Discovery said the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing is already providing a much bigger streaming boost in Europe than the 2018 Games.
The company said eight times more viewers are streaming Olympic content compared to the same period for Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018 and total new paid subscribers to Discovery's streaming services have already surpassed what the 2018 Games generated.
So far, nearly three-quarters of a billion streaming minutes have been consumed on Discovery's subscription services—which includes Eurosport—more than 18 times higher than the same period of PyeongChang 2018. Average minutes consumed per viewer across Discovery+ and Eurosport streaming services has more than doubled, the company said.
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"The Olympics are off to a strong start across all our platforms, with discovery+ at the forefront of this early success as the growth of our streaming service continues to significantly outperform,” said JB Perrette, president and CEO of Discovery Streaming & International, in a statement. "It is also reaffirming the power and value of integrating sports into our discovery+ entertainment service. As well as attracting a significant number of new discovery+ subscribers, sports broadens its appeal throughout the whole household and provides consumers an even greater, more retentive value proposition. Through just this first week, more than a third of new discovery+ Olympics subscribers have already consumed other entertainment content on the platform."
"The audience and engagement growth we have experienced during the opening stage of the Games really demonstrates the additional value Discovery brings to its audiences and partners. Through our network of free-to-air, Eurosport, discovery+ and free digital and social platforms, we are driving more people to our Olympic content for longer,” said Andrew Georgiou, president of sports at Discovery, in a statement.