We all had a feeling that the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics were going to see some low ratings; we just didn’t know how low.
Now we do, and they’re bad.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the Beijing Games ratings were the worst U.S. ratings in the history of NBC’s coverage of the Winter Olympics. NBC averaged just 11.4 million viewers per night, down 42% from the 2018 Winter Olympics, which saw an average of 19.8 million viewers per night.
“This was probably the most difficult Olympics of all time,” NBC Sports Chairman Pete Bevacqua said.
The lead-up to the Olympics showed a major lack of interest in the games, as much of the focus was on the location of the Winter Olympics itself.
In December, the Biden administration announced a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Games, citing the PRC’s “crimes against humanity” and “ongoing genocide” as to why the U.S. would not be sending any official representation to Beijing. The move by the Biden administration was not nearly enough for many, with a number of politicians saying that the United States should have boycotted the Olympics entirely, choosing to not send U.S. athletes to Beijing.
Prior to the start of the games, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) asked Olympians to stick to sports, instead of risking angering the Chinese communist government with their thoughts on human rights.
“I would say to our athletes — you are there to compete,” Pelosi said in part during testimony before the Congressional-Executive Commission on China. “Do not risk incurring the anger of the Chinese government because they are ruthless. I know there is a temptation on the part of some to speak out while they are there, I respect that. But, I also worry about what the Chinese government might do to their reputations, to their families.”
The issues surrounding the location, the time difference between Beijing and the United States, and COVID-19 related restrictions, led to a record-low 16 million viewers for the Opening Ceremonies.
According to NBC Sports, the Opening Ceremony drew just 16 million viewers, which included people watching on NBC’s streaming service, Peacock. Per Axios, the 16 million total viewers put the 2022 Opening Ceremony 43% down from the Opening Ceremony at the 2018 Winter Games.
“Including viewership across digital platforms — like NBC’s streaming service Peacock and the NBC sports app — NBC Sports says the event drew 16 million viewers total,” Axios wrote. “That’s down about 43% from the 23.8 million people who watched the opening ceremony for the last winter Games in Pyeongchang in 2018.”
Ratings for the Olympics have been plummeting for years, but the selection of Beijing as the host of the 2022 Winter Games certainly made an impact on viewership.
The 2026 Winter Olympics will be hosted by Milan and Cortina, Italy.
Joe Morgan is the Sports Reporter for The Daily Wire. Most recently, Morgan covered the Clippers, Lakers, and the NBA for Sporting News. Send your sports questions to [email protected].
China: The Enemy Within is a new Daily Wire original docuseries about U.S. leaders allowing Chinese interests to overtake our policies, education, and culture. Stream the full series now exclusively at DailyWire.com.
Source: Dailywire
