By Jay Bemis | Advertising Systems Inc.
Whether your ad-buying strategy for the Paris Olympics is of the connected-TV variety, the traditional or linear TV route or a blend of both, via programmatic ad buys, the latest viewership projections for the July 26-Aug. 11 games are, well, magnifique.
The games are expected to surpass 3 billion viewers worldwide, making them the most watched worldwide event in eight years.
That viewership would surpass the 2016 Rio Games and 2020 Tokyo Games, each right at 3 billion viewers, as among the most-watched world events since 2016. Also atop that eight-year list: The 1.9 billion worldwide viewers who watched coverage of the marriage between Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in 2018 and the 1.5 billion viewers who watched the World Cup final in 2022.
Those worldwide viewing figures recently were compiled by the experts at eMarketer, who used a variety of resources for their data, including the International Olympic Committee, the Daily Express for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding audience and FIFA for the World Cup.
The 3 billion-plus viewing projection also should be making the executives at NBCUniversal singing, as the folks in Cajun country do at Mardi Gras time: “Laissez les bons moments rouler.” That’s because, as eMarketer explains, the company’s “good times” for the games are expected to include:
- Higher viewership for 2024 than there were for the 2016 and 2020 summer Olympics, because they’re the first in several years to occur outside of Asia, which means better event viewing times for Western audiences.
- The company already having announced that it has set record ad revenues for this year’s Olympics, securing $1.2 billion in ad commitments — with more than $350 million of that total coming from new advertisers.
All of that spending comes at a time when ad spend for connected TV and linear TV overall are about to level out.
“We forecast total US TV ad spend (including connected TV and linear) will reach $87.74 billion in 2024,” eMarketer noted in its most-watched, worldwide-events report. “Linear TV will continue to make up the majority of that spend through 2028, but its share is declining as spend on CTV grows.”
Peacock Fluffs Feathers With Timely Price Hike
Along with the higher viewership for the Paris Games comes the news that Peacock, NBCUniversal’s streaming service with exclusive rights to the event, is raising its subscription prices soon.
Ad-supported subscriptions will increase by $2 to $7.99 per month and the ad-free Peacock “Premium Plus” tier will rise by $2 to $13.99 per month. These changes will take effect on July 18 for new subscribers, but there is this soothing news for existing subscribers: Their higher subscription costs won’t take effect until Aug. 17, or after the summer games have concluded.
Peacock’s price increase will be its second in as many years; it hiked the price of its Premium tier by $1 a year ago and Premium Plus by $2. Premium Plus removes ads from on-demand entertainment programming and includes NBC’s live local channels, among other features, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
“However, the company is betting that it has a stronger value proposition this time, coming off its exclusive NFL wild card playoff game, the success of ‘Oppenheimer’ and the upcoming Olympics,” The Reporter said of the price increases.
The trade magazine wryly added: “The company has revamped its Olympics experience for this year’s games, adding multi-view and a Gold Zone whip-around program to its roster, as well as a watch party hosted by Alex Cooper,” the popular “Call Her Daddy” podcast host and a former Boston University soccer player.
Paris 2024 also will see a new sport, breakdancing, added to the international competition mix. Newer additions to the games in recent years, such as 3×3 basketball, BMX, surfing, skateboarding and climbing, all continue as parts of the schedule, but karate and baseball have been dropped.
NBCUniversal’s streaming service, for those who might subscribe to the Peacock platform, will carry every Olympic event live.
Paris Olympics by the Numbers
Opening ceremonies for the 2024 games will be Friday, July 26, with the final rounds of competition and the closing ceremony arriving 2 1/2 weeks later, Sunday, Aug 11.
The opening ceremony should be a unique spectacle in that, rather than all nations’ athletes marching into a large stadium with their country’s flags, they’ll be transported by boat along the River Seine, with the flotilla passing such landmarks as the Louvre, the Notre-Dame de Paris and the Place de la Concorde.
At the end of the 6km river route will be a mini-stadium at the Place du Trocadero near the Eiffel Tower, where the athletes and an anticipated 30,000 spectators will watch the official lighting of the Olympic flame. Another half-million are expected to line the riverbanks and other major sites along the flotilla to watch.
Traditional big draws start right away, such as swimming and artistic gymnastics on July 27.
In all, there will be competition in 32 sports, but when those sports are further broken down into separate disciplines, that makes it 48 sports in total, according to Yahoo Sports
Altogether, there will be 329 events, thus 329 gold medals to drape around athletes’ necks.
See a full schedule here.
