In just two days, Warner Bros. Discovery’s Max and Discovery+ streaming services pulled in more unique viewers for the Paris Olympics than for the entire summer Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021.
Max, which launched internationally ahead of the Olympics to enlist new subscribers, has benefited from strong momentum. Max has accounted for 80% of Warner Bros. Discovery’s total streaming audience for the Olympics in Europe, according to WBD. Five times more streaming viewers have watched the Paris games compared with the same period for the Tokyo Olympics, the company said. In addition, over the opening weekend, WBD set a new record for retail gross streaming subscriber acquisitions in a single day across Europe, ahead of its expectations.
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WBD revealed that the Paris Olympics has so far driven almost 1 billion streaming minutes across Europe, more than seven times higher than at the same point of Tokyo 2020 and is already representing 75% of the total minutes from those games.
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Viewers on Max and Discovery+ are also spending 63% more time (based on the average minutes consumed) compared with Tokyo 2020.
“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,” said JB Perrette, CEO and president of global streaming and games, Warner Bros. Discovery. He added that the service’s “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,” he continued.
Andrew Georgiou, president and managing director for Warner Bros. Discovery U.K & Ireland and WBD Sports Europe, “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,” Georgiou continued.
As the newly-merged media company marks its first Olympic Games, Warner Bros. Discovery has centralized its Paris 2024 coverage with splashy open-air production hub offering panoramic views and ample studio space,
Nicknamed WBD House and built atop Paris’ Hotel Raphaël, the rooftop facility is featuring commentary in 13 markets, and houses four studios and three stand-up positions, with a view over Parisian landmarks hosting competition sites.
WBD’s pay-tv banner Eurosport, meanwhile, will be broadcasting 3,800 live hours including all 329 medal events, with all 32 Olympic sports given a dedicated page through Max or Discovery+.
Max launched in France and Belgium in June, following a rollout in 22 countries across the Nordics, Iberia, Spain, the Netherlands and Central Eastern Europe in the spring.
In an interview with Variety in March, Perrette said he believed the Olympics would allow for Max to hit the ground running upon its European launch.
“One thing we’ve learned not from our competitors but based what we’ve done is the importance of (timing). Unfortunately, last year when we launched in the U.S, we had one of our weakest movie slates,” he said. “Europe is by far our best one yet because we launched with “House of the Dragon” season two, and then on the back with the Olympics. And then we go into “Penguin” and then we have a Dune series coming at the end of the year. (…) So it’s an amazing time to be launching.”
