Opening ceremony ratings lowest in 33 years

During the opening ceremonies of the Olympics in Tokyo on Friday, the minuscule number of fans in the stands wasn’t the only number that was off dramatically from years past.

Overnight television ratings for the ceremony saw a steep decline in viewership — down to 16.7 million viewers, the lowest in 33 years, according to data NBCUniversal released on Saturday. 

According to Reuters, 17 million people watched across all platforms, including NBCOlympics.com, the company told the outlet via email. 

There were only 1,000 people inside the stadium watching the choreographed dances and performances due to COVID-19 restrictions, and just over 5,000 athletes participated in the parade of nations. 

Before this year’s event, the 1988 Seoul Olympics opener had the lowest television ratings with only 22.7 million viewers, according to Reuters.

The Seoul Olympics, because of the time difference, had a particularly difficult time attracting American television audiences — something NBC and Tokyo Games organizers can only hope won’t be repeated over the next two weeks.

The Olympics weren’t the only event to take a hit with its television ratings recently. The NBA Finals television ratings have been down over the last two years, with Game 6 of the Milwaukee Bucks and Phoenix Suns only drawing 12.5 million viewers. 

It was up from the 2020 NBA Finals, which drew just over 8 million viewers for Game 6, but comparing it to Game 6 of the 2015 Finals, which had just over 23 million viewers, it was severely down.