The opening ceremonies of the 2024 Summer Olympics were held in Paris on Friday evening. It is the 18th time that NBC has had exclusive broadcast rights to the quadrennial sports smorgasbord.
This time, the network is hoping that its Olympic broadcasts will provide a catalyst for growth at its in-house streaming service Peacock, where all Olympic events will be covered as well as unique segments such as a daily roundup of the games by the legendary sports journalist Al Michaels. However, Olympic viewership has declined since the 2016 Rio Games, and an increase in viewership this year is by no means guaranteed.
Peacock has a subscriber base of 33 million, far below the numbers for rival platforms such as Netflix, Disney+, and Max. NBC is hoping to use live sports as a key differentiator from these larger competitors. In addition to The Olympics, it has also established broadcast agreements with the National Basketball Association, National Football League, and Premier League Soccer.
While live sports are a proven method for attracting audiences, the actual return on this investment is unclear since securing these broadcast rights requires guarantees of tens of billions of dollars. After Peacock signed up millions of new subscribers to watch the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, many chose to cancel their subscriptions once the games had finished. With cable viewership in long-term decline, it will be crucial for NBC to be able to sign up and retain as many new subscribers as possible.