Paris Olympics opening ceremony sees historic low in viewership in South Korea

The opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics recorded unprecedentedly low viewership ratings in South Korea. The combined viewership ratings of the three terrestrial broadcasters (KBS, MBC, and SBS) was only 3%, with SBS in particular
The shocking figure was in the 0% range. This is a major blow to the broadcasters who invested huge sums in Olympic broadcasting rights, making it difficult for them to balance their income and expenses.
According to Nielsen Korea, a ratings research company, on the 28th, the live TV viewership rating for the Paris Olympics opening ceremony, which was broadcast from 2 am to 6 am the previous day (Korean time), was 1.
4%, MBC 1.0%, and SBS 0.6%. These figures are significantly lower than the live broadcast of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics opening ceremony, which recorded a combined total of 17.2% for the three terrestrial broadcasters.
The ratings were 8.4% for KBS1, 4.8% for SBS, and 4% for MBC. The lowest ratings recorded for the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics were due to the time slot being early in the morning, but above all,
The rise of other media platforms such as YouTube and online video services (OTT) has also contributed to the decline in interest in the Olympics.
This is believed to be the background to the unprecedented low viewership figures. In particular, the total TV viewership figures for the opening ceremony was 14% for the 2012 London Olympics and 14% for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
The poor performance of the Korean athletes is also a factor, with the men's soccer team's Olympic appearance at the 2019 Olympics.
The failure of the Korean team to advance to the finals and the loss of the women's volleyball team in the preliminaries are believed to have had an impact on the ratings. Baseball is not included in the events scheduled for the Paris Olympics.
Furthermore, Naver, which started live online broadcasting during the Tokyo Olympics, has also given up on securing broadcasting rights.
Kakao is also not broadcasting the tournament. Naver and Daum have only set up special pages for the Paris Olympics, offering only the game schedule, replays, and supportive message functions.
In addition, at the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics, the South Korean delegation was introduced as North Korea and the Olympic flag was hoisted upside down, resulting in a series of unbelievable mistakes that drew international criticism.
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