More than 275 million viewers across Europe watched the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in the early days of the competition, Discovery reported.
More than a portion of them, 175 million, watched the games on loose channels through Discovery’s sublicenses in the territory. As Variety reported yesterday, some European viewers expressed sadness at the limited flexible policy compared to last summer’s games.
Discovery, owner of pan-European pay-TV channel Eurosport, bought the exclusive broadcasting rights to the 2018-2024 Olympic Games in 50 European countries in 2014 for 1,300 million euros ($1,500 million).
Discovery’s agreement with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) stipulated that each European territory would be entitled to at least two hundred hours of games on outdoor networks, which in many countries led to lengthy negotiations between Discovery and the local public service. . broadcasters for a sublicense.
However, it was not stipulated how many simultaneous live broadcasts Discovery would have to offer, meaning that when some Olympic competitions were held simultaneously, transparent local broadcasters had to make complicated decisions about what they had to show.
The remaining one hundred million European viewers, however, watched the games on Discovery’s television and virtual platforms, which come with loose television in some territories, pay TV and virtual/direct to the consumer.
Where Discovery broadcasts matches on its own free-to-air networks, they reported a “large” percentage of linear television viewership, specifically in the Nordic markets, registering 78% in Norway the Spain-Norway handball match, 67% in Sweden Sweden vs Australia football and 60% in Sweden swimming.
In the first nine days of the competition, streaming service Discovery Plus and Eurosport subscribers also watched nearly 75 million minutes of streaming of the Games, “generating significant public interest and engagement,” the company said in a statement.
The Tokyo 2020 Games are the company’s first summer games, having broadcast the 2018 Winter Games from Pyeongchang.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Tokyo Summer Games were 10% more successful than the 2018 Winter Games, and Discovery reported that its audience percentage on pay-TV channels was higher by more than 30% for 2018.
The summer games also proved to be a boon for Eurosport, which recorded a record daily audience on the website, with 54 million exclusive visitors to the site in July.
“The Olympics are the world’s biggest occasion that goes beyond the game and the classic amateur audience,” said Jean-Briac Perrette, President and CEO of Discovery International. “When we take a look at the first week, it’s transparent that the Olympics Games have attracted new and other audiences to our platforms in impressive numbers. The Tokyo Games are seeing virtual numbers never before noticed, and we are very happy that so many enthusiasts from all over Europe are watching the Games about discovery and Eurogame Player. »
“It’s to see that our politics and the stories we tell resonate so strongly in audiences across Europe,” added Andrew Georgiou, president of sports at Discovery. “Whether it’s through record virtual engagement on Discovery’s platforms or a giant audience on our networks, it’s transparent that those Games are having a significant impact. “
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