Unexpected. The group NBCUniversal, exclusive holder of the rights to the Games in the United States until 2032, announced at the end of last week its decision to stop its Olympic channel. Presented as the American counterpart to the IOC Olympic Channel, it was launched in 2017 in partnership with the American Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC). It will cease broadcast on the evening of September 30. The audiovisual group explained this via a spokesperson: “ In order to best reach our target audiences, we are re-evaluating with the IOC and the USOPC our distribution strategy for the content programming currently broadcast on Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA. We will announce our new strategy in the fall“. Six years before the Los Angeles 2028 Games, the group's decision NBCUniversal may come as a surprise, especially at a time when Salt Lake City is campaigning for the organization of the Winter Games in 2030 or 2034. But its Olympic channel is undoubtedly paying for the poor results of the Beijing 2022 Games, the least followed in history in the United States, with audience ratings down 40% compared to the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Games.
