CEREMONY THROUGH FIRST TWO COMPETITION NIGHTS FOR FIRST TIME SINCE 1992

Last Night’s Coverage TRIPLES Combined Primetime Viewership of Other Broadcast Networks & Marks Most Watched Primetime Show Since Super Bowl Sunday with Total Audience Delivery Average of Nearly 20 Million

NBC Sports Digital Delivers Second-Best Olympic Primetime Streaming Audience Ever with Coverage Across Peacock, NBCOlympics.com & NBC Sports app

NBC Extends Dominance Streak as Summer Olympics Ranks #1 in Primetime for 121st Consecutive Night

STAMFORD, Conn. – July 26, 2021 – With another jam-packed day of Tokyo Olympic competition across the platforms of NBCUniversal, audience continues to build as viewer enthusiasm grows.

For the first time since the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, NBC’s primetime Summer Olympics show delivered successive viewership increases from the Opening Ceremony through the first two nights of competition, based on preliminary data from Nielsen and Adobe Analytics.

“The compelling competition has been dominating the entire media landscape, especially on television, while also setting streaming records and helping us grow Peacock,” said Mark Lazarus, Chairman, NBCUniversal Television and Streaming. “Delivering these Games across eight linear networks, Peacock and our other digital platforms shows the power of NBCUniversal and benefits our whole Company and our partners. The Olympics remain the single most dominant media event in the world.”

“Our best-in-class production team, led by executive producer Molly Solomon, is off to a terrific start as they work around the clock producing events and creating the more than 7,000 hours of captivating coverage that we will present across more platforms than ever before at the Olympics,” said Pete Bevacqua, Chairman, NBC Sports. “Adjusting our coverage on the fly has created dynamic flow across our multiple viewing options, and we will continue to innovate over the course of the Games. We continue to work with our partners to deliver the unparalleled value of the Olympics.”

Sunday night’s primetime show, which featured swimming, women’s gymnastics, women’s beach volleyball and triathlon, averaged a Total Audience Delivery (TAD) of approximately 19.8 million viewers – a sizable increase over Saturday night’s primetime coverage (15.3 million), which was up over Friday night’s primetime Opening Ceremony show. The 61% growth from Friday through Sunday is the largest increase ever in the first three nights of a Summer Olympics.

Last night’s TV-only audience of approximately 19.2 million viewers tripled the combined viewership for the other broadcast networks and marks the largest viewership for any primetime show since Super Bowl Sunday (Feb. 7, 2021).

Additional viewership highlights from NBCUniversal’s coverage of the Tokyo Olympics:

    • NBC Sports Digital delivered its second-largest primetime Olympics streaming audience (summer or winter) with an Average Minute Audience of 636,000 viewers across Peacock, NBCOlympics.com and the NBC Sports app (data from Adobe Analytics).

    • The Tokyo Olympics continued the event’s streak as the most dominant in media, easily winning primetime for the 121st consecutive Summer Olympics night.

    • Through Sunday, viewers have streamed 735 million total minutes of Tokyo Olympics content – up 24% from the comparable time period for the 2016 Rio Olympics and 41% vs. the 2018 PyeongChang.

 

ABOUT NBC OLYMPICS

A division of NBC Sports Group, NBC Olympics is responsible for producing, programming and promoting NBCUniversal’s coverage of the Olympic & Paralympic Games. NBC Olympics is renowned for its unsurpassed Olympic heritage, award-winning production, and ability to aggregate the largest audiences in U.S. television history. NBCUniversal owns the U.S. media rights on all platforms to all Olympic Games through 2032. NBC Olympics also produces thousands of hours of Olympic & Paralympic sports programming throughout the year, which is presented on NBC, NBCSN, Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA, Peacock and NBC Sports digital platforms.

–NBC OLYMPICS–