The Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 opening ceremonies displayed on a TV.
Olympics

X1 Olympics Primetime Ratings Average a Record-Breaking +41% Higher Than National; Nearly 80 Percent of X1 Households Watched Olympics Programming

By Vito Forlenza

Proving that a great experience can drive both viewing and awareness, the Olympic Games presented on Xfinity achieved several milestones across platforms including X1 and Flex.

For every Olympics since Rio 2016, primetime ratings of the Olympics on X1 (Nielsen L+SD) outpaced the national average and Tokyo 2020 was no exception; primetime ratings on X1 were 41% higher than the national average, surpassing Rio and PyeongChang which saw ratings on X1 +27% and 26% respectively. And nearly 80% of X1 households watched Olympics live or on demand programming, compared to 63% nationally.

41%

Higher primetime ratings on X1 than the national average

“Together with Comcast we were able to innovate and create a destination that provided non-stop, engaging Olympic programming with enhanced discoverability that heightened the viewer experience beyond their expectations,” said Matt Farina, Vice President, Digital Partnerships and Programming, NBCUniversal. “This is another example of the incredible work between Comcast and NBCUniversal around tentpole programming that our viewers should expect for years to come.”

Throughout the course of the Games, Xfinity TV customers viewed Olympics programming, including live, on demand and streaming content 892 million times across X1 and Xfinity Stream.

892M

Times Xfinity TV customers viewed Olympics programming

Specific to streaming, Xfinity TV customers viewed 1.5 billion minutes of NBC’s digital programming (including Peacock and the NBC Sports app) across Xfinity platforms including X1, Flex and Stream.

1.5B

Minutes of NBC’s digital programming viewed

Both X1 and Flex customers leaned into voice more than ever before with over 21 million Olympics-related voice commands uttered over the duration of the games, far surpassing comparable events such as the Rio and PyeongChang Games and the men’s and women’s FIFA World Cups. Here’s a look at the most popular voice commands:

  • “Olympics”
  • “Gymnastics”
  • “Track and Field”
  • “Basketball”
  • “Soccer”
  • “Swimming”

21M

Olympics-related voice commands uttered over the duration of the games

Customers also dived in to more than 100 playlists our Xfinity editors created and curated over the duration of the Games, a key contributor to the 45 million on demand views, a 345% increase from Rio. The most popular playlists for Tokyo 2020 were:

  • Top highlights
  • Gold medal moments
  • Best of Team USA
  • Historic performances
  • Must-see moments

45M

On demand views

Together with Comcast we were able to innovate and create a destination that provided non-stop, engaging Olympic programming with enhanced discoverability that heightened the viewer experience beyond their expectations.
Matt Farina
Vice President, Digital Partnerships and Programming, NBCUniversal