2018 Winter Olympics takes the Gold when it comes to Ratings
The United States loves the 2018 Winter Olympics more than initially projected, with more people cheering on and watching their favorite winter sport and athletes every night from the comfort of their own home. This not only proves the Olympics are a great unifying event for our country but, also shows the winter games have been THE PLACE to reach pretty much any consumer in the country in the past couple of weeks.
Currently, the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics primetime are averaging 24 million viewers a day across all platforms – broadcast, cable, and streaming – and 22 million viewers on NBC alone. Overall, digital consumption of all events including daytime has surpassed the Sochi Winter Games in 2014.
According to NBC Broadcasting and Sports chairman Mark Lazarus, so far “this turned out to be the most consumed Winter Games in history.” Today’s viewers are not only interested in specific events but will watch any and all events happening at any given time.
This has opened a whole new door for advertisers. Companies who put a significant amount of money behind their advertisements early in the Winter Games are already seeing a huge return on the investment. The estimated final national ad sales for the 2018 winter games is projected to be close to, but not top, $1 billion.
However, due to the high cost of sponsorship deals and the disappointing ratings in 2016, many companies ended their sponsorship contracts with the Olympics including McDonald’s, Budweiser, Coca-Cola, Visa, and Hilton. Looks like they are missing out.
