NBC's Major Move Will Change How People Watch the Olympics

NBCUniversal ( (CMCSA) - Get Free Report) has been the home of the Olympic Games since 1988, but its viewership saw a huge dip in the 2020 Tokyo Summer Games and 2022 Beijing Winter Games.

In an effort to get more viewers, NBC will lean into streaming starting the 2024 Summer Games in Paris by airing all events on Peacock, the company announced on Thursday.

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“Peacock will air all 329 medal events live in a Summer Games first for a streaming service,” NBC said in a press release. “Peacock will also have full-event replays, all NBC programming, curated video clips, virtual channels and exclusive original programming.”

NBCUniversal had aired the 2020 Tokyo Olympics across several television networks -- including NBC and its Spanish channel Telemundo -- and digital sites. This may have contributed to the 42% decline in viewership versus the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games, and over 50% decline vs the 2012 London Olympics.

Peacock had streamed most of the events in Tokyo for free, though some, like the USA Men’s Basketball games, were kept behind a $4.99 paywall in an attempt to drive subscriptions.

The Tokyo Olympics -- which were delayed from 2020 to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic -- was the smallest audience for the Olympics in the United States since NBC bought the rights to the Games in 1988. NBC is under contract to broadcast the Olympics until 2032. They paid $7.75 billion for those rights back in 2014.

The Olympics open on July 26, 2024 with the Opening Ceremony which will air on NBC, Peacock, and Telemundo.