Men’s sports received more coverage than women’s sports during NBC’s primetime Paris Summer Olympic broadcast on Wednesday, July 31, 2024.

Four men’s events had at least one minute of broadcast coverage.

Men’s gymnastics had nearly 41 and a half minutes of airtime for the individual all-around competition, where Japan’s Shinnosuke Oka won the gold medal. The highest performance by a U.S. athlete was Paul Juda in 14^th place.

Men’s swimming clocked exactly 25 and a half minutes of coverage as France’s Leon Marchand won gold in both the finals of the 200 butterfly and the 200 breaststroke, while China’s Pan Zhanle won the 100 freestyle. No member from Team USA medaled in any of the three races.

Men’s basketball had just over 4 and a half minutes for coverage of Team USA’s win over South Sudan and Snoop Dogg traveling with them from the Olympic Village to Lille where the phase in games are being held.

Men’s triathlon had just over 2 minutes (as compared to just 49 seconds for the women’s race which ran before the men’s on Wednesday). No Team USA member medaled in either the men’s or women’s triathlon.

Four women’s events came in with at least one minute of airtime.

Women’s swimming had more than 34 minutes, the majority of which involved the 1500 freestyle final where Team USA’s Katie Ledecky won gold and set an Olympic record. The 100 freestyle final was also featured as Team USA’s Torri Huske won the silver medal for the U.S.

Women’s diving had more than 15 and a half minutes of coverage for the synchronized platform event, where China’s Quan Hongchan and Chen Yuxi won the gold medal.

Women’s volleyball had just over 1 minute for the final point of the U.S. win, in five sets, over Serbia.

Women’s gymnastics had just over 1 minute for promos of the women’s all around.

The sole mixed set event was table tennis, which had 28 seconds dedicated to how the medalists from North Korea, South Korea and China took a selfie together, all smiling, on the medal podium.

Overall, coverage of men’s events accounted for 57.74% of NBC’s primetime Olympic broadcast. Women’s events received 41.89% of NBC’s coverage. Mixed sex events (e.g., equestrian) received 0.37% of NBC’s coverage.

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After 6 nights, when mixed sex events are excluded, men’s events have received 47.84% of NBC’s primetime broadcast coverage compared to 52.16% 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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