Women Lead The First 10 Nights Of NBC’s Primetime Paris Olympic Broadcast Coverage

Posted on by FiveRingTV

(August 5, 2024) – Women’s sports are receiving more airtime than men’s sports on NBC’s primetime Olympic broadcast of the Paris Summer Games, say James R. Angelini (University of Delaware) and Paul J. MacArthur (Utica University), co-authors of the book Olympic Television: Broadcasting the Biggest Show on Earth.

Through the first 10 nights, women’s sports received just 1 hour, 8 minutes, and 53 seconds more NBC primetime broadcast coverage than men’s sports. Women’s sports received 51.20% of the sports coverage while men’s sports received 45.80% of the coverage; the remainder featured mixed-sex events (3.00%). When mixed sex events are excluded, women have received 52.78% of the coverage, compared to 47.22% for men. Women’s sports received more airtime than men’s sports in 5 of the first 10 nights.

If the current trend continues, this would mark the fifth Olympiad in a row, and sixth overall, where women’s sports have received more primetime broadcast coverage than men’s sports since studies began in 1994. Women’s sports received 57.95% of NBC’s primetime broadcast coverage during the Tokyo Games, compared to 42.05% for men, when mixed-sex events are excluded. The Tokyo primetime broadcast contains the second largest airtime gap favoring women’s sports and the highest for the Summer Games.

The division of American medals in gymnastics has likely influenced the amount of women’s sports coverage. Team USA women won more medals in gymnastics than Team USA men. They also won gold, while Team USA men did not. Women’s gymnastics coverage outpaced the men’s gymnastics coverage by more than two hours during the first 10 nights.

“Team USA medal distribution is often a factor in men’s vs. women’s coverage” says MacArthur. “But it’s not the only factor. Storylines also play a big role. Simone Biles, Suni Lee, and Jade Carey were established stars and they all provided NBC with American success stories.”

The American medal count, however, did not predict the coverage distribution for men’s and women’s swimming. Team USA women won 18 medals, compared to 9 medals for Team USA men and 1 medal for the U.S. in a mixed event. Men’s swimming clocked in with 12 minutes and 18 seconds more coverage than women’s swimming.

“Katie Ledecky’s record setting accomplishments were not enough to tilt the coverage towards women in swimming,” says Angelini. “However, when you look at the medal standings, it is not surprising to see more coverage of women when they have won more than half of the Team USA gold medals and more than half of the Team USA medals overall.”

The first 10 nights of NBC’s coverage focused heavily on swimming and gymnastics. With swimming concluded, beach volleyball and track & field are likely to take a much larger role in NBC’s primetime programming.

A table, with complete sport-by-sport coverage breakdowns, is located here.

The authors will continue to track the amount of coverage men’s and women’s sports receive on NBC’s primetime broadcast of the 2024 Paris Summer Olympic Game with regular updates posted on FiveRingTV.com and via the @FiveRingTV X feed.

In addition to regular updates, the authors will issue a post-Olympic report, with complete sport-by-sport coverage breakdowns, after the Paris Games conclude.

Contact Information

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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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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 an 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.