The upcoming Summer Olympics, which will take place in Paris between July 26 and August 11, have the potential to become the most televised event in the last eight years, according to eMarketer. The past two Summer Olympic games, taking place in Rio (2016) and Tokyo (2020), each attracted over 3 billion viewers worldwide, according to the International Olympic Committee (IOC)'s official reporting, making them some of the most widely watched televised events over the last eight years.
NBCUniveral expects even higher viewership for this Olympic games as it is the first in several years to take place outside of Asia, providing Western audiences with better viewing times. The company has set record ad revenues for this year’s Olympics, securing $1.2 billion in ad commitments, with over $350 million from new advertisers.
Peacock, NBCU’s streaming service, is raising subscription prices ahead of the games. Ad-supported subscriptions will increase by $2 to $7.99 monthly and ad-free subscriptions will jump to $13.99.
EMarketer finally forecasted total U.S. TV ad spend (including connected TV and linear) will reach $87.74 billion in 2024. Linear TV will continue to make up the majority of that spend through 2028, but its share is declining as spend on CTV grows.