COLLEGE
PARK, Md., Aug. 22, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- NBCU's
record-breaking Olympic viewership, driven by the allure of
Paris and expert streaming
strategies, marks a pivotal moment in sports media. Marketing
professor Bobby Zhou at the
University of Maryland's Robert H.
Smith School of Business notes, "The reception to these Olympic
Games symbolizes a craving and desire from viewers for a moment of
peace and joy."
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? Zhou
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."
About the University of
Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business
The
Robert H. Smith School of Business is an internationally recognized
leader in management education and research. One of 12 colleges and
schools at the University of Maryland, College Park,
the Smith School offers undergraduate, full-time and flex MBA,
executive MBA, online MBA, business master's, PhD and executive
education programs, as well as outreach services to the corporate
community. The school offers its degree, custom and certification
programs in learning locations in North
America and Asia.
Contact: Greg
Muraski, gmuraski@umd.edu
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SOURCE University of Maryland's
Robert H. Smith School of Business