The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, the least watched in the history of television in Spain

From July 23 to August 8, millions of Spaniards have followed both RTVE as in Eurosport (Discovery) more than 400 hours of broadcast from the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

However, although the broadcast of the Games has served as a stimulus for these channels, which have seen the number of viewers increase significantly compared to the same period of the previous year (+52%), Tokyo 2020 will be remembered for its low audience.

La 1 and Teledeporte have greatly exceeded their season average during the Olympic Games, with the football, basketball and athletics as the biggest attraction. On Saturday, August 7, La1 achieved its best daily figure since December 22, 2019 (18.6%), thanks to the Spain-Brazil soccer final.

As for Eurosport, the medals of Ana Peleteiro and Ray Zapata gave it its best daily figure on August 1.

The most digital games

In addition to their linear broadcast through DTT, and in the case of Eurosport on the Dazn, Orange, Movistar and Vodafone platforms, these Games have been the most digital in history. RTVE además de en La1 y Teledeporte, ha emitido 3 señales adicionales que han podido seguirse bajo demanda. También ha producido un sinfín de clips para redes sociales y su canal de YouTube.

Por su parte, la plataforma de streaming de Eurosport también emitió los Juegos online y en directo, además de ofrecerlos a la carta para verlos bajo demanda.

Sin embargo, como destaca GECA en su último informe, Tokio 2020 han sido las olimpiadas menos vistas en la historia de la televisión en España. La suma del share medio de los canales que han emitido los Juegos ha alcanzado el 14,6% (4.5 points less than in Rio 2016), with 10.9% corresponding to La 1, 3.1% to Teledeporte; a 0.4 to Eurosport 1; and 0.25% to Eurosport 2.

These results are in line with the progressive drop in audience that edition after edition the Games have reaped among the Spanish audience from a historic 52.1% to 92 in Barcelona.

As GECA highlights in its report, the audience profile has been the most masculine in Spain while at the same time it is losing audiences between 25 and 44 years old. The inclusion of pay channels has changed the profile of the viewer, which is growing among men and the youngest (4-24 years).

Once again, the Soccer has been the most popular sport taking over 8 of the 10 most viewed broadcasts. In that Top Ten, athletics (with Peleiro and Zapata) and basketball (men's Spain-Argentina) “sneak in.” However, on pay television, there is more variety within the most watched sports, with athletics, badminton, wrestling or artistic gymnastics among the broadcasts with the most viewers.