While U.S. athletes slowly win Olympic gold medals, NBC is celebrating platinum advertising revenues.
NBCUniversal announced Wednesday that advertising revenues for the Paris Summer Olympics set a new record for the company, surpassing the previous record of $1.25 billion generated by the last Olympics in Tokyo.
The media giant declined to disclose how much advertising revenue it has earned but acknowledged that it has raked in more than $1.25 billion thanks to a 77% increase in viewership so far for the Paris Olympics compared with the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which were postponed due to the pandemic.
“Paris 2024 gave our brand a unique and powerful halo on an incredible scale with an incredibly engaged and passionate audience,” said Mark Marshall, global advertising and partnerships chairman, NBCUniversal.
NBC detailed its advertising mix for Paris, noting that about $500 million in advertising revenue came from first-time sponsors.
The company added that digital advertising revenue more than doubled compared to the 2021 Tokyo Games.
It also noted that the total number of advertisers was more than double that of the Tokyo Games and the 2016 Rio Games combined.
NBC paid $7.75 billion for the rights to broadcast the Summer and Winter Olympics through 2032, including the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
The record revenue comes on top of a ratings surge for Comcast-owned stations.
NBC aired Celine Dion’s comeback performance at Friday’s opening ceremony, drawing 28.6 million viewers.
On Saturday, the network’s viewership rose to 32.4 million. Increased to 41.5 millionFor Simone Biles and the U.S. women’s gymnastics team, revenue from the first day of competition reached $10 billion, according to analytics data from Nielsen and Adobe.
NBC said its Monday coverage of the U.S. men’s gymnasts’ dramatic bronze medal win, their first since 2008, drew 31.3 million viewers.
The strong viewership reflected a 77% increase from the average viewership of 19.1 million for the Tokyo Olympics, which were postponed due to the pandemic.
In addition to time zones that are more friendly to American viewers, NBC also credited the streaming service Peacock for its contributions.
“With Peacock leading the way, 4.5 billion minutes of coverage of the Paris Olympics had been streamed by Sunday, surpassing the entire coverage of the Tokyo Olympics.” [4.48 billion minutes across NBCUniversal digital platforms]”NBC reported:
The Paris Games also represent a dramatic recovery from the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, which drew the lowest television ratings ever, with an average audience of just 11.4 million.
