While viewing figures for the Tokyo Olympics in the United States were down compared to Pyeongchang 2018, in Europe the Games captured viewers’ imaginations.
According to Discovery, more than 372 million people in Europe watched Olympic Games 2020 across TV and digital, more than 10 per cent higher than Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018.
Discovery presented Tokyo 2020 in 50 markets in Europe featuring 11 national productions and coverage in 19 languages.
Almost 200 million additional people watched through Discovery’s partner broadcasters who sublicenced coverage, including 45 free-to-air national broadcasters throughout Europe.
Tokyo 2020 also saw Discovery offering content on its new streaming service Discovery Plus for the first time, as well as on Eurosport’s digital platforms. Some 1.3 billion minutes of Olympics content has so far been watched across the two, 21 times more minutes compared to PyeongChang 2018, as on average viewers consumed 60 per cent more minutes per user for Tokyo 2020.
Eurosport’s linear TV coverage also proved popular with viewers across Europe, reaching shares as high as 86 per cent, with shares of more than 80 per cent recorded in Norway and Sweden throughout the Olympics. Shares across the Eurosport pay-TV network improved by 42 per cent compared to PyeongChang 2018, said Discovery.
Andrew Georgiou, president of Sports, Discovery, said: “Tokyo 2020 was a truly unique Olympics and it was a privilege for Discovery to bring the Games to people throughout Europe as well as in record numbers on digital platforms. Growing audiences and engagement through sport is something we do best, particularly as we see the success of leveraging a mass-appeal platform in Discovery Plus to bring in new and different consumers.
“We’re already well into our planning for Beijing 2022, less than six months away, and the handover to Paris during the Closing Ceremony brought to life the outstanding opportunity that a Games in our own backyard will bring.”
