Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) says its coverage of the 2024 Summer Olympic Games has delivered more than 1 billion minutes streamed through its connected television platforms in key European markets.
The first two days of the Summer Olympic Games in Paris have seen more minutes streamed across Max and Discovery Plus in their first two official days than during all the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo, WBD executives affirmed this week. WBD said the amount of streaming consumption of the 2024 Summer Olympic Games is seven times higher compared to the games in Tokyo three years ago (the 2020 Summer Olympic Games were delayed due to the coronavirus health pandemic).
WBD holds the domestic telecast rights to the Summer Olympic Games in around 50 European countries, with key events airing on its pan-European satellite TV channel Eurosport and streaming through Max and Discovery Plus. Some public service broadcasters like the BBC, France Télévisions and Germany’s Das Erste (ARD) share some telecast rights to the Olympic Games in their own countries with WBD, while the broadcaster has sublicensing arrangements with other European broadcasters.
“The Paris 2024 Olympic Games are off to a fantastic start, and the recent rollout of Max in Europe is fueling record setting audiences and engagement,” J.B. Perrette, the CEO and President of Global Streaming and Games at WBD, said this week. “The powerful and unique combination of premium movies and scripted content, the best of real life entertainment, and many of the biggest events in international sports is bringing more people to Max and keeping them engaged for even longer. It’s still early days, so we’re excited to build further on this early success over the next two weeks.”
WBD has pulled out all the stops on its Olympics coverage in Paris, renting out several floors of the prestigious Hotel Raphael for its main studio, which has a full view of the Paris skyline, including the iconic Eiffel Tower. The company calls the makeshift production facility “WBD House,” which is home to its production crews from the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Poland, Sweden and Italy. Reporters and producers from CNN are also based at WBD House.
“There has been much anticipation for Paris 2024, so it is hugely rewarding to see the quality of our sports production and user experience of our streaming platform resonate so strongly with viewers across Europe,” Andrew Georgiou, the President and Managing Director of WBD UK and Ireland and WBD Sports Europe, said on Tuesday. “In only a few days, we’ve seen how the combination of premium sport and entertainment brings an audience together on all platforms. Whether it’s the energy of our near 100-strong line-up of outstanding on-screen presenters and experts, incredible rooftop studios at WBD House in Paris or fan-first features such as gold medal alerts on Max and discovery Plus, WBD is delivering an Olympic experience beyond anything seen before.”
The one billion minutes streamed in the first two days of the 2024 Summer Olympic Games has already surpassed the one billion minutes streamed during the totality of the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, which were also available through Eurosport and Discovery plus.
WBD streaming platforms are not the only one benefitting: Eurosport has seen its average linear audience increase across all key markets during the Summer Olympic Games, which WBD said goes “against the trend of decline in total TV usage over recent years.” Engagement on the Eurosport website is up 43 percent, driven by Olympic news and short-form video highlights of events, WBD said.
The 2024 Summer Olympic Games runs through Sunday, August 11.
