--- title: Olympic viewership is way down. What’s going on? - The Hustle description: NBC paid $7.75B for the rights to air the Olympics through 2032, and it needs viewers to start tuning in. image: https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/447655604-News-Brief_2022-02-07T012311.875Z.webp --- # Olympic viewership is way down. What’s going on? ![Rob Litterst](https://thehustle.co/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Rob-Litterst-pic.png?width=48&height=48&name=Rob-Litterst-pic.png) [Rob Litterst](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/author/rob-litterst) [Rob Litterst Twitter profile ](https://twitter.com/robbylit) Published: February 07, 2022 Updated: October 11, 2023 When you think about Olympic records, you probably think about amazing athletes like Simone Biles, Usain Bolt, and Michael Phelps. ![Olympic viewership is way down. What’s going on?](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hs-fs/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/447655604-News-Brief_2022-02-07T012311.875Z.webp?width=595&height=400&name=447655604-News-Brief_2022-02-07T012311.875Z.webp) However, this year’s Winter Olympics already set a new record — and not in a good way. Friday’s Opening Ceremony [drew](https://sports.yahoo.com/olympics-opening-ceremony-draws-abysmal-ratings-why-arent-americans-tuning-in-011318548.html) 16m viewers for NBC across TV and streaming — a record low, and 43% lower than viewership for 2018’s Winter Games in South Korea, according to *Yahoo Sports*. #### **Why aren’t people watching?** It’s due to a combination of reasons. Sara Fischer at *Axios* [places](https://www.axios.com/olympics-opening-ceremony-viewership-beijing-95881331-6483-45ee-a074-d09e82a65699.html) part of the blame on empty stadiums due to covid protocols, since having fans and loved ones in the stands makes the Games more fun to watch live. She argues the same reason led to low ratings for last summer’s Games in Tokyo. But there are some unique reasons this time around, including: - **Olympic fatigue:** Most of the time there’s a 2-year gap between Olympic Games, but the Summer Games in Tokyo *just* aired last summer - **Limited footage:** NBC’s crews can’t leave the “closed loop” of Beijing’s Olympic Village, taking away the ability to get shots that would immerse viewers in Chinese culture - **China’s problem:** The US and other nations staged a diplomatic boycott in protest of China’s genocide against the Uyghurs, which could be affecting viewership as well #### **NBC has a lot tied up in the Games** The network paid the International Olympic Committee **$7.75B** to broadcast the Olympics through 2032, and the success of Peacock, its streaming platform, is riding on a successful event. But there’s a reason for NBC to be optimistic. Historically, viewership increases over the 1st week as more viewers start tuning in… … which means we might soon be talking about NBC’s record ratings comeback. Topics: [International](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/tag/international) [Streaming Media](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/tag/streaming-media) ## Follow us on social media prev next - ![The world was already horrifying — technology is making it more so](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/457134246-httpsthdaily.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.comfinal_size-tech_20231010211706.webp) ### The world was already horrifying — technology is making it more so - ![Meta vs. Canada is a long pattern of dismantling news](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1038385209-httpsthdaily.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.comfinal_size-newspaper_20230823220232.webp) ### Meta vs. Canada is a long pattern of dismantling news - ![On Bob Iger’s to-do list: Fix ESPN, TV, Pixar, and more](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/290907383-httpsthdaily.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.comfinal_size-espn_subs_20230807230900.webp) ### On Bob Iger’s to-do list: Fix ESPN, TV, Pixar, and more - ![So, can we stop calling it ‘the streaming wars’ now?](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1189252561-httpsthdaily.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.comfinal_size-Streaming-Wars_20230724220432.webp) ### So, can we stop calling it ‘the streaming wars’ now? - ![The world’s subtitle use is speaking volumes](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/945883034-httpsthdaily.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.comfinal_size-roku_subs_20230612225638.webp) ### The world’s subtitle use is speaking volumes - ![Neom’s got a trillion problems but $1T ain’t one](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1078135884-httpsthdaily.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.comfinal_size-Neom_20230601223946.webp) ### Neom’s got a trillion problems but $1T ain’t one - ![Christopher Nolan is leaving Warner Bros. — the latest domino to fall in AT&T’s streaming misadventures](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/857604052-News-Brief_2021-09-17T011335.439Z.webp) ### Christopher Nolan is leaving Warner Bros. — the latest domino to fall in AT&T’s streaming misadventures - ![Will the Russia conflict reshape the world economy as we know it?](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1571680389-News-Brief_2022-03-11T004719.753Z.webp) ### Will the Russia conflict reshape the world economy as we know it? - ![Teletubbyland is a world of love and laughter — it’s also pretty lucrative](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/133917396-httpsthe-hustle.hubspot.comhubfsDaily20Newsletter20ImagesMarch2031202023Teletubbies.webp) ### Teletubbyland is a world of love and laughter — it’s also pretty lucrative - ![What the heck is a golden passport?](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/311992015-HS-News-Brief_2022-10-04T002907.219Z.webp) ### What the heck is a golden passport? Pop up for Subscribe to The Hustle Daily Newsletter Subscribe to The Hustle Daily Newsletter Get the 5-minute news brief keeping 2.5M+ innovators in the loop. Always free. 100% fresh. No bullsh*t. JOIN FREE ### 100% Free CRM Nurture and grow your business with customer relationship management software. Signup for a free account Close modal ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Rob Litterst", "url" : "https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/news/author/rob-litterst" }, "datePublished" : "2022-02-07T09:25:52.000Z", "headline" : "Olympic viewership is way down. What’s going on?", "image" : [ "https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/447655604-News-Brief_2022-02-07T012311.875Z.webp" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/news/02072022-olympic-viewership", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject" } } } ``` ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@id" : "#article", "@type" : "NewsArticle", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Rob Litterst", "url" : "https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/author/rob-litterst" }, "dateModified" : "2023-10-11T20:18:15+0000", "datePublished" : "2022-02-07T09:25:52+0000", "headline" : "Olympic viewership is way down. What’s going on?", "image" : [ "https://7355427.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/7355427/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/447655604-News-Brief_2022-02-07T012311.875Z.webp" ], "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "height" : 112, "url" : "https://fs.hubspotusercontent00.net/hubfs/53/assets/hubspot.com/web-team/WBZ/Blog%202021/Images/Logos/HubSpot%20Logo%20112X112.svg", "width" : 112 }, "name" : "HubSpot", "sameAs" : [ "https://www.facebook.com/hubspot", "https://twitter.com/hubspot" ], "url" : "https://www.hubspot.com" }, "speakable" : { "@type" : "SpeakableSpecification", "xPath" : [ "//title", "/html/head/meta[@name='description']/@content" ] } } ```