NBCU Says Olympics Delivered 36.6 Million Viewers in Primetime
Peacock streams 23.5 billion minutes, up 40%
![Tom Cruise leaves the Paris Summer Olympics closing ceremony with the Olympic flag](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/ps9U6EaanTNZXALsnYPJpJ-320-80.jpg)
The Paris Summer Olympics were big.
NBCUniversal said primetime Olympics coverage — on both Paris time (2 p.m. to 5 p.m. ET) and U.S. time (8 p.m. to 11 p.m.) — averaged a Total Audience Delivery of 30.6 million viewers across all platforms, up 82% from the pandemic-delayed Tokyo Summer Olympics in 2021.
Led by Peacock, NBCU streamed 23.5 billion minutes of Olympic programming, up 40% from all previous summer and winter games combined. In primetime, Peacock averaged 4.1 million viewers daily.
“Our NBCUniversal team matched the occasion of this transformative Paris Olympics, presenting peerless coverage in daytime and primetime across all platforms, including the NBC broadcast network, which once again was home to the most-watched night of television for 17 consecutive days,” NBCUniversal Media Group chairman Mark Lazarus said.
“The Games marked a groundbreaking moment for Peacock, which delivered a flawless user experience and cutting-edge innovation while shattering all-time Olympics streaming records,“ Lazarus said. “USA Network went around the clock and ranked No. 1 in cable sports and entertainment for the past two weeks. Telemundo Deportes provided extensive Spanish-language coverage. NBC News broadcast from on location in Paris and dominated the competition, while our owned-stations and affiliates had soaring local news ratings.
“We sold more advertising for the Paris Olympics than for any other Games, and we delivered for all of our partners,“ Lazarus added. “Parks and Studios received unmatched promotion, as the ‘halo effect’ boosted all of our businesses. The Paris Olympics was as exciting as we could have hoped, and we can’t wait to work with our partners at the IOC and USOPC in Milan-Cortina in ’26 and LA28.”
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Jon has been business editor of Broadcasting+Cable since 2010. He focuses on revenue-generating activities, including advertising and distribution, as well as executive intrigue and merger and acquisition activity. Just about any story is fair game, if a dollar sign can make its way into the article. Before B+C, Jon covered the industry for TVWeek, Cable World, Electronic Media, Advertising Age and The New York Post. A native New Yorker, Jon is hiding in plain sight in the suburbs of Chicago.