Skip to main content

RECORD OLYMPICS STREAMING AND TV AUDIENCES FOR WARNER BROS. DISCOVERY AS MAX BOOSTS VIEWERSHIP AND ENGAGEMENT ACROSS EUROPE

12 August 2024 - Last updated 8 October 2024

  • 7 billion minutes streamed as Max supercharges streaming engagement
  • Sunday 4th August saw a Warner Bros. Discovery record in Europe of 600 million minutes streamed in a single day
  • Record number of new paid streaming subscribers over the Games period; 77% more than Tokyo 2020
  • Saturday 27th was Warner Bros. Discovery’s biggest ever single day for new paid streaming subscribers in Europe

Warner Bros. Discovery saw record viewership and engagement across all platforms – spanning free-to-air, pay-tv, streaming, web and social – during Olympic Games Paris 2024, which came to an end with the Closing Ceremony on Sunday 11 August 2024. 

Supercharged by the recent launch of Max in 25 European markets, Paris 2024 marks the first real ‘streaming Olympics’ in Europe, as more people streamed more Olympics content for longer than ever before. Among the highlights:

Total viewership 

  • Cumulative reach of more than 215 million in Europe viewing Olympics content on Warner Bros. Discovery’s platforms – 23% more than Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 (+40 million).
  • This includes Max and discovery+, as well as Eurosport TV channels and free-to-air networks in Norway (TVNorge), Sweden (Kanal 5) and Finland (Kutonen, TV5).* 

Streaming viewership

  • More than 7 billion minutes streamed over the course of the Games – six times more than Tokyo 2020.
  • A record-breaking day: Sunday 4th August saw a Warner Bros. Discovery record in Europe of 600 million minutes in a single day streamed by Max and discovery+ subscribers.The day featured the Men’s 100m final, Novak Djokovic vs. Carlos Alcaraz Men’s Tennis gold medal match, the final day of swimming events and the women’s road race in Cycling. 
  • Four times as many unique streaming viewers on Warner Bros. Discovery platforms, including Max and discovery+, throughout the Games compared to the last summer Olympics. 

Streaming subscribers 

  • New paid streaming subscribers exceeded those for the entire Tokyo 2020 after just four days of competition in Paris (Saturday 27th July - Tuesday 30 July 2024**).
  • Record number of new paid streaming subscribers over the Games period; 77% more than Tokyo 2020.
  • Saturday 27th July saw Warner Bros. Discovery’s highest number of new paid streaming subscribers ever in a single day in Europe (Max, discovery+ or previously HBO Max). 
  • Significant subscriber growth across all major markets in Europe, particularly France, Italy, Poland, Sweden and the U.K.

JB Perrette, CEO and President, Global Streaming and Games, Warner Bros. Discovery, said: “Paris 2024 has exceeded all expectations for fans and audiences, and for Max and Warner Bros. Discovery’s streaming business. We’ve added millions of new paying subscribers, and engaged millions of viewers daily on streaming who have watched billions of minutes of content during the Games. Our streaming growth momentum is only gaining strength, and we’ve still got almost half the global addressable market to go. Congratulations and thank you to our great partners at the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Paris 2024 Organizing Committee for an epic Olympic Games.”

Andrew Georgiou, President and Managing Director, Warner Bros. Discovery U.K & Ireland and WBD Sports Europe, said: “Paris 2024 has again demonstrated the value of bringing premium sport and entertainment together to drive audience and engagement at scale. We’ve maximised this opportunity at these Games, delivering world-class production featuring outstanding on-screen experts and local country storytelling that has again proven to be a winning combination. Max has proven to be a game-changer for sports viewing with an enhanced product experience and new interactive features which encouraged more subscribers to come on platform and stay engaged for longer.”

Further highlights include: 

Free web, app and social 

  • More than 5.2 billion video views of Warner Bros. Discovery Olympics posts on social.
    • Nearly ten times more than Tokyo 2020 and more than four times greater than Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 and Tokyo 2020 combined. 
    • TikTok and Instagram especially driving views.

Free-to-air and pay-TV

  • Warner Bros. Discovery’s average linear television audiences for Paris 2024 were double Tokyo 2020, demonstrating the continued attraction of the Olympic Games in Europe across all platforms. 
  • Impressive audience shares – more than 80% for a number of events - were seen across both Free-to-Air (Finland, Norway and Sweden) and Eurosport’s pay-tv network – including increasing share vs free-to-air partners in many territories. 
    • Monday 5 August saw a record-breaking TV audience on Kanal 5 in Sweden, as Swedish gold medallist, Armand Duplantis, won the men’s pole vault. An 82% TV audience share was amongst the highest ever share in Kanal 5’s history. 
    • In Poland, Eurosport 1 & 2, available via pay-tv, had their best day and highest average audience ever during the Games on Wednesday 7th August, attracting a 9.7% share at the group level. Eurosport 1 was the second most viewed channel in the country on the day***. At least nine out of the ten highest viewed days on Eurosport in Poland came during Paris 2024.

Celebrating its first Olympics as Warner Bros. Discovery, the Olympic Games Paris 2024 was shown across nearly 50 markets in 20 languages on Max, discovery+ and through Eurosport on linear television. Under a new agreement announced in January 2023, Warner Bros. Discovery will continue to be the only place to present every moment of the Games on its streaming and digital platforms and hold full pay-TV rights. This includes Olympic Winter Games Milan Cortina 2026, Olympic Games Los Angeles 2028, Olympic Winter Games French Alps 2030 and Olympic Games Brisbane 2032. 

 

*Cumulative audience is the total reach of all Warner Bros. Discovery channels, streaming services and websites. Deduplicated reach will be measured once all data is consolidated after the Olympic Games. 

**Day 1 & 2 of the Olympic Games were held on Saturday 27th and Sunday 28th July 2024 but with sports events at the Games having commenced on Wednesday 24th July with the Opening Ceremony held on 26th July.

*** Linear TV audience are reported up to 11/08/2024 across the following territories: Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Sweden, U.K., Finland. Final and fully deduplicated total audience numbers for the whole Olympics period will follow after the Games. 

Contacts

WBD Sports (Europe)

Contact us here.


Latest news

11/7/2025

LOLA CARS AND WARNER BROS. DISCOVERY ANNOUNCE ELECTRIFYING MULTI-YEAR PARTNERSHIP WITH SUPERMAN LIVERY FOR BERLIN E-PRIX

• The motorsport technology and engineering leader, and global media and entertainment company will produce bespoke content • Agreement will also incorporate collaboration on sponsorship agreements and activation• Partnership begins with a Superman-themed livery and driver suits for Rounds 13 and 14 of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship this weekend in Berlin, coinciding with the release of DC Studios’ ‘Superman’

10/7/2025

RACE BIKES: NEW WARNER BROS. DISCOVERY SERIES SHOWCASES THE FASTEST, MOST ICONIC MOUNTAIN BIKES

Race Bikes is a brand-new show that will take cycling aficionados deeper into the world of Mountain Bike racing through its fastest and most iconic machines.

07/7/2025 - Last updated 8 July 2025

SUPERTRI AGREES GLOBAL BROADCAST DEAL WITH WARNER BROS DISCOVERY AND AIRS ON HBO MAX FOR FIRST TIME

Supertri and Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) have agreed a partnership that will deliver live coverage of all Supertri League events in 2025 to a huge international audience, including for the first time in the USA via Max/HBO Max.

03/7/2025

EXTREME H LANDS NEW BROADCAST PARTNERSHIP WITH WARNER BROS. DISCOVERY

Extreme H is pleased to confirm it has signed a new multi-year agreement with Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) that will offer millions of motorsport fans the best live and on-demand race coverage across Europe.

02/7/2025 - Last updated 16 July 2025

WARNER BROS. DISCOVERY GEARS UP TO PRESENT EVERY STAGE OF THE TOUR DE FRANCE LIVE

WBD will scale next-level coverage of the Tour de France and Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift to millions of fans across Europe and Asia in 20 languages Max, HBO Max and discovery+ will offer new quad screen experience to showcase the race like never before with wall-to-wall action on Eurosport and TNT Sports Legendary French rider Romain Bardet joins WBD’s on-site expert presentation team alongside other stars of the sport including Alberto Contador and Jens Voigt

27/6/2025

LIVE MULTI-MARKET WIMBLEDON COVERAGE SET TO BE SERVED UP BY WARNER BROS. DISCOVERY

Coverage of every match on every court at Wimbledon available for millions of fans across 11 markets in Europe on Eurosport, Max and HBO Max  TNT Sports and discovery+ will show the singles finals live in the UK and Ireland alongside a daily highlights programme  Carlos Alcaraz returns to defend his crown following epic Roland-Garros and Barbora Krejčíková aims to be the first women’s player in ten years to retain the title 

23/6/2025

OLYMPIC DAY 2025: "LET'S MOVE? TOGETHER FOR MORE MOTIVATION, COMMUNITY AND JOY

The International Olympic Committee (IOC), in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO), is launching the next iteration of its ongoing initiative aimed at inspiring and supporting people to move more. “Let’s Move?” shines a light on the benefits of playing sport and working out together, celebrating all the inspiration, connection and enjoyment this brings, and is the theme of this year’s Olympic Day (23 June).

19/6/2025

WARNER BROS. DISCOVERY SECURES EXCLUSIVE RIGHTS IN EUROPE FOR LEGENDS TEAM CUP

Exciting new team tennis tournament in 2025 featuring legends of the game including Grand Slam champion Dominic Thiem will be shown live on WBD platforms in Europe Fans across Europe can stream every round on HBO Max and discovery+ with a highlights programme shown on Eurosport in Europe and TNT Sports in the UK Competition begins on 14 August

11/6/2025

RECORD-BREAKING ROLAND-GARROS REACHES MILLIONS OF FANS ACROSS EUROPE ON WARNER BROS. DISCOVERY’S PLATFORMS

Largest ever streaming audience secured for Roland-Garros with Max, HBO Max and discovery+ increasing viewers by nearly a third year-on-year across Europe Record broadcast audiences for the men’s singles final secured in Spain, Italy and the UK as Carlos Alcaraz overcomes Jannik Sinner in an all-time classic First tournament on TNT Sports in the UK and Ireland drives +20% uplift in final viewership Eurosport and TNT Sports platforms generate 883 million additional video views in Europe

10/6/2025

GALLAGHER PREMIERSHIP RUGBY FINAL TO SIGN-OFF A RECORD-BREAKING SEASON FOR TNT SPORTS

The curtain comes down on a memorable rugby season this weekend and TNT Sports has continued to engage record numbers of fans through its coverage of Gallagher Premiership Rugby over the past nine months.

08/6/2025

WARNER BROS. DISCOVERY AND THE FRENCH TENNIS FEDERATION EXTEND THEIR AGREEMENT TO BROADCAST ROLAND-GARROS IN EUROPE UNTIL 2030*

Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) and the French Tennis Federation (FFT) have extended their agreement that will see Roland-Garros continue to be broadcast on its channels and platforms on a pan-European basis* (excluding France) until at least 2030. 

06/6/2025

EE DISABILITY FA CUP 2025 RETURNS TO ST GEORGE’S PARK THIS SUMMER

The EE Disability FA Cup will return this summer for its ninth edition, with six finals taking place over 28 and 29 June 2025 at St. George’s Park.

27/5/2025

WARNER BROS. DISCOVERY SPORTS ANNOUNCES GOPRO AS OFFICIAL WEARABLE CAMERA SUPPLIER OF THE WHOOP UCI MOUNTAIN BIKE WORLD SERIES

Helmet-Mounted GoPro Cameras will showcase WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series action from the rider’s perspective

22/5/2025

TNT SPORTS AND EUROSPORT’S GLOBAL PRODUCTION TO DELIVER MOST COMPREHENSIVE COVERAGE OF ROLAND-GARROS EVER

Warner Bros. Discovery’s (WBD) cross platform approach brings coverage of more than 900 matches to TNT Sports and Eurosport across Europe and USA with streaming of every player, every game and every court available on Max and discovery+ World No.1s with points to prove as Jannik Sinner returns to action and Aryna Sabalenka seeks her first Women’s Singles title from four-time defending champion Iga Swiatek Live action from the main draw gets underway from 10:00 BST on Sunday 25 May

19/5/2025

WARNER BROS. DISCOVERY ANNOUNCED AS OFFICIAL PARTNER OF EUROGAMES 2025

Warner Bros. Discovery has been announced as an official partner of EuroGames 2025 – Europe’s largest inclusive multisport event which promote diversity, remove barriers and create a space for representation from all backgrounds in sports.