The Olympics used to be a big event. People from all over the world would cheer for the athletes of their country. But in the United States, this enthusiasm has greatly dissipated and the audience has basically disappeared.
According to Fox News, NBC’s coverage of the game attracted 14 million viewers. There are still a lot of people, but when you compare it with the figures for Rio de Janeiro in 2016, you will see how much this cliff has dropped in ratings:
NBC’s average coverage is slightly less than 14 million viewers, which is a drop of 58% compared to the 33 million viewers that attracted 33 million viewers on the night of the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics. Compared with the average of 39 million spectators in the 2012 London Olympics on the same night, the decline was even greater.
The key population decline for adults aged 18-49 was even greater, as reports on Tuesday dropped 67% from Rio and 74% compared to London.
Some theories were put forward about the reasons that led to the decline, such as Simone Byers’ withdrawal from the game and the significant jet lag that caused the apparent delay of the game, but the problem is that the Olympics did not attract the fans to start very much.
What is the problem?
simple. This is politics.
As Bobby Burack of Outkick Written on Wednesday, “Half of this country is not proud of the United States. The other half does not like to politicize the Olympic Games and other events. Combining the two, we will suffer a ratings disaster at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.”
“These declines in ratings are more complicated than the declines in other TV shows. First, there are certain issues that plague all TVs: cable cutting, Netflix, social media, YouTube clips, and continued decline in attention,” he added. “In addition, there are political differences, which are now the front and center of world events. Anything that represents the United States is now controversial. The American flag triggers the left, and the social stance of some athletes closes the right. Therefore, almost Everyone has lost interest in the Olympics.”
As I wrote yesterday, Politics make the Olympics lose their luster And has been working hard to do this for many years. The introduction of transgenderism and the continuous integration of social justice and political information have made the Olympics another MSNBC program. The sportsmanship and patriotism of the Games are gone forever. Now everything has to do with messaging and anger.
Who really wants to see that? Who wants to give it a platform?
To be sure, the ratings of the Olympics will continue to decline, because the problem will only get worse if the problem is not resolved. Soon, the Olympics will become like all other competitions; theorists have the opportunity to put their beliefs in the faces of others when they are not popular.
This will happen at award ceremonies and sports events, and it will happen at the Olympics.
