BBC Sport’s coverage of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games was streamed a record-breaking 218 million times online, more than doubling the Tokyo Olympic Games total of 104 million, with 12.2 million people watching through BBC iPlayer.
Like Warner Bros Discovery’s Eurosport, the BBC benefitted from the games being held in a European time zone.
Despite WBD now holding the bulk of the rights, the BBC was still able to show every Team GB medal moment live over the two weeks of the games.
Alex Kay-Jelski, Director of BBC Sport, commented: “The Paris 2024 Olympic Games during this remarkable summer of sport has seen some truly incredible medal moments and we have witnessed a host of new sport stars emerge on an international level. With world-class on-air performances and production, BBC Sport has been there to champion the athletes and to take the audience on a journey across multiple sporting disciplines.’
The BBC has also released audience figures for the Games; 36.1 million watched Paris 2024 on BBC television, 59% of the UK population and a peak of over 6 million on 14 separate days.
Keely Hodgkinson’s win in the women’s 800 metres final was the most watched event with 9.1m viewers watching the golden moment on BBC One and iPlayer, followed closely by Adam Peaty’s silver medal winning swim in the men’s 100m with 8.5m. 8.4m watched Noah Lyles win Gold in the men’s 100m whilst 7.9m watched Gabby Thomas win Gold in the women’s 200m.
Elsewhere this weekend, 7.3 million watched Katarina Johnson-Thomson claim her first Olympic medal whilst 7 million watched the closing ceremony on BBC One last night where audiences witnessed the Olympic flame go out in Paris and the flag passed on to LA for the Olympic Games in 2028.
Added Kay-Jelski: “It is not an easy job, but these figures across digital, linear, online and audio demonstrates that BBC Sport’s unique multiplatform offer is capable of uniting the nation with the very best of British storytelling.”
Source: https://www.broadbandtvnews.com/2024/08/13/paris-olympics-break-bbc-sport-record/