The first weekend of the 2022 Winter Olympics competition in Beijing is complete, leaving behind dismal TV ratings with fans complaining about the overall viewing experience.
NBC announced it had a total audience of 13.6 million for the first Olympic Saturday coverage that included the network’s affiliated streaming services.
Yahoo Sports’s Dan Wetzel noted that the Olympic coverage drew almost half the audience from four years ago.
“Same date for 2018 Games did 24.2 million, so down 43.8 percent,” Wetzel tweeted.
NBC says it had total audience of 13.6 million (streaming included) for first Saturday of Winter Olympics. Same date for 2018 Games did 24.2 million, so down 43.8 percent.
— Dan Wetzel (@DanWetzel) February 6, 2022
Friday’s opening ceremonies drew a record low of 16 million viewers. The previous low came from Calgary’s 1988 opening ceremonies with 20.1 million viewers.
Some fans have stated that they are boycotting the coverage because the Olympics are being held in China, while others say there is little enticement to watch.
“No stars, except Mikaela Shiffrin,” one Twitter user wrote. “It’s repressive China (where’s Peng Shui?). COVID has taken away on-site buzz. Athletes are barely available to the media, which is barely allowed anywhere. NBC coverage is mix and match on who-knows-what network. Happy hunting.”
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“I will not watch a single second of these Olympics….CHINA,” another Twitter user said.
“Olympics has to have characters,” another tweeted. “Has to have a Michael Phelps, Lindsay Vonn, Nancy Kerrigan, Apollo Ohno…I can’t name one single person playing in these Olympics from any country.”
Others complained about the amount of commercials and the need to pay for accessing specific events.
“They aren’t showing as much ‘free’ (USA and NBC) and want you to buy their Peacock streaming service,” one wrote. “And no one is buying. They don’t want to spend money for something they used to be able to watch for free the last few Olympics.”
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Another factor that critics are pointing to is that the Winter Olympics came only six months after the Tokyo Summer Olympics this past summer.
