During the beginning of the Olympic Games, YouTube collaborated with several broadcasting channels around the world to bring Tokyo 2020 to the viewers’ screens.
YouTube records over 200 million hours of views
YouTube says that during Tokyo 2020, viewers watched over 200 million hours of Olympic Games content on YouTube, which is seven times more than those of Rio 2016. This count included all the historic games for both Tokyo and Rio.
The content was viewed more than 190 million times per day during Tokyo, which is five times the average views for Rio 2016. This could be because Tokyo 2020 came at the most critical time — the Covid-19 pandemic when people are homebound and relying on technology more than they have ever had before.
The Olympic YouTube Channel grew from 6 million subscribers to 7.9 million subscribers.
Tokyo 2020 YouTube: Standout moments on the Olympic YouTube Channel
The top standout moment has to be when Simone Biles took a brave decision to withdraw from the competition over mental health concerns. Her decision sparked a lot of dialogue around the world. Although some might have seen it as a weak move, it is quite brave to know when to stop and it definitely doesn’t mean giving up.
British Gold Medal Diver, Tom Daley, who also happens to be a creator with over one million subscribers, filmed a behind-the-scenes series for the channel ‘DaleyDiaries’, and he surpassed 4.3 million views. His friend, Rommel Pacheco had a total of 1M views during the Games, including training and how-to content, with 14% of his traffic coming from Shorts.
In YouTube TV in the US, the platform introduced new, innovative features that helped members connect more deeply with their favorite sports across the networks of NBCUniversal. YouTube introduced 4K Plus add-on package that delivered the Games in crisp, high-quality resolution.
