NBC’s Last Chance At The Olympics

The Olympics are one of the most iconic worldwide events, drawing viewership from every inch of the globe, and placing the world’s best athletes head-to-head fighting for their country.

Oh and it’s also a MONEY-MAKING MACHINE. The 2024 Paris Olympics are expected to generate nearly $11B in net economic benefits to the Paris region ALONE. 

Those estimates seem a little aggressive though, the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo (15.5M primetime NBC viewers) and 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing (10.7M primetime NBC viewers) were the two least-watched Olympics of ALL TIME, making the 2024 Summer Olympics make or break.

You have a significant portion of the economic outlook of an entire country banking on the fact that they can BREAK the trend of declining viewership and interest in the Olympic Games. That’s INTENSE.

BUT I’m confident that the Paris Olympics is going to do it. 🫡

Yes, you heard it here first, NBC is going to buck the trend with their coverage of the 2024 Paris Olympics, let me explain…

TLDR; it all comes down to content creation, content distribution, and personalities.

Traditionally leaning on highly-regarded news anchors and sports announcers to lead the charge during their coverage of the Olympics, NBC is pivoting towards new faces, subbing out Bob Costas and Savannah Guthrie for Peyton Manning and Kelly Clarkson for primetime Olympic coverage (and street style interviews from Snoop Dogg LOL). 

The change was calculated, Peyton and Kelly both command a substantially YOUNGER audience through their more candid approaches to television and connections they’ve built with younger generations over the last two decades via their careers.

NBC’s median viewership age for their primetime coverage was 50+ years old for the 2020 Summer Olympics; they saw that number and wanted to flip it on its head. 

For the future strength of the Olympic Games, they needed to speak to younger generations, and it all starts with Peyton and Kelly.

So NBC is streaming ALL Olympic events, analysis, and interviews LIVE on Peacock (where the median subscriber age is 36). They’re not ditching Linear TV though, primetime coverage of the Olympics will still be aired on NBC, but instead they’re INCREASING their content distribution and getting it in front of a specific category of consumer through their owned channel, Peacock.

Peyton, Kelly, and Peacock, it’s a perfect storm for Paris, but it’s just the tip of the iceberg.

NBC has drawn a perfect hand to revive interest in the Olympics, let me show you. 👇

1️⃣. NBC tapped Kevin Hart and Kenan Thompson to host a twice-weekly Olympic highlight commentary series LIVE on Peacock.

Two of the funniest comedians on the planet in one room bringing their hilarious perspective to the games in an entertainment-led approach. There is SO much content out there in 2024 that you legit have to EARN consumers attention. Just “being the Olympics” doesn’t cut it anymore.

NBC has to take risks, bring something new to the timeline, and hire two comedians to do candid sports analysis in front of millions (well they didn’t have to do exactly that but you get my point). Don’t underestimate the power that a few unique POVs can have on your ability to captivate users on the timeline.

2️⃣. NBC partnered with Steven Spielberg to create an opening film for Olympic coverage.

The film is 4-minutes long and will air right before the live coverage of the Opening Ceremony. Think of the Olympic games as a campaign in itself and the launch is on July 26th. NBC can’t launch to an empty room, they have to build that initial buzz.

For the Paris Olympics, a one of one short film from one of the MOST ICONIC filmmakers of all time, certainly will get butts in seats before. PLUS this film sets the tone for the quality and experience of the entire event.

3️⃣. Alex Cooper, host of the Call Her Daddy podcast (the most-listened-to podcast amongst women in the world), was also announced to be a contributor to the Paris Olympics coverage.

Alex will be doing live watch parties on Peacock, NBC is hand-picking the authority figures of the very audiences they want to tap into. Alex will bring MASS amounts of younger women to Peacock to watch the Olympics.

4️⃣. NBC also partnered with the up and coming NFL RedZone host, Scott Hanson to host a quick-cut style “Gold Zone” live stream that mimics the style of the widely watched RedZone that Hanson also hosts.

Hanson represents the new age of sports broadcasters (along with Peyton Manning) that are attracting younger audiences to sports. NBC knows they can’t just ditch the sports aspects of the games altogether, Hanson is a great crossroads of expertise and authority with younger generations.

5️⃣. But what might take the cake for wise moves by NBC is the creation of their “Paris Creator Collective”.

NBC reached agreements with Meta, Snapchat, TikTok, and YouTube to send 27 of the biggest creators from each platform over to Paris to film ALL SORTS of content from their experience at the games. Livvy Dunne, Kai Cenat, Harry Jowsey, to name a few.

These are influencers with 10s of millions of followers who tend to skew younger. This trend of people over institutions is taking over content distribution for the 2024 Olympics and it’s not stopping there.

Now this doesn’t mean “ditch the brand account”, this means lean into personalities THROUGH THE BRAND ACCOUNT. Seriously, take a step back and look at your feed, if you’re not leaning into personalities then in your next social meeting, plan accordingly. But don’t just blindly say that you’re “Going to lean more into personalities this month.” PLAN IT OUT. PUT IT IN WRITING. HOLD YOURSELF ACCOUNTABLE. Use a content calendar, literally it can be something as simple as this one from HubSpot.

Having 27 creators from all across the world create native content while at the Olympics will create network effects. This is a level of content distribution that NBC has never tapped into before and I expect it to prove to be their biggest ROI. Remember, 50% of success on socials comes from the distribution of your content.

6️⃣. ALSO the International Olympic Committee (IOC) removed most of the guidelines that were held against Olympic athletes that prevented them from filming content on the premises of the Olympics.

First-hand accounts, incredibly raw content, and the chance of personal connections being built with athletes will increase the connection consumers have with the Olympics as a whole. This also applies to your B2B SaaS company, LET YOUR EMPLOYEES build their personal brands, it’s an OPPORTUNITY, NOT A THREAT. 💅

I am EXCITED TO SEE how this year’s numbers look for NBC. It will be a true test that shows the influence that the creator economy is having on traditional media and events.