NEW YORK—Warner Bros. Discovery is reporting record Olympics streaming and TV audiences in Europe during the Paris Olympics and that its streaming service Max boosted viewership and engagement across Europe.
WBD reported that about 7 billion minutes of Olympics coverage was streamed in Europe during the games with a record 600 million minutes streamed during a single day on Sunday August 4. In addition, its streaming service Max added a record number of new paid streaming subscribers over the Games period; 77% more than Tokyo 2020, with Saturday August 27 becoming Warner Bros. Discovery’s biggest ever single day for new paid streaming subscribers in Europe.
WBD showed the Paris Games across nearly 50 markets in 20 languages on Max, discovery+ and through Eurosport on linear television.
Under a new agreement announced in January 2023, Warner Bros. Discovery will continue to be the only place to present every moment of the Games on its streaming and digital platforms and hold full pay-TV rights. This includes Olympic Winter Games Milan Cortina 2026, Olympic Games Los Angeles 2028, Olympic Winter Games French Alps 2030 and Olympic Games Brisbane 2032.
JB Perrette, CEO and president, Global Streaming and Games, Warner Bros. Discovery, said in a statement that “Paris 2024 has exceeded all expectations for fans and audiences, and for Max and Warner Bros. Discovery’s streaming business. We’ve added millions of new paying subscribers, and engaged millions of viewers daily on streaming who have watched billions of minutes of content during the Games. Our streaming growth momentum is only gaining strength, and we’ve still got almost half the global addressable market to go. Congratulations and thank you to our great partners at the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Paris 2024 Organizing Committee for an epic Olympic Games.”
WBD described the viewing data as follows:
- WBD coverage had a cumulative reach of more than 215 million in Europe who viewed Olympics content on Warner Bros. Discovery’s platforms – 23% more than Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 (+40 million). This includes Max and discovery+, as well as Eurosport TV channels and free-to-air networks in Norway (TVNorge), Sweden (Kanal 5) and Finland (Kutonen, TV5).
- More than 7 billion minutes streamed over the course of the Games – six times more than Tokyo 2020. A record-breaking day: Sunday 4th August saw a Warner Bros. Discovery record in Europe of 600 million minutes in a single day streamed by Max and discovery+ subscribers.
- Four times as many unique streaming viewers on Warner Bros. Discovery platforms, including Max and discovery+, throughout the Games compared to the last summer Olympics.
- New paid streaming subscribers exceeded those for the entire Tokyo 2020 after just four days of competition in Paris (Saturday 27th July - Tuesday 30 July 2024). Record number of new paid streaming subscribers over the Games period; 77% more than Tokyo 2020. Saturday 27th July saw Warner Bros. Discovery’s highest number of new paid streaming subscribers ever in a single day in Europe (Max, discovery+ or previously HBO Max).
- Significant subscriber growth across all major markets in Europe, particularly France, Italy, Poland, Sweden and the U.K.
- More than 4.5 billion video views of Warner Bros. Discovery Olympics posts on social. Nearly ten times more than Tokyo 2020 and more than four times greater than Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 and Tokyo 2020 combined.
- Warner Bros. Discovery’s average linear television audiences for Paris 2024 were double Tokyo 2020, demonstrating the continued attraction of the Olympic Games in Europe across all platforms. Impressive audience shares – more than 80% for a number of events - were seen across both Free-to-Air (Finland, Norway and Sweden) and Eurosport’s pay-tv network – including increasing share vs free-to-air partners in many territories.
- Monday 5 August saw a record-breaking TV audience on Kanal 5 in Sweden, as Swedish gold medalist, Armand Duplantis, won the men’s pole vault. An 82% TV audience share was amongst the highest ever share in Kanal 5’s history.
- In Poland, Eurosport 1 & 2, available via pay-tv, had their best day and highest average audience ever during the Games on Wednesday 7th August, attracting a 9.7% share at the group level. Eurosport 1 was the second most viewed channel in the country on the day. At least nine out of the ten highest viewed days on Eurosport in Poland came during Paris 2024.
