Olympics: Interest in Viewing and Streaming the Games Is High

NBC Tokyo Olympics
(Image credit: NBC Sports)

NEW ORLEANS, La.—In the runup to the start of the Tokyo Olympics, a new survey from Lucid reveals a healthy interest in watching the games, with 81% planning to view the coverage as well as some shifts in viewing patterns. 

A large majority reported that they found the Olympics entertaining (83%) and many of the respondents embraced traditional viewing patterns of watching the games live with other people, with 76% of respondents reporting that they prefer to watch the Olympics live rather than watch the highlights, and about 64% were likely or very likely to watch the games with other people.

But large numbers of people were also planning to view streaming coverage, with 58%  planning to watch the Olympics through their cable/tv provider and 42% planning to watch streaming coverage. 

About 36% reported that they were likely or very likely to watch less mainstream sports, with an equal number (36%) saying they were unlikely or very unlikely and 28% were neutral.

Nearly half (49%) of respondents said that they are likely to change their perception of the Olympics based on the recent criticism surrounding the Olympics banning athletes due to testing negative for the use of legal drugs like marijuana and 45% of respondents said plan to watch the Summer Olympics even if their favorite athlete is not competing.

For the survey, research technology platform Lucid recently tapped its global audience database to put together a custom survey focused on sentiments around viewer interest in watching the Summer Olympics.

The results are based on a census-represented demographic audience of 300 U.S. respondents, sourced from Lucid Marketplace.

George Winslow

George Winslow is the senior content producer for TV Tech. He has written about the television, media and technology industries for nearly 30 years for such publications as Broadcasting & Cable, Multichannel News and TV Tech. Over the years, he has edited a number of magazines, including Multichannel News International and World Screen, and moderated panels at such major industry events as NAB and MIP TV. He has published two books and dozens of encyclopedia articles on such subjects as the media, New York City history and economics.