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Sensor Tower · Seema Shah · July 2024
The 2024 Olympics Adds Audio Broadcasts
As the Summer Olympics is merely a few weeks away, declining viewership has presented challenges for NBCUniversal, the event’s exclusive streaming partner. Sensor Tower data shows that NBCUniversal’s advertising approach to the Olympics varies from SiriusXM’s sports-advertising strategy, with the latter touting its premier partnership with the NFL throughout the year to drive new subscribers. NBCUniversal has partnered with IHeartRadio to provide audio Olympics coverage.
Key Takeaways:
While the Olympics is a major brand moment for NBCUniversal, ST data shows that the promotional period for the event is primarily targeted to the timeframe surrounding the event. In the four weeks leading up to the 2021 Summer Olympics, NBCUniversal only allocated 10% of its Olympics ad spend towards the event, as the majority of spend (80%) took place while the games were happening
As of 2024 YTD, NBCUniversal has utilized <1% of its US digital advertising spend on the Olympics, and has solely advertised the event through short videos. OTT advertising is the dominant placement for its digital ads, accounting for 79% of US ad spend, followed by Instagram (7%), TikTok (6%) and YouTube (4%)
The average number of DAUs for SiriusXM on Sundays decreased by 12% when comparing four spring months to fall months (Sep-Dec’23 vs Mar-Jun’24), potentially as NFL listeners left the app
During fall 2023, Sunday was the day that averaged the second highest number of DAUs throughout the week (behind Saturday), up an average of 13% compared to the average number of DAUs during the week. However, in the spring, DAUs on Sunday were down an average -4% when compared to the average number of DAUs throughout the week as there was no notable lift from NFL coverage
As of 1H24, iHeartRadio only compromises 3% of US ad spend amongst its audio cohort as Spotify and SiriusXM are the primary advertisers in the space, accounting for 45% and 30% of spend, respectively. The cohort has primarily pulled back ad spend in 1H24, down 18% YoY, potentially due to economic headwinds impacting the industry
Sports fans, as defined by Sensor Tower’s proprietary audience insights, over-index in subscribing to audio apps, compared to the general population of smartphone users, particularly TuneIn (+548%), SiriusXM (+337%), and Amazon Music (+140%)
For more information, request the full report from reports@sensortower.com.
