2024 Olympic Games: Audience Analysis and Ratings in Colombia

The 2024 Olympic Games stood out as an event of great importance in both the sports and media fields, especially in Colombia. Three main channels, RCN, Caracol and Claro Sports, were in charge of the broadcast, managing to capture the attention of thousands of viewers. During the days of competition, these channels reached a total of 1,724,712 Colombian households, representing 65.93% of the country's households, generating significant rating data that reflects the notable interest of the audience on each day.

The RCN channel showed fluctuating performance during the broadcast of the Olympic Games, with ratings ranging from 0.50 (13,583 households) to 1.04 (27,398 households) on different days and a reach of 40% (1,057,375 households) of Colombian households that connected to watch the Olympics from RCN. The most notable day for RCN was July 31, 2024, when it reached a rating of 1.04, demonstrating a strong peak in interest from viewers. However, there were also days when the rating was considerably lower, reaching 0.50 on August 1, suggesting variability in public preference.

Regarding regional distribution, the greatest interest in RCN came from the Central and Pacific regions, with average ratings of 0.82 and 0.73, respectively, throughout the days of broadcast. Socioeconomic strata 6 and 5 made up the majority of the audience, with average ratings of 0.94 and 0.92, respectively. In addition, there was a slight bias towards the female audience, possibly due to the broadcast of sporting events of greater interest to this group, with a distribution of the total reach of RCN broadcasts of 39% for men and 61% for women.

On the other hand, Caracol had a higher ratings performance compared to RCN, with figures that varied between 0.92 (24,128 homes) and 3.82 (100,215 homes) and a reach of 61.2% (1,600,740 homes) of Colombian households that connected to watch the Olympics from the Caracol Channel. Caracol's highest point was on July 25, 2024, with an impressive 3.82 for the Colombia vs France women's soccer match, which positions it as the channel preferred by the audience during that day of the Games. Despite some days with lower ratings, such as 0.92 (also on August 1), Caracol maintained a solid trend in terms of audience, reflecting its ability to attract a large number of viewers during the event.

Caracol's good performance was also influenced by coverage in the Central and Coffee regions of the country, where this channel has a strong presence with average ratings for all broadcasts of 1.53 (18,700 homes) and 1.43 (2,262 homes) respectively. In terms of socioeconomic status, Caracol captured a more diverse audience, with a greater reach in strata 4, 5 and 6, followed by 3 and 2 with ratings of 1.67, 1.63, 1.53, 1.51 and 1.35 in that order. The audience's gender was balanced, with a slight female preponderance, with 60% of the reach distributed among women and 40% among men.

Finally, Claro Sports had a remarkable performance during the 2024 Olympic Games, standing out among the channels that broadcast the event thanks to its 24/7 coverage, which extended through four dedicated channels: Claro Sports, Claro Sports 2, Claro Sports 3 and Claro Sports 4, achieving a total reach of 163,637 Colombian households, representing 6.2% of the global reach of the Games. Its ratings reflect a sustained and growing interest, reaching important peaks in the final days of the Games. The day with the highest rating was August 10, 2024, with an impressive 0.85 (22,352 households), and the day with the lowest rating was July 25 with 0.13 (3,522 households). These values ​​demonstrate that Claro Sports managed to capture a significant audience, especially in the final stages of the Games.

Claro Sports' audience showed a strong presence in strata 5 and 6, where it obtained ratings of 0.85 and 0.83 respectively. Regionally, Claro Sports' largest audience was concentrated in the Centro region, with a rating of 0.58, suggesting a particular affinity of this area with the detailed and continuous coverage offered by Claro's four channels. Antioquia 0.49 and the Cafetera region 0.51 also showed considerable interest. In terms of gender, Claro Sports' audience was mostly male with a distribution of 76% for men and 24% for women in its reach.

In summary, Caracol led in terms of ratings during the 2024 Olympic Games, followed by RCN, which had a moderate performance with notable peaks, especially on July 24. Claro Sports, on the other hand, captured a smaller audience, which shows differences in public preference and perhaps in the programming and coverage strategies of each channel. Each channel had its strong point in different regions of the country and in different segments of the population, which reflects the diversity of interests and preferences in the Colombian public.

National Consulting Center Team