Study: Female athletes earned record-high ratio of NBC’s primetime Olympic coverage, but inequities remain

August 12, 2021

The Tokyo Olympics were a milestone moment for the women of Team USA. They made up nearly 54% of the team and won 58.4% of the medals, including 23 golds.

They also set a record on television screens, taking up 59.1% of NBC’s primetime coverage of the Games .

It is the highest percentage of time that athletes in women’s sports have ever received on NBC’s Olympic broadcasts, breaking the previous high of approximately 55% set at the 2012 Olympics in London. This was the third consecutive Summer Games where women’s sports garnered more primetime space than men’s.

A study from three communications professors reported that this was also the first time since the group began its research in 1996 that every sporting discipline was highlighted at some point during a primetime Summer Olympic broadcast, including the five new events added to the Tokyo Games. USA Today