Geopolitical tensions also dogged the Olympics. China tried to scrub the Games of political overtones using bots and fake accounts. And concern about the welfare of the Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai, who last year accused a political official of sexual abuse, threatened to overshadow the Games.
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“The Olympics brand is really struggling. A lot of people don’t feel that emotional connection anymore,” said Tang Tang, a media professor at Kent State University who has studied the Olympics.
The Beijing Olympics lacked the kind of powerhouse narrative that turned the American swimmer Michael Phelps and his eight gold medals into must-watch TV in 2008. One of the breakout stars of this year’s Games, the Chinese American skier Eileen Gu, competed for China rather than the United States. And players in the National Hockey League didn’t participate.
“Audiences watch the Olympics for the stories. They need that superhero story, that star quality,” Professor Tang said. “They don’t really see the Olympics as a true sporting event, but rather as something more personal.”
In 2014, NBC Universal bought the American rights to air the Olympics through 2032 for $7.75 billion. But the Beijing Games, and those in Tokyo six months earlier, were logistically challenging. The Tokyo Olympics drew the smallest audience since NBCUniversal began covering the Summer Games in 1988.