US media company NBCUniversal has recorded its first television ratings slip for a summer Olympic Games since 2000.
The Bloomberg Intelligence division of news agency Bloomberg said prime-time broadcast viewership from Rio de Janeiro’s Olympic Games, which closed yesterday (Sunday), has been down about 17 per cent compared to London 2012. The audience has been 25 per cent smaller in the key 18-to-49-year-old age group.
Rio 2016 took place in a favourable time zone for US audiences, while the United States topped the medal table with 46 golds and 121 medals in total. In May 2014, NBCU extended its media rights deal for the Olympic Games through to 2032 in a deal that the International Olympic Committee said would secure the long-term financial security of the Olympic Movement.
NBCU acquired rights across all media platforms, including free-to-air television, subscription television, internet and mobile. The agreement, from 2021 to 2032, was valued at a basic $7.65bn (€6.97bn).
NBC Sports chairman Mark Lazarus told Bloomberg that the network has a plan to profit from its Olympics investment, by giving people more viewing options. Through August 16, NBC said 78 million unique users streamed Rio 2016 coverage on the NBC Sports app and NBCOlympics.com, up 24 per cent from same period in London.
Lazarus also maintained the network was reaching more 18-to-49-year-olds on broadcast television during the Olympics than its three broadcast rivals combined. However, he added: “We also understand that to millennials and younger viewers, prime time is really ‘my time.’ They want to watch on their terms, and that’s why moving forward we’ll continue to adapt to viewer behaviour with our coverage on multiple platforms.”