Winter Olympics Ratings: NBCUniversal and Versant Outperform YouTube in February Viewing Insights
The recent Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina, Italy, have propelled NBCUniversal and Versant ahead of YouTube in the latest Nielsen Media Distributor Gauge report, which was released following a notable delay.
Nielsen’s recent report, released on Tuesday, provides a distributor breakdown and a monthly analysis of streaming platforms’ market shares. The report’s rollout experienced a postponement after client feedback led the company to reconsider planned changes to its Gauge methodology, causing weeks of delay.
In the February report, which covers the viewing period from January 26 to February 22, YouTube maintained its leading position, capturing 12.7% of total viewing hours. Meanwhile, NBCUniversal’s Peacock saw a substantial increase, rising by 64% from the previous month to reach 3% of total viewing—the highest since the Gauge’s inception in 2021.
The Super Bowl significantly boosted Peacock’s viewership, with its simulcast of the event contributing over 20% of total audience metrics, according to Nielsen. The platform attracted a younger demographic, with 73% of its viewers under the age of 50, compared to 54% across all viewing platforms.
Overall, when combined with Versant, NBCUniversal captured 13.1% of total viewing, an increase of 48% from the previous month and the highest share since the Summer Olympics in Paris scheduled for August 2024.
Nielsen’s measurement of NBCUniversal and Versant reflects their strategic partnership, particularly in advertising. Versant, which encompasses several former NBCU cable networks and digital properties, was spun off from Comcast last January. Although it operates independently, it relies on NBCUniversal for ad sales efforts. Networks under the Versant umbrella, including USA Network and CNBC, prominently featured Olympics programming in February.
The interest generated by live sports, coupled with the release of Peacock’s new original series The ‘Burbs on Super Bowl Sunday, also contributed to viewership growth. The series achieved the highest average audience among streaming originals in February and recorded the second-highest minutes viewed. Its premiere episode was reported as the most-watched of the month across all original titles.
Additionally, the Olympic event bolstered viewership for MS NOW, which saw a 7% increase over the prior month, gaining a full share point within the NBCUniversal-Versant total.
