Sport Streaming is the Only Game in Town


Hello and welcome to The Addition, where I deal with the intersection of media, culture and sport. The main part of today’s newsletter is a reflection on a fantastic summer of sport across all media platforms (but mostly streamers). To read the whole thing, as well as a first take on the sacking of Jermaine Jenas, you will need to take out a paid subscription. Your support is greatly appreciated.

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If you’re a sports fan, summer 2024 was a good one. It featured the Euros and Copa América football competitions, the Olympics, two cycling grand tours (the third one is happening now,) and test cricket. There was also the Open golf (although the weather was not very seasonal,) and Wimbledon. The regular summer seasons for some US sports were in full flow too. It all meant that sport dominated the media, pushing reality shows and much else out of the spotlight.

One of the big winners was NBC. It announced 23.5 billion minutes of Paris 2024 were streamed thanks to its Peacock service. The platform has been considered somewhat second-tier, but it got gold at the Olympics. NBC-owned USA Network also performed well. Mark Lazarus, Chairman of NBCUniversal Media Group, was clearly happy:

The Games marked a groundbreaking moment for Peacock, which delivered a flawless user experience and cutting-edge innovation while shattering all-time Olympics streaming records. USA Network went around-the-clock and ranked #1 in cable sports and entertainment [for the Olympics fortnight].

From the Blog

The Addition

Charlotte Henry is a journalist and broadcaster who creates and runs The Addition newsletter and podcast; an award-winning publication looking at the crossover between media and technology.

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