The Paris Olympics have been generating record coverage this year, according to the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
In the build up to the games, Paris 2024 organisers sought to secure the widest possible media exposure for the three week-long sports event. Media rights holders across several countries have reported strong engagement with the games.
In most of Europe, media rights are held by Warner Bros Discovery, broadcast via its Eurosport channel, Max and discovery+. Across the latter two platforms there has been over one million minutes of streaming, seven times more than at the same point during Tokyo 2020 and representing 75% of the total minutes from Paris 2024.
National broadcasters are also playing their part. In the UK, the BBC covers the Olympics, albeit with more of a focus on the performance of Team GB due to it being the country’s national public service broadcaster.
Following the early stages of the Games, the BBC revealed on 30 July that its coverage of the Games had amassed a total TV reach of 23.9m and there had been over 48.7m viewing requests.
Commenting at the time, Alex Kay-Jelski, Director of BBC Sport, said: “Across the whole BBC, millions have been turning to us to follow the biggest sporting moments at this year’s Olympics.
“The opening days have given us drama, excitement, and plenty of Team GB medals – all shown live on the BBC as we continue to bring audiences together to enjoy the greatest show on earth.”
Turning to the US, the Paris Games are being broadcast by NBC and Peacock. The strong performance of the US Olympic team, which overtook China to top the leader table this weekend, has likely driven good audience engagement with the Games.
The Olympic Opening Ceremony on 26 July amassed 28.6 million followers on the aforementioned platforms, whilst the opening weekend accumulated 1.1 billion views across Telemundo, Unverso and Peacock streaming and social media, 65% more.
The broadcasting and streaming performance suggests that the games’ pre-event media strategy is reaping dividends. In the build up to the tournament, the Olympic Broadcast Services (OBS) worked to ensure wide distribution for the Games by clinching more media partners than Tokyo 2020.
Yiannis Exarchos, CEO of OBS, said: “These are Games that truly inspire and excite us, urging OBS to push the boundaries, not only in our broadcasting, but also in the way we convey the stories of athletes, sports, the city and the host country.”
The Olympics comes to a close on 11 August, with the US and China currently neck-and-neck in terms of gold medals in the leader table as of the writing (6 August). Hosts France are third, followed by Australia and Great Britain in fourth and fifth respectively.
The next Olympics will be held in Los Angeles, California, in 2028. The event can be expected, as usual, to generate significant interest from sponsors and media partners, and the global sports audience.
