Record Olympics streaming and TV audiences for Warner Bros. Discovery as Max boosts viewership across Europe

Bugs Bunny and Lola visit WBD House to show off their Olympic medals

Warner Bros. Discovery saw record viewership and engagement across all platforms – spanning free-to-air, pay-tv, streaming, web and social – during Olympic Games Paris 2024, which came to an end with the Closing Ceremony on Sunday 11 August 2024.

Supercharged by the recent launch of Max in 25 European markets, Paris 2024 marked the first real ‘streaming Olympics’ in Europe for Warner Bros. Discovery, as more people streamed more Olympics content for longer than ever before.

There was a cumulative reach of more than 215 million in Europe viewing Olympics content on Warner Bros. Discovery’s platforms – 23% more than Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 (over 40 million). This includes Max and discovery+, as well as Eurosport TV channels and free-to-air networks in Norway (TVNorge), Sweden (Kanal 5) and Finland (Kutonen, TV5).

More than seven billion minutes were streamed on Warner Bros. Discovery’s platforms over the course of the Games – six times more than Tokyo 2020. A record-breaking day was Sunday 4 August, which saw a Warner Bros. Discovery record in Europe of 600 million minutes in a single day streamed by Max and discovery+ subscribers.
The day featured the Men’s 100m final, Novak Djokovic vs. Carlos Alcaraz Men’s Tennis gold medal match, the final day of swimming events and the women’s road race in Cycling.

Also, there were four times as many unique streaming viewers on Warner Bros. Discovery platforms, including Max and discovery+, throughout the Games compared to the last summer Olympics.

New paid streaming subscribers exceeded those for the entire Tokyo 2020 after just four days of competition in Paris (Saturday 27 July – Tuesday 30 July 2024). There were a record number of new paid streaming subscribers over the Games period; 77% more than Tokyo 2020.

Saturday 27 July saw Warner Bros. Discovery’s highest number of new paid streaming subscribers ever in a single day in Europe (Max, discovery+ or previously HBO Max). This marked significant subscriber growth across all major markets in Europe, particularly France, Italy, Poland, Sweden and the UK.

JB Perrette, CEO and president, global streaming and games, Warner Bros. Discovery, said: “Paris 2024 has exceeded all expectations for fans and audiences, and for Max and Warner Bros. Discovery’s streaming business. We’ve added millions of new paying subscribers, and engaged millions of viewers daily on streaming who have watched billions of minutes of content during the Games. Our streaming growth momentum is only gaining strength, and we’ve still got almost half the global addressable market to go. Congratulations and thank you to our great partners at the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Paris 2024 Organising Committee for an epic Olympic Games.”

Andrew Georgiou, president and managing director, Warner Bros. Discovery UK and Ireland and WBD Sports Europe, said: “Paris 2024 has again demonstrated the value of bringing premium sport and entertainment together to drive audience and engagement at scale. We’ve maximised this opportunity at these Games, delivering world-class production featuring outstanding on-screen experts and local country storytelling that has again proven to be a winning combination. Max has proven to be a game-changer for sports viewing with an enhanced product experience and new interactive features which encouraged more subscribers to come on platform and stay engaged for longer.”