Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony on NBC and Peacock is Most Watched Since 2012, With 28.6 Million Viewers

NBCUniversal's Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony 

NBCUniversal’s presentation of the unprecedented Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony led by NBC and Peacock registered the most-watched Opening Ceremony for a Summer Olympics since London 2012 with a Total Audience Delivery (TAD) of 28.6 million viewers, according to custom fast national data from Nielsen and Adobe Analytics. In addition, Telemundo Deportes delivered 666,000 viewers for the Opening Ceremony.

“Last night’s Opening Ceremony, one of the most ambitious and complex in Olympic history, was a spectacle for those in attendance in Paris, delivered a huge audience across our NBCU platforms, and set records for Peacock,” said NBC Sports President Rick Cordella. “Thanks to the tireless effort of our production and engineering teams, and extensive promotion, we are off to a strong start that is in line with the expectations of our NBC stations, and distribution and advertising partners. We are in great position as we look forward to the next two weeks of competition.”

With coverage live in the afternoon followed by a special primetime presentation, the Opening Ceremony audience of 28.6 million viewers on NBC and Peacock was more than 10 million viewers (60%) larger than the Tokyo Opening Ceremony (17.9 million) and an 8% increase over the Rio Opening Ceremony (26.5 million).

Peacock Drives Streaming Records

The Opening Ceremony was the most-streamed ever (more than 2.5 million viewers) and ranks as the No. 1 entertainment event in Peacock history.

Led by Peacock, Paris Olympics streaming consumption across NBCUniversal platforms exceeded 1 billion minutes through Friday – six times greater than the Tokyo Olympics through the comparable time frame.

Paris Olympics Deliver for NBCUniversal Partners

Brands advertising in the Opening Ceremony generated +320% greater search volume than brands in the Tokyo Opening Ceremony. (Source: EDO (Linear) 2024 Opening Ceremony - Live + Primetime)

Total Audience Delivery is based upon live-plus-same day custom fast national figures from Nielsen and digital data from Adobe Analytics. Official viewership will be available on Monday.

The NBC broadcast network and streaming service Peacock are the company’s primary platforms for its coverage of the Olympic Games Paris 2024. Click here for all the ways to watch NBCUniversal’s coverage. NBCU owns the U.S. media rights to the Olympic Games through 2032, which are scheduled for Paris (2024), Milan Cortina (2026), Los Angeles (2028) and Brisbane (2032). The host city for the 2030 Olympic Winter Games has not yet been chosen.

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