The 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics has powered Seven to its biggest start to a television ratings survey year since 2018.
Seven’s live and free coverage of the 2022 Winter Olympics has delivered record-breaking digital audiences on 7plus and reached a national audience of 12.5 million viewers for its linear broadcast on Channel 7, 7mate and 7two.
Seven’s digital audience on 7plus streamed 376 million minutes, a surge of 254% on 2018 PyeongChang.
The Evening and Late sessions both dominated their timeslots, ranking #1 in total people, 25 to 54s and 16 to 39s. The Evening session averaged a total audience of 725,000 viewers nationally on broadcast and 7plus.
Total streaming for Beijing 2022 surpassed PyeongChang 2018 after only four days of competition and drove a surge in 7plus registrations, lifting the total number of registered accounts to more than 11.5 million.
Viewing on 7plus was particularly popular with younger viewers, with VOZ data recording an incremental audience reach on broadcast in 18 to 39s of 15.4%.
Seven West Media Chief Revenue Officer and Director of Olympics Kurt Burnette said: “Seven’s broadcast of Beijing 2022 has captivated the nation, with 12.5 million viewers cheering on Australia’s best-ever Winter Olympics performance.
“The audience growth on 7plus was phenomenal and marked the largest digital consumption ever for a Winter Olympics, with live streaming up 254% on PyeongChang.
“The success of Beijing 2022 is testament to our outstanding coverage and exceptional line-up of expert commentators and hosts. The event created the perfect marketing platform to promote our exciting new content, including the launch of SAS Australia and Dancing With The Stars: All Stars, and reaffirms the power and value of premium sport in delivering brands young and engaged audiences across multiple screens.”
The top broadcast events were the Freestyle Skiing, Women’s Aerials Final with a peak audience of 1.09 million, followed by Alpine Skiing, Women’s Slalom Final First Run with an audience of 1.05 million and then Freestyle Skiing, Men’s Freeski Big Air Final First Run and Freestyle Skiing, Men’s Moguls Qualifying Live Event, both clocking a max audience of 1.04 million.
OzTAM 2022 survey year prime time commercial audience shares (%):
