Tokyo 2020 was ‘the first streaming Games’, says IOC

Olympic Broadcasting Services produced 3,300 hours of UHD/HDR coverage and 10,200 hours of total content

Posted: April 20, 2022

Last year’s Tokyo Olympics were described as the first “Streaming Games” after becoming the most-watched Games on digital platforms.

Timo Lumme, Managing Director of IOC Television and Marketing Services, said: “Beijing 2008 may have been the first digital Games, London 2012 was the first Games on social media and Tokyo 2020 is the first Olympic Games. in streaming.”

While TV remained the dominant platform, with 21.3 billion hours of Tokyo 2020 coverage consumed via TV, last summer’s event saw a 74% increase in unique viewers compared to Rio 26, reveals the IOC Tokyo 2020 marketing report.

Video views on digital platforms have increased by 139% compared to the previous Summer Olympics.

The report suggests that 3.05 billion people watched the Games, with 23 billion hours of content consumed through television and digital platforms.

Tokyo 2020 was the first Games to be produced entirely natively in Ultra High Definition High Dynamic Range.

Olympic Broadcasting Services produced 3,300 hours of UHD/HDR coverage and 10,200 hours of total content.

In Europe, 1.3 billion minutes of content were consumed on Discovery’s digital platforms, with more than 175 million people viewing the broadcaster’s coverage on TV and digital, 13 times more than at PyeongChang 2018 .

The BBC delivered more hours of coverage than ever before, with a total of 36.4 million viewers for its content. On its digital platforms, including BBC iPlayer, the company reported a record 104 million requests.

In France, viewers spent an average of 7.53 hours each watching the Games.

The full IOC Tokyo 2020 marketing report is available here.

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