Men’s sports received more coverage than women’s sports by slightly more than a 3 to 1 margin during NBC’s primetime Paris Summer Olympic broadcast on Monday, July 29, 2024.
Three men’s sports had at least one-minute on-screen. Men’s gymnastics clocked in just over 1 hour and 9 minutes as the U.S. men’s team won the bronze medal, the first team medal for the U.S. in men’s gymnastics since 2008. Men’s diving had nearly 12 minutes of coverage for the synchronized platform event, with China’s Lian Junjie and Yang Hao winning gold and Great Britain’s Tom Daley and Noah Williams winning the silver medal. This is Daley’s fifth medal in five Summer Olympiads. Men’s swimming had more than 16 minutes of coverage as Team USA’s Luke Hobson won bronze in the 200 meter freestyle and USA’s Ryan Murphy won bronze in the 100 meter backstroke.
Two women’s events had at least 1 minute of coverage. Women’s swimming had just over 28 minutes as Katie Grimes and Emma Weyant collected silver and bronze medals for Team USA in the 400 meter individual medley behind Canada’s Summer McIntosh, who won gold. Team USA was shut out of the 100 meter breaststroke, as Lily King arrived in 4th place missing bronze by 0.01 second. Team USA was also shut out of the 200 meter freestyle. NBC also showed the semi-finals of the 100 meter backstroke, which saw Team USA’s Katharine Berkoff and Regan Smith advance to the finals. Women’s gymnastics had more than 2 minutes of airtime with discussions about Simone Biles and the team finals happening Tuesday.
No mixed sex events were covered.
Overall, coverage of men’s events accounted for 75.47% of NBC’s primetime Olympic broadcast. Women’s events received 24.53% of NBC’s coverage. Mixed sex events (e.g., equestrian) received 0.00% of NBC’s coverage.
Buy Olympic Television at Amazon.com
After 4 nights, when mixed sex events are excluded, men’s events have received 50.12% of NBC’s primetime broadcast coverage compared to 49.88% for women’s events.
Buy Olympic Television at Amazon.com
Regular updates about NBC’s coverage of men’s and women’s sports on its primetime broadcast will be posted throughout the 2024 Paris Summer Games on FiveRingTV.com. Additional updates will also be posted on the @FiveRingTV X feed. A mid-Olympic report, with complete sport-by-sport coverage breakdowns, will also be issued.
—– —– —–
Method: The percentage of primetime devoted to men’s, women’s and mixed sex sports is calculated by a single researcher, utilizing a stopwatch and DVR or DVD 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 is recorded. Split screens combining commercials and live coverage are included in the calculations, but commercial breaks are not included. The NBC broadcast network East Coast feed is used for the calculations. Olympic coverage on cable networks and live streaming are not included. Network overruns beyond 11:00pm up to the break for local news are included within the calculations.
—– —– —–
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.
Olympic Television 