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The Olympics are here, and brands are looking to compete in new ways.
NBCUniversal has made it clear that the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics, which take place July 26 through Aug. 11, won’t be business as usual for the broadcaster. The company is bringing in teams of celebrities, including Jimmy Fallon, Snoop Dogg, Call Her Daddy’s Alex Cooper and even AI-generated broadcasters, to entice fans to tune in. In addition, the company is rolling out more than 7,000 hours of coverage across every one of the media giant’s linear, digital and streaming platforms.
Of that total, 5,000 hours will show up on Peacock, where the company is bringing advertisers new opportunities as it continues its record-setting ad sales pace.
“We like to raise the bar,” Comcast Corporation president Mike Cavanagh said during a preview of NBCU’s Olympics strategy in June.
Marketers are looking to do the same in 2024, and here are some of the trends shaping the new Olympics landscape:
1. New ways of measurement
How do you measure an Olympics—in daylights, in sunsets, in medal ceremonies or in AI-generated Al Michaels updates?
When it comes to measuring Olympics ratings anyway, NBC Sports is trying something new with the Paris Summer Games, combining two three-hour blocks across linear and streaming to yield one magic primetime viewership number. In this case, “primetime” will be defined as 2-5 p.m. ET, when NBC and Peacock carry evening Olympics events live from Paris, and 8-11 p.m. ET, when Primetime in Paris provides a narrative-driven recap of the day’s big stories.