Lausanne, Switzerland, December 8, 2021: The Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 reached a global broadcast audience of more than three billion people, according to independent research conducted on behalf of the International Olympic Committee, the IOC announced on Wednesday, December 8.
A total of 3.05 billion unique viewers tuned in to coverage across linear TV and digital platforms.
Official coverage on Olympic broadcast partners’ digital platforms alone generated 28 billion video views in total. This represents a 139 per cent increase compared with Rio 2016 and underlines the changing media landscape as well as Tokyo 2020’s designation as the first streaming Games and the most watched Olympic Games ever on digital platforms.
Tokyo 2020 proved to be a watershed moment in the history of Olympic broadcasting, with more content made available to fans throughout the world on more screens than ever before through TV, digital streaming, websites, apps and social media.
In total, the amount of TV coverage available increased 33 per cent compared with Rio 2016, while digital output was up 34 per cent.
This meant that fans around the world could experience the emotion and excitement of the Games thanks to the Olympic broadcast partners.
Part of the success was also due to the Olympic web and app platforms for Tokyo 2020. They attracted more than 196 million unique users, drawing more than three times the amount of online traffic for Rio 2016, while the IOC’s social media handles generated 6.1 billion engagements – including video views, shares, comments and likes.
IOC President Thomas Bach said: “These Olympic Games were a success with regard to the athletes, the worldwide audience and the Olympic values, as demonstrated in the research.
“As the most-watched Olympic Games ever on digital platforms, with more than 28 billion video views in total on the Olympic broadcast partners’ digital platforms, they have really become the first streaming Games.”
Source: www.ioc.org