The introduction of Max, Warner Bros Discovery’s (WBD) enhanced streaming service, has helped audiences across Europe experience the Olympic Games.

The total unique streaming viewers for Paris 2024 on WBD’s streaming platforms have already exceeded those from the entire last summer Olympic Games after only day two. The opening weekend also saw WBD set a new record for retail gross subscriber acquisitions in a single day across Europe – ahead of expectations.

Across both Max and discovery+, Paris 2024 has driven almost 1 billion streaming minutes, more than seven times higher than at the same point of Tokyo 2020 and already representing 75 per cent of the total minutes from those Games. The time people are spending on Max and discovery+ is also significantly increased with average minutes consumed per viewer up 63 per cent compared to Tokyo 2020 so far.

Five times more streaming viewers have watched the Games when compared to the same period of Tokyo 2020. The launch of Max has been a key driving factor in audience growth, accounting for 80 per cent of the total streaming audience to date. July 27th saw a record number of streaming viewers for WBD at the Olympic Games.

JB Perrette, CEO and President, Global Streaming and Games, WBD, commented: “The Paris 2024 Olympic Games are off to a fantastic start, and the recent rollout of Max in Europe is fueling record setting audiences and engagement. The powerful and unique combination of premium movies and scripted content, the best of real life entertainment, and many of the biggest events in international sports is bringing more people to Max and keeping them engaged for even longer. It’s still early days, so we’re excited to build further on this early success over the next two weeks.”

Andrew Georgiou, President and Managing Director, WBD UK & Ireland and WBD Sports Europe, added: “There has been much anticipation for Paris 2024, so it is hugely rewarding to see the quality of our sports production and user experience of our streaming platform resonate so strongly with viewers across Europe. In only a few days, we’ve seen how the combination of premium sport and entertainment brings an audience together on all platforms. Whether it’s the energy of our near 100-strong line-up of outstanding on-screen presenters and experts, incredible rooftop studios at WBD House in Paris or fan-first features such as gold medal alerts on Max and discovery+, Warner Bros Discovery is delivering an Olympic experience beyond anything seen before.”

Engagement on Eurosport’s websites, offering free Olympic news and short-form video, are also up more than 43 per cent.

Eurosport’s average linear audiences have increased in all major markets compared to Tokyo 2020 and up 98 per cent through the Games so far, going against the trend of a decline in Total TV usage over recent years.

There are many local country highlights from the opening days of the Olympics. The Norway vs Sweden women’s handball match (July 25th) is the most watched broadcast on TVNorge in two years and since Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022, enjoying a share of 63.9 per cent, and third most watched in 2024 on Kanal 5 in Sweden with 30.6 per cent share. Norway women’s opening handball match (July 25th) on TVNorge achieved a 67.7 per cent share.

WBD also released specific viewing data for the UK and Ireland:

Paris 2024: discovery+ UK

• Unique viewers are up +256 per cent compared to the same point in Tokyo 2020
• Total viewers on discovery+ for Paris 2024 has already exceeded the whole of Tokyo 2020
• Streaming minutes to date (at July 28th) up six times more than Tokyo at the same point
• July 28th was the third biggest day of the year for discovery+ in the UK, following June 1st (Champions League final) and April 17th (Champions League quarter finals, second leg)

Paris 2024: Eurosport 1 and Eurosport 2 (linear channels) UK

• The first five days of Paris 2024 live coverage on Eurosport 1 has seen an increased average audience of 151 per cent compared to Tokyo 2020 – whilst live coverage on Eurosport 2 has received five times more average audience than Tokyo 2020
• Eurosport 1 & 2 combined have over 168 per cent more audience share over the last five days compared to Tokyo 2020
• July 28th is the best day of the year for Eurosport 1 & 2 combined (and the fourth best day in the past 4 years)
• Eurosport 1 & 2 combined has reached 93 per cent more viewers via Paris 2024 compared to the same point in Tokyo 2020

Olympic Games Paris 2024 runs until the Closing Ceremony on August 11th.

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Categories: Articles, Consumer Behaviour, Content, OTT, Research

Tags: MAX, Olympics, Paris, WBD