Why Tokyo 2020 is changing the way we watch TV | ticker VIEWS

When it comes to how much interest we all had in the Olympics there were two arguments

Some said all the controversy would turn people away, while others believed we needed to the entertainment now more than ever.

Viewership and consumption of the olympics is down from Rio 2016, but in Australia, channel 7 hit a new streaming record.

Olympics TikTok is one of the best parts of the games, and it’s where younger viewers are consuming their olympic content.

Why have our viewing habits changed since Rio 2016?

Cole says event based television was one of the last happenings to be supported by ad based television.

“So if you look at the last sort of five years between the last Olympics and this one, consumer behaviour has changed dramatically,” he says.

Cole says that people who are late teens and early 20’s age group, well, they were 13, 14, 15, when the last Olympics were on, so their behaviours are just inherently different.

We’ve seen the change across all major live events

In other words, Superbowl viewership is down, the Grammys viewers were really down.

“So event based television right across the globe is struggling,”

Cole said.

“I think one of the things that we sort of underestimated coming into the Olympics was there was so much news around around the actual happening of the games, how would they happen? What would they look like fans, no fans, all these sorts of things.”

What we miss was the usual path into Olympic Games, we highlight the individuals, and we get to know the athletes and we get to know the backstory of the athletes.

“Well, I think what’s happening now is we’re finding that out as the events happening. So you know, everyone tuned in to watch Jess Fox Win win a gold medal,” Cole says.

“And we knew her backstory, and not just, you know, the athlete she is but the amount of work she’s done for gender equality in her sport, and really been a pioneer of that. Now we know that backstory, and we can really sort of get behind her and the work that she’s doing.”

Olympics tiktok dominating viewership and helping to humanise the athletes

In the virtual world of youtube vlogs, instagram reels and tiktok, showing daily routines online is pretty normal… but this concept is a first for the 125 year old olympic games.

There may be no spectators, but we have a front row view – in fact, it’s better than that – somewhere not even the major broadcasters or IOC officials have access.

That would be the athletes bedrooms…

Athletes are showing posting behind-the-scenes vignettes that showcase the Olympic Village on tik-tok.

This is an entirely new and fascinating experience for the home viewer.

When the athletes are at the Olympics, they’ve got social media guidelines, and challenges from broadcasters.

“As the challenge of the broadcasters, they’ve got to see so many sports, and you’ve got to deliver it seamlessly, and educate people on sports, we only see every four years. So that’s a real challenge in itself.”

Front row view into athletes village broadcasters can’t reach

Social media is allowing us to see into the incredible lives of athletes, which we’ve never had before.

“Tiktok is a perfect vehicle for the athletes themselves to show their personalities.”

“Tiktok is an access point to fans, we now get a really small view into the life of an athlete of an Olympic athlete, which 99 per cent of us will never ever get to be, so we can experience this very authentic view of what the what the Olympic Village is and the the Olympic athletes experiences,” Cole says.

“Without the shiny lights and all the choreograph theatrics that Olympic Games has, this is the real stuff.”

Cole says there was some really great content produced by the US women’s sevens rugby side, where they tested out the cardboard beds, and they would pretend to be WWE athletes, they would pretend to wrestle on all these sorts of things, great content.

“So platforms like TikTok, you walk around and you see what the opening ceremony is like for an athlete from an athlete’s point of view. All of this sort of stuff is fantastic,” Cole says.

Are athletes getting themselves into hot water posting tiktoks?

There are some do’s and don’t’s when it comes to posts on social media to avoid getting slapped with a lawsuit from the IOC or USOP.

“For starters, individuals referring to the Olympics for non-commercial purposes is okay. But as more athletes have become influencers or brand ambassadors on social media, there are nuances to promotion of the Olympics and branding that should be carefully observed,” Tiffany Shimada, partner at the international law firm Dorsey & Whitney said.

For example, under the General Guidelines for the Tokyo Olympic games, use of URL, social media, or hashtags on any items worn during the Olympic games is strictly forbidden

“There are still many creative ways to promote brands during the Olympics, but they must align with the IOC and USOPC’s rules and guidelines,” Shimada says.

How will the athletes maintain popularity and become media properties?

How that translates post Olympics for those who do well and win a medal at the Olympics, will be the next question.

Despite the blow up of athlete life and behind the scene content on social media, people still rely on the games itself via broadcast networks

“New viewing records are being set on a daily basis which is great news for our partners, sponsors and dynamic packages. Marketers have well and truly embraced Tokyo 2020 and now that the Games have started, we’re seeing record results with brands capitalising with short-term broadcast and digital investment,” Seven West Media chief revenue officer and director of Olympics, Kurt Burnette, said.

Channel 7 Olympics audience numbers have exceeded its forecasts on every level, including 2.3 million reach on streaming platform, 7plus alone

“I think one of the things that we have to be mindful of is Sydney being in lockdown Melbourne being in lockdown for the first part of the Olympics,” Cole says.

“It’s really helped. You know a lot of people got the Olympics on in the background where they’re trying to work from home, teach from home and do all the other bits and pieces while in lockdown,

“So I think Channel Seven has done a really good job of producing a product that’s suitable for the viewership and the experience that you’re looking to create. I think there’s some tailwind to the lockdown that are helping those numbers as well.”