The Tokyo Olympics started on July 23 with the opening ceremony. The games commenced just after. Talking about the number of people watching the event, this year the opening ceremony drew 16.7 million viewers. It is significantly low when compared to previous years. According to the data provided by Comcast-owned NBCUniversal, this is the lowest percentage seen in the past 33 years.

NBC did the TV broadcast which was watched by 16.7 million viewers. Whereas on the other platforms as well, it was not that good. On NBCOlympics.com and the NBC Sports app, around 17 million people watched the program. The audience and their viewing pattern are changing every time.

Well, if we compare the streaming numbers with 2018 when the opening ceremony was held at PyeongChang, there is a 76 percent growth on the apps and online platform. Also with a 72 percent growth when compared to the 2016 Rio opener. We can see that the audience is now preferring watching such sporting events on the online platform.

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But if we see the overall numbers, it is still less. The drop is evident and even when there are multiple options like TV, website, and app, the audience percentage that tuned in was significantly less.

Above, we spoke about the online platforms and website, no0w if we see the TV streaming, then there has been a drastic drop. Compared to the 2016 Rio opener, the recently held Tokyo ceremony saw a 37 percent drop. The Rio opener was watched by 26.5 million people whereas the Tokyo one was watched by 16 Million Viewers.

Since these numbers for the Tokyo opener are just temporary ones, we cannot say anything for sure. We will have to wait for the final numbers to make the comparison and understand how it did this year. But looking at the initial numbers, we cannot expect a drastic rise in the final confirmation.