The majority of Comcast subscribers with Xfinity TV service and X1-powered television equipment watched programming connected to the 2024 Summer Olympic Games, the company affirmed this week.
Citing internal data, Comcast said 87 percent of Xfinity TV subscribers with X1 set-top boxes watched Olympic events on carried broadcast and cable networks and streaming service Peacock, driven by heavy promotion of the games across X1 menus and interactive features like the Olympics Hub.
Comcast’s NBC Universal holds the domestic telecast rights to the Olympics, with games aired on the NBC and Telemundo broadcast networks and cable channels like E!, CNBC, USA Network, Golf Channel and Universo.
From the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games on July 26 to the Closing Ceremony on August 11, the collective viewership of the 2024 Summer Olympic Games on NBC Universal networks and streaming platform Peacock represented around 20 percent of total viewing on X1-powered platforms, including Xfinity Stream, Comcast said.
NBC’s telecast of live “Paris Prime” events and “Prime-time in Paris” recaps in U.S. Eastern Time Zone prime-time “were the most-viewed shows on X1 across all linear channels during the Olympics,” a Comcast spokesperson said.
Xfinity TV was also one of several pay TV platforms that offered a version of USA Network in ultra high-definition (UHD/4K) during certain Team USA events. Not only was the resolution higher than what other platforms offered, Comcast said the latency on Xfinity TV was better, with key competitions delivered an average of 42 seconds ahead of other comparable services.
“In superfast events like the 100-meter dash in track and field, and the 50-meter freestyle in swimming, this meant that Xfinity households watched athletes finish their races before they even left the starting blocks in many other homes across the country,” Comcast said.
While all live competitions were available on Peacock, data reviewed by The Desk showed most sports fans preferred to watch the Olympic Games on broadcast and cable TV networks. While the trend drove viewership to independent broadcasters that offer NBC programming on some of their stations, Comcast said it also benefitted its Xfinity TV platform, with 65 percent of customers interacting with an Olympics-based product feature like the Olympics Hub and interactive schedules and playlists during the games.
Around 31 million American households tuned in to watch some or all of the Olympic Games on NBC and its cable networks, according to Nielsen data. By comparison, around 4 million people tuned in to stream some or all of the Olympic Games on Peacock, Adobe Analytics data showed.
NBC Universal said its average daily audience — which it reports as the total audience delivery, or TAD — was up 82 percent compared to the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo, which were delayed one year due to the international coronavirus health pandemic.
NBC extended its prime-time dominance with 152 consecutive nights of Summer Olympics coverage, with most events tape-delayed due to the difference in time zones between the United States and France. That dominance stretches back to the 1988 Summer Olympic Games, NBC said — the first year the network had the domestic telecast rights to the games since the 1970s.
