Opening ceremony scores big TV audiences for Paris Olympics

28.6 million viewers watched on NBCUniversal platforms in the US, making it the most-watched launch for a summer Olympics since London in 2012. In addition, NBCU’s Spanish-language network Telemundo Deportes delivered 666,000 viewers.

The NBC broadcast network and NBCU’s streaming service Peacock are the company’s primary platforms for its coverage of the Games.

With coverage live in the afternoon in the US followed by a special primetime presentation, the ceremony’s audience was 60% larger than the Tokyo opening ceremony (17.9 million) and 8% bigger than the Rio opening ceremony (26.5 million).

NBCU said the opening ceremony was the most-streamed ever with more than 2.5 million viewers and ranks as the No. 1 entertainment event in Peacock history.

In the UK, 6.8 million people watched the coverage on BBC One, between 5.45pm and 10.40pm. The BBC said a peak of 7.9 million people tuned in.

For UK audiences, it is the first Games without a significant time difference since London 2012 when 22.4 million viewers watched the opening ceremony.

In France, the opening ceremony was watched by 23.2 million viewers on the France 2 linear channel and by a peak of 25.2 million.