Because of the pandemic, the Summer Olympics has been delayed for a year but has always been one of the most-watched events worldwide. Though NBC said that the company is hoping the sports fans will watch it enthusiastically on their TVs, laptops and phones. But there is also a problem as the traditional TV viewership is facing some troubles and this could leave its impact upon the Tokyo Olympics too and it can be left in a rating hole.
A former Fox Sports executive turned media consultant Patrick Crakes has said that there are chances that this summer Olympics will be the lowest-rated summer Olympics of all time ever. He has also said that NBC cannot avoid the increased media fractionalization that has enabled the viewers to spend their time in all sorts of content and not only on sports.
Though the good news for NBC is they don’t need to depend on old-fashioned TV ratings to make money from the Olympics. Even though the lesser people will watch it on TV, but with the emergence of streaming and digital platforms more people are going to watch it than ever. Live events, highlights, interviews, stories and other shareable clips will be the most viewed content this year. This is why the viewership on traditional TV will be low but people will watch it more than ever.
The decline of these traditional TV ratings isn’t a new matter to NBC. In 2016 Rio Olympics has fallen roughly 18% than the 2012 London Olympics. A former VP of programming at CBS Sports Jay Rosenstein has expected that this year the Olympics ratings will tumble again. The TV viewers have now multiple viewing options starting from social media to streaming services.