Women’s sports received more coverage than men’s sports by slightly more than a 2 to 1 margin during NBC’s primetime Paris Summer Olympic broadcast on Tuesday, July 30, 2024.

Two men’s sports drew more than a minute of airtime. Swimming clocked more than 42 and a half minutes for the finals in the 800 meter freestyle, where TEAM USA’s Bobby Finke won the silver medal, and the 4×200 meter freestyle relay, where the U.S. won silver as well. Also featured were the semifinal races in 100 freestyle, 200 butterfly and 200 breaststroke. Surfing had just over one minute of coverage focusing on Gabriel Medina’s insane pose after coming out of a wave.

Three women’s sports had more than 1 minute of coverage. Gymnastics came in just under 1 hour and 25 minutes for the team finals and the U.S. winning gold. Swimming had more than 10 and a half minutes due to the 100 backstroke final, where Team USA’s Regan Smith won silver. Swimming also featured promotion for Katie Ledecky and her premier event, the 1500 meter freestyle, scheduled for Wednesday. Rugby had nearly 2 and a half minutes of airtime for the U.S. winning bronze.

12 seconds were dedicated to Mixed Sex events with coverage of Team USA’s Coco Gauff and Taylor Fritz winning in mixed doubles tennis.

Overall, coverage of men’s events accounted for 32.23% of NBC’s primetime Olympic broadcast. Women’s events received 67.63% of NBC’s coverage. Mixed sex events (e.g., equestrian) received 0.14% of NBC’s coverage. (Note: Cumulative numbers do not equal 100% due to rounding.)

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After 5 nights, when mixed sex events are excluded, men’s events have received 45.59% of NBC’s primetime broadcast coverage compared to 54.41% for women’s events.

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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.

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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.

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