A new poll released by Gallup claims that the American viewing audience of the 2024 Summer Olympic Games is poised to be one of the least-viewed in recent times, despite data from Nielsen and Adobe Analytics that appears to contradict that narrative.
The poll, released Monday morning, is based on surveys in which Americans were asked to gauge their intent in viewing the Olympic Games this year, which is taking place in Paris.
According to the poll, around 35 percent of American adults plan to watch a “great deal” or “fair amount” of the games, down from 48 percent who said the same for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. Gallup weighed interest between the 2016 Games and present day, skipping the 2020 Olympic Games survey because of the coronavirus pandemic, which delayed the event by one year.
The poll isn’t supported by data released by NBC over the weekend, which found viewership of the Opening Ceremony and the first official day of the Olympic Games was sizably higher than the prior Olympic Games.
According to NBC, around 28.6 million Americans watched some or all of the Opening Ceremony on the network and Peacock, which included the live broadcast early Friday morning and an edited replay in prime-time. It was the highest-rated broadcast for an Olympics Opening Ceremony event since the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London, which was available only on NBC. (Peacock launched in July 2020; the Olympic Games in 2012 were streamed through the NBC Sports app, which required a cable or satellite subscription to view, and which did not include the Opening Ceremony.)
One day later, around 32 million Americans watched some or all of the first full day of the Olympic Games on NBC, Comcast-owned cable channels and Peacock, according to data from Nielsen and Adobe Analytics, marking an 83 percent improvement in viewership compared to the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo.
One reason for the increased viewership might have to do with NBC’s decision to stream all Olympic events live on Peacock, the direct-to-consumer streaming service widely available on phones, tablets and connected TV platforms. Peacock starts at $8 per month and includes live feeds of E!, USA Network and CNBC when those channels are carrying Olympic Games or related coverage, and also includes two pop-up channels — Paris Extra 1 and Paris Extra 2 — that are offered through cable, satellite and some streaming cable-like services.
