NEW YORK — Faced with the lingering effects of a global pandemic, empty stands and a politically fraught situation in Beijing, NBC Sports was prepared for the worst with the Winter Olympics, and from a TV ratings standpoint that’s what it got.
The 2022 Winter Olympics averaged 11.4 million viewers across NBC’s networks in prime time, a 42% decrease from the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea. It’s the second consecutive set of Games to hit a record low. The 2020 Summer Games held in Tokyo last July delivered 15.5 million TV viewers over 17 days, down 42% compared to 2016.
Even with the steep decline, NBC Sports Group Chairman Pete Bevacqua said in an interview Wednesday that viewing levels for Beijing were within what the network’s sales and research departments estimated. The Comcast-owned unit was able to satisfy all commitments to advertisers who bought commercial time in the Games, he added.
