Beijing Winter Olympics attract almost 600 million Chinese and 100 million American viewers in one week, making it the most-watched Winter Games Ever

[beijingwalker]

Beijing Winter Olympics attract almost 600 million Chinese and 100 million American viewers in one week, making it the most-watched Winter Games Ever

Why Beijing 2022 is most-watched and digitally engaged Winter Olympics ever, with social media stars like Eileen Gu driving the audience​

• Games attract almost 600 million Chinese viewers in first week, with over 100 million Americans tuning in
• Fans are also active on social media – on Olympics’ channels alone, there have been 2.5 billion engagements

Published: 8:15am, 17 Feb, 2022

Chinese freestyle skier Eileen Gu celebrates after taking silver in the women’s slopestyle event at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics. Photo: Kyodo


The Winter Olympics attracted almost 600 million Chinese viewers in its first week, making it the most-watched Winter Games ever, according to figures released by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

As of last Thursday, more than 515 million have tuned into the events on state-owned CCTV (China Central Television). An estimated half a billion watched the opening ceremony.

In Hong Kong, the Games are broadcasted exclusively on TVB, where nearly 3 million watched the opening ceremony. The live broadcasts in malls, however, are unpopular amid the city’s latest surge of Covid-19 cases.

It is also the most-watched Winter Games in the US with more than 100 million Americans watching it through NBC (National Broadcasting Company).
In Europe, where the events are aired on the Discovery channel, the total number of streaming viewers after only four days of competition had surpassed Pyeongchang 2018’s total viewership. Australians are also showing interest in the Games, as official broadcaster Seven Network reached 11.7 million viewers on Wednesday.

The contrasting backdrop of the surging viewership is a diplomatic boycott staged by the United States, Australia, India and seven other Western countries, over China’s alleged human rights abuses – which China has repeatedly denied – in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region. Their athletes are in Beijing without official or diplomatic representation.

In a move that Chinese ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian called “puzzling”, the US still applied for visas for 18 officials to attend the Games.

“The diplomatic boycotts are mainly ideological – they involve the absence of high-level officials – from the perspective of the audience, it doesn’t make much difference,” said Dominic Lee Tsz-king, a member of Hong Kong’s Legislative Council who in earlier years worked with members of the US Democratic Party.

“When you watch the Games, you’re not looking for what officials are in attendance, and despite the boycott, 30-something officials still attended.”

The Games’ popularity in the US may also be because of domestic unawareness of the diplomatic move. A Pew Research report from earlier this month found that more than 90 per cent of American adults had heard little or nothing about the boycott, despite most saying they would support it.

According to NBC, the Games are reaching even more Americans after Sunday’s Super Bowl, where the Los Angeles Rams won against the Cincinnati Bengals 23-20 with a much-anticipated line-up of hip-hop veterans performing at the half-time show.

Lee believes the human stories to be another factor driving the audience. “There are also storylines that people are following, such as some Korean athletes who are dissatisfied with the results; or US-born athletes who are representing China, like Eileen Gu, which add to the appeal,” he said.

Other than watching television broadcasts, fans are also active on social media. On Olympics’ channels alone, there have been 2.5 billion engagements, making it the most digitally engaged Winter Games to date.

Nixie Lam Lam, legislator and board member of the United Nations Association of China, said the events’ promotion on social media has sparked the interest of those who wouldn’t normally be drawn to winter sports.

“The athletes are like celebrities, they have Instagram pages where they communicate with you … [the Games] have never been as multidimensional as they are now,” Lam said. “Other factors, like Covid-19 lockdowns, could mean that people will be watching at home.

“I hope the pressure of politics hasn’t affected the athletes’ performance, especially the younger ones,” she added, referring to matters unrelated to sports that athletes will have to face in what she feels was a “politicised” Games.

The host country is elated at the big numbers. “Although the epidemic is still raging, people all over the world still share the passion, joy and friendship brought by winter sports,” foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told the press on Monday.

“The unity, cooperation and hope displayed in the [Games] are injecting confidence and strength into countries around the world.”

Beijing will be celebrating the quadrennial event’s success with a closing ceremony on Sunday after over 300 medals are given out, passing the torch to Milan.

Why Beijing 2022 is the most-watched Winter Olympics ever

Beijing also most digitally-engaged Winter Games in history, with social media stars like Eileen Gu driving the audience.

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