NBCUniversal’s presentation of the opening Sunday of Paris Olympics competition on NBC, Peacock, and across key NBCU platforms posted a Total Audience Delivery (TAD) of 41.5 million viewers, according to custom fast national data from Nielsen and Adobe Analytics – nearly doubling the opening Sunday of competition for the Tokyo Olympics (21.7 million across all platforms). Highlighted by Simone Biles leading the U.S. to the top score in the women’s gymnastics qualifier, the 1-2 finish by Torri Huske and Gretchen Walsh in the 100m butterfly, the U.S. women’s rugby team topping Brazil, and Leon Marchand winning gold in the 400m individual medley in his home country, live coverage in the afternoon (Paris Prime: 2-5 p.m. ET) was followed by a primetime presentation (8-11 p.m. ET/PT).
Beginning with Friday’s Opening Ceremony, NBCUniversal had a posted three-day Total Audience Delivery average of 34.5 million viewers across the combined live Paris Prime and U.S. primetime time periods – up 79% from Tokyo (19.3 million). A pair of U.S. victories in team sports also delivered audience milestones on Sunday. The U.S. men’s basketball team averaged 10.9 million viewers on NBC and Peacock – a larger audience than for its victory in the Tokyo Olympics gold-medal game (9.3 million) – in winning its opener against Serbia. Later in the day, the U.S. women’s soccer team’s win over Germany topped all men’s and women’s matches in the Tokyo and Rio Olympics, with an average of 4.2 million viewers on USA Network and Peacock.
Led by Peacock, 4.5 billion minutes of Paris Olympics coverage have been streamed through Sunday – surpassing the entire Tokyo Olympics (4.48 billion minutes across NBCUniversal digital platforms). Paris Olympics Opening Weekend grew on Peacock as Sunday, July 28 surpassed Saturday, July 27 as its second-best day of engagement ever, behind only the Peacock AFC Wild Card Exclusive, which was the most live-streamed event in U.S. history. Sunday’s coverage was streamed by 6.0 million viewers on Peacock and NBCU Digital platforms.
Only three days in, advertisements in the Paris Olympics on NBCUniversal are already delivering impact for brands throughout the funnel. Overall, advertisers are seeing higher attention on their ads (+18%), greater message recall (+33%) and an increased likelihood to search (+67%) on linear than competitive broadcast/cable television.
Paris Olympics viewers demonstrated significant market engagement across various sectors. They are 24% more likely to be in the market for a car compared to the general population, with automotive advertisers experiencing a 52% greater incremental brand search than competitors on TV. In the restaurant sector, these viewers are 79% more likely to visit casual dining establishments, with advertisers achieving a 50% higher intent to visit after ad exposure. For the movie industry, Paris Olympics viewers are 38% more likely to attend movies, with advertisers seeing a 25% higher recall of movie titles and a 37% higher intent to watch advertised films compared to competitive TV advertising.
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