Mike Tirico is seen on the set of NBCUniversal's coverage of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France on August 4, 2024.
Kristy Sparow | GettyImages
Comcast's NBCUniversal has long been a fan of the Olympics, but this summer the company poured all of its resources into the games to attract more viewers, particularly for its growing streaming platform Peacock.
So far, this seems to have paid off: More than 30 million people watched the games on NBC's TV and streaming platforms, generating a record $1.2 billion in advertising revenue.
NBC executives have touted the Olympics as a growth engine and differentiator in the increasingly crowded streaming and live sports landscape, and now they want to extend that benefit beyond the Games to future live sports.
“We completely changed the game plan internally. We ripped up the playbook two years ago,” said Jenny Storms, NBCUniversal's head of entertainment and sports marketing. “It was very scary at the time to take the institutional knowledge that we had had for so long, rip it up and start over. We really started completely new and fresh, from production to the company-wide counterparts.”
The Olympics have long been a central theme for NBCUniversal. Paris hosted the 18th Olympic Games, which were broadcast by NBC in the United States. The company renewed the rights in 2014 and agreed to pay $7.65 billion for the Games between 2022 and 2032, which amounts to more than $1.2 billion for each period.
Shortly before Paris, the efforts failed. The 2021 Tokyo and 2022 Beijing Olympic Games attracted the lowest audience numbers ever for a Summer and Winter Games, respectively.
Storms pointed out that there were factors at play in the last two Olympics that were largely outside of NBCUniversal's control.
Both games were overshadowed by the early stages of the pandemic. Tokyo was postponed for a year and fans and families were unable to attend either game. The time zone difference with Asia also had a negative impact on the US broadcast.
The biggest misstep, however, seemed to be Peacock's strategy during these Games. In Tokyo, very few events were available to stream live on Peacock. In Beijing, there was live content, but fans had trouble finding what they wanted to watch.
“We said Peacock was going to be the home of the Olympics, and we didn't really deliver,” said Mark Lazarus, chairman of NBCUniversal Media Group. “We were nervous about how much content we were going to put there, how we were going to program it, and how we were going to deliver it across the board.” [with traditional TV]. And the fans rightly told us that we didn't keep our promises.”
NBC Family Plan
Snoop Dogg is interviewed during the beach volleyball event on the fifth day of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the Eiffel Tower Stadium in Paris on July 31, 2024.
Carl Recine | Getty Images Sports | Getty Images
Executives from across the company have credited Paris as part of the success of this year's Olympics. The stunning setting – with the opening ceremony on the Seine and the beach volleyball match in front of the Eiffel Tower, to name a few – and the convenient time zone worked in NBC's favor.
The company also started marketing the Olympics much earlier this time, using various parts of NBCUniversal to spread the word, from news broadcasts and talk shows to various forms of advertising, Storms said.
Both Storms and Lazarus also pointed to the success of broadcasting the Olympic qualifying competitions in the weeks leading up to the Games.
“We've never really pushed the Trials before,” Storms said. “But it was the most streamed Trials ever and it was important to warm up America.”
And then there was the star factor of NBCUniversal's internal roster.
(LR) Comedian and host Jimmy Fallon and American athlete Sha'Carri Richardson attend the Men's Gold Medal match between Team France and Team USA on Day 15 of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at Bercy Arena on August 10, 2024 in Paris, France.
Pascal Le Segretain | Getty Images Sports | Getty Images
The company has deployed its own talent more strategically in 2024, executives said. In addition to airing content commercials, NBC stars have been integrated into the events themselves by serving as co-hosts and reporting from the sidelines. Fan favorite Snoop Dogg, a special correspondent for the NBC Olympics, generated buzz on social media and drew more attention to the live events. And his prominent presence in Paris helped publicize his upcoming role on NBC's “The Voice” in the fall.
“We've had a great experience with Snoop, we're definitely in the Snoop business with 'The Voice' and we hope to be in the Snoop business in the future,” Lazarus said, adding that NBCUniversal has not yet committed to Snoop Dogg for future Olympics.
Other NBC talent also attended the games to promote their projects. Mariska Hargitay, who has played the character Olivia Benson on “Law & Order: SVU” since 1999, was in Paris to promote the show's 26th season. A number of “Saturday Night Live” cast members were in attendance, including Colin Jost, who reported on surfing in Tahiti and had to pull out early due to health reasons.
The games also featured promotions from NBC and Peacock, and Universal's upcoming film, “Wicked,” was often featured in the spotlight. Stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo appeared on the opening ceremony red carpet.
The “Wicked” cast also did a promotional piece for U.S. gymnast Simone Biles, and an exclusive clip from the film aired during the “Today” show from Paris. According to surveys of moviegoers, NBC said, “'Wicked' gained ground in all areas during the Olympics, doubling our exposure and increasing overall awareness.”
Plumping Peacock
A view of bread with NBC logos and the Olympic rings at the TODAY Show in Rockefeller Plaza on April 17, 2024 in New York City.
Dustin Satloff | Getty Images Sports | Getty Images
There is probably no other NBC company that shone brighter during the Olympics than the streaming platform Peacock.
According to a press release, 23.5 billion minutes of the Olympics were streamed, largely thanks to Peacock, 40% more than all previous Summer and Winter Olympics combined.
“Peacock delivered in every way we hadn’t done before,” Lazarus said.
In addition to live coverage, there were exclusive shows like “Gold Zone,” hosted by Scott Hanson of “NFL Red Zone,” giving fans more ways to watch throughout the day. There were also features developed just for the Olympics, such as an artificial intelligence feature with daily recaps featuring the voice of Al Michaels, a longtime announcer of major NFL games.
An estimated 2.8 million consumers signed up for Peacock during the first week of the Summer Games, averaging nearly 400,000 new signups per day, according to data provider Antenna. That's nearly equal to the signups Peacock's exclusive NFL Wild Card game attracted in January, according to Antenna. The game ranks as the most streamed live event in history, with 27.6 million viewers, according to Nielsen.
Comcast recently reported that Peacock had 33 million paying customers as of June 30, down 500,000 from the previous period, largely attributed to the loss of customers who left after the Wild Card Game. However, analyst Craig Moffett of MoffettNathanson said the customers who have stayed since the Wild Card Game are also worth noting.
“I suspect they'll have the same experience at the Olympics,” Moffett said. “Sure, some of those customers will leave, but in the end they'll probably keep a lot more than they lose.”
Still, traditional television accounted for the bulk of viewership during the Paris Games — nearly 90% of viewers watched on broadcast and cable channels, Lazarus said. Thanks to the more convenient time zone, NBC aired live events on television and Peacock during the day and renamed the evening broadcast “Primetime in Paris,” which rebroadcast major events with sideshows and interviews.
The strategy used in Paris will serve as a roadmap for future Olympic Games – the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan and the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles – as well as other live sports broadcasts on NBC and Peacock television networks, executives said.
Shortly after the 2024 Olympic Games, the new seasons of the English Premier League in football, American college football and the National Football League will begin. Starting in the 2025-2026 season, NBC will also be the rights holder of the games of the National Basketball Association.
“I think Peacock is becoming more sophisticated in sports coverage, as we saw with the Olympics,” said Shirin Malkani, co-chair of the sports industry group at Perkins Coie.
Disclosure: CNBC parent company NBCUniversal owns NBC Sports and NBC Olympics. NBC Olympics is the U.S. broadcast rights holder for all Summer and Winter Games through 2032.
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