The Winter Olympics has overtaken its predecessors numbers in just a week

Andrew Georgiou and Radzi Chinyanganya Discovery Winter Olympics

Discovery has revealed that the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics has overtaken the PyeongChang 2018 Games’ streaming and subscriber totals after just one week. 

Total streaming viewers overtook PyeongChang after four days, and there have now been more paid subscribers acquired as well.

Nearly three-quarters of a billion streaming minutes have been consumed on Discovery’s subscription services so far, more than 18 times higher than the same period of PyeongChang 2018. In addition, average minutes consumed per viewer across discovery+ and Eurosport streaming services has more than doubled and people are on average watching 29% longer on television vs PyeongChang 2018. 

Meanwhile, linear audiences on Eurosport are said to remain steady, with audience shares in the Nordics particularly high at 87% (Norway), 83% (Sweden) and 71% (Finland).

Jean-Briac Perrette, president & CEO, Discovery Streaming & International, said: “The Olympics are off to a strong start across all our platforms, with discovery+ at the forefront of this early success as the growth of our streaming service continues to significantly outperform.

“It is also reaffirming the power and value of integrating sports into our discovery+ entertainment service. As well as attracting a significant number of new discovery+ subscribers, sports broadens its appeal throughout the whole household and provides consumers an even greater, more retentive value proposition. Through just this first week, more than a third of new discovery+ Olympics subscribers have already consumed other entertainment content on the platform.”

Andrew Georgiou, president of sports, Discovery, added: “The audience and engagement growth we have experienced during the opening stage of the Games really demonstrates the additional value Discovery brings to its audiences and partners. Through our network of free-to-air, Eurosport, discovery+ and free digital and social platforms, we are driving more people to our Olympic content for longer.

“This is also testament to the outstanding coverage being delivered, the powerful stories we are telling focused on local heroes at their core, together with innovative technology, and our exceptional line-up of the most credible team of experts in sport. We can’t wait to bring viewers the rest of the action and all the biggest stories to come from the Games.”