On Friday night, the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics on NBC and Peacock attracted 28.6 million viewers, making it the most-watched since the 2012 London Games.
“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.
The Paris opening ceremony achieved record-breaking streaming numbers, making it the most-streamed event ever and the top entertainment highlight in Peacock’s history.
Brands that advertised during the opening ceremony saw a search volume increase of more than 320% compared to brands featured in the Tokyo opening ceremony.
The opening ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics attracted 17.9 million viewers, the lowest in 33 years, but this year saw an impressive increase of 10 million viewers.
A year later, at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, the opening ceremonies drew just 16 million viewers, marking the lowest ratings since the Winter Olympics first aired in 1988. This reflected a 43% decrease in viewership compared to the 2018 Games held in PyeongChang.
For context, the 2016 Rio opening ceremonies were viewed by 26.5 million people.
Opening Saturday of the Paris Olympics on NBC, Peacock, and across NBCU platforms attracted more than 32 million viewers, showcasing a significant resurgence in interest compared to previous years.
This establishes the Paris Games as the most-viewed Olympics since the London Games in 2012, with viewership skyrocketing by 83% compared to the opening Saturday of the Tokyo Games.
Saturday also recorded Peacock’s second-best day for engagement, trailing only behind the AFC Wild Card exclusive.
We were all waiting to Céline Dion
“record-breaking” viewership and the light-speed deletion by its owner. haha
The engagement likely came because it was so ass you had to share it with your friends.
Worst opening ceremonies I have ever seen. Bizarre.