FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sunday, August 1st, 2021

NBC’S TOKYO OLYMPICS PRESENTATION DOMINATES MEDIA LANDSCAPE HEADING INTO SECOND WEEK OF COMPETITION

NBC Olympics’ Tokyo Primetime Coverage is Averaging Nearly 17 Million Viewers – Regularly Doubling and Tripling Combined Nightly Competition

USA Network Ranks #1 Among Cable Sports and Entertainment Networks for Opening Week of Tokyo Olympics

2.5 BILLION Streaming Minutes Consumed Across NBC Olympics Digital Platforms, Highlighted by Peacock Record Weekly Usage

Friends & Family Program Provides Special Moments for Team USA

STAMFORD, Conn. – August 1, 2021 – NBCUniversal’s coverage of the Tokyo Olympics heads into its second week having captured America’s attention, making it by far the most consumed content in U.S. media.

“We’re extremely proud of the work of our tireless production team, led by Molly Solomon, which has chronicled the thrilling moments of the Tokyo Olympics while telling the important personal stories of the athletes and their teams. We have also connected the athletes to their friends and families from afar,” said Pete Bevacqua, Chairman, NBC Sports “We are pleased that so many Americans have tuned in so far, and everyone is excited for this week’s competition, which includes gymnastics finals, track & field, and the gold medal games in many team sports.”

Among NBC Olympics’ consumption and coverage highlights:

    • Nearly one-third of Americans (105 million through Thursday, July 29) have watched NBC Olympics coverage on television.
    • NBC Olympics’ primetime coverage is averaging a Total Audience Delivery of 16.8 million viewers — pacing to rank with NBC’s Sunday Night Football as the two most-watched primetime shows in 2020-21 – and regularly doubles and triples the combined viewership of the competition.
    • The Tokyo Olympics continued the event’s streak as the most dominant in media, easily winning primetime for the 127th consecutive Summer Olympics night on Saturday.
    • USA Network ranks 1 among all cable sports and entertainment networks over the first week of Tokyo Olympics competition, averaging 1.4 million primetime viewers (Sat., 7/24-Fri., 7/30). In addition, USA Network and NBCSN ranked first and second, respectively, among all cable networks in Total Day Adult 18-34 and Adult 18-49 viewership in that same time period.
    • Peacock has delivered its highest-ever weekly usage, headlining the 2.5 BILLION streaming minutes of Tokyo Olympics content across NBCUniversal digital platforms. The 2.5 billion streaming minutes across Peacock, NBCOlympics.com and the NBC Sports app – is up 15% from the same day in the 2016 Rio Olympics and up 77% from the comparable time period for the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics. It is on pace to become the most streamed media event ever.
    • A total of 32 sports have been highlighted to date on the NBC primetime broadcast, with the remaining nine to be featured before the end of the Games.

 

Coming up this week on NBC Olympics coverage:

    • Suni Lee, the gymnastics all-around gold medalist, competes in the uneven bars and MyKayla Skinner in the vault, in primetime tonight on NBC (7 p.m. ET). On Monday, apparatus finals continue as Jade Carey competes in the floor exercise, and Suni Lee competes in balance beam on Tuesday. Americans Brody Malone (horizontal bar) and Sam Mikulak (parallel bars) aim to contend for a medal in men’s apparatus finals on Tuesday.
    • Americans April Ross and Alix Klineman face Cuba in beach volleyball, as live coverage of the women’s elimination rounds continues tonight live on NBC and CNBC. On the men’s side, Americans Jake Gibb and Tri Bourne play Germany live Monday at 9 a.m. ET on NBCSN.
    • Team USA track & field stars Allyson Felix (women’s 400m), Noah Lyles (men’s 200m), Rai Benjamin (men’s 400m hurdles), Sydney McLaughlin and Dalilah Muhammad (women’s 400m hurdles), Athing Mu (women’s 800m), Michael Norman (men’s 400m), and relay teams in the men’s 4x100m, women’s 4x400m and men’s 4x400m, are expected to compete for medals this week.
    • The U.S. Women’s basketball team continues its quest for a seventh consecutive gold medal facing France in the final game of group play tonight live at 12:40 a.m. ET/9:40 p.m. PT on USA Network. The team advances to the quarterfinals with a victory.
    • The U.S. Women’s soccer team, looking to become the first team to win the Women’s World Cup and Olympic gold in succession, plays Canada in the semifinals live tomorrow (Monday) at 4 a.m. ET on USA Network.
    • The U.S. Men’s basketball team, aiming for its fourth consecutive gold medal, face Pau and Marc Gasol and Spain in the quarterfinals tomorrow evening live at 12:40 a.m. ET/9:40 p.m. PT Monday on Peacock.
    • USA baseball, featuring former MLB players Todd Frazier and Edwin Jackson, face Japan in the playoff round live tomorrow morning (Monday) at 6 a.m. ET on NBCSN.
    • U.S. Men’s and Women’s water polo and U.S. Women’s volleyball continue their quest for medals as the elimination rounds begin.
    • The women’s golf competition, featuring Americans Nelly Korda, Jessica Korda, Danielle Kang and Lexi Thompson, and a top international field, airs live on GOLF Channel from Tuesday, August 3 to Friday, August 6, beginning each night at 6:30 p.m. ET.

 

All NBC Olympics television coverage is streamed on NBCOlympics.com and the NBC Sports app.  All Tokyo Olympics competition is available via live stream on NBCOlympics.com and the NBC Sports app.

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–