NBC featured women’s sports more than men’s, by over a 3 to 1 margin, on Sunday, August 8, 2021, the final night of NBC’s primetime Tokyo Olympic broadcast.

Overall, men’s events received 24.25% of the coverage on Sunday night, compared to 75.46% for women. Mixed sex events received 0.28% of the airtime. (Total percentages are less than 100 due to rounding.)

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When mixed sex events are excluded, men received 24.32% of the coverage, compared to 75.68% for women.

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A final update about NBC’s primetime Olympic broadcast coverage of men and women athletes is posted here.

Additional discussions about NBC’s primetime Olympic broadcast are posted on the @FiveRingTV Twitter feed.

A mid-Olympic report, with complete sport-by-sport coverage breakdowns for the first seven nights of the Tokyo Olympic Games is posted here.

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* The percentage of primetime devoted to men’s, women’s and mixed sex sports was calculated by a single researcher, utilizing a stopwatch and DVD or DVR time codes, measuring (to the millisecond) the total amount of time devoted to each event. Any time spent at the actual athletic site, on a profile about an athlete, promos about a specific athlete or sport, and host commentary about a specific sport or athlete was recorded. Split screens combining commercials and live coverage are included in the calculation, but commercial breaks are not included. The NBC broadcast network East Coast feed was used for the calculations. Olympic coverage on affiliated cable networks and live streaming was not included. Network overruns beyond 11:00pm up to the break for local news are included within the calculations.

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Olympic Television: Broadcasting the Biggest Show on Earth contains a detailed 20-year examination of how male and female athletes have been covered within primetime Olympic broadcasts. The book also has analyses of how race/ethnicity and nationality impact Olympic coverage, interviews with NBC personnel about the content and production of Olympic broadcasts, and a detailed overview of Olympic television history. Published by Routledge, it is available in hardcover, paperback and ebook formats at Amazon.com, the Routledge website, and other outlets.