2024 Olympics Earn Peacock the Gold With Gen Z
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Today, I want to talk about a topic that has recently taken up way too much of my streaming time — the 2024 Olympics. Plus, a look at Gen Zers’ shifting political ideology.
🥇 Peacock gets the gold 🥇
Look out Simone Biles, there’s a new star emerging from the 2024 Olympics: Peacock.
NBC has long been the destination for all things Olympics, but this year its streaming service, specifically its new “Gold Zone” offering, is being hailed as “addictive” and applauded by viewers on social media. It’s also translating to huge usage numbers for Peacock. According to NBC Sports, usage of Peacock for the Paris Olympics through just the first several days of the Games had already surpassed the combined total of the full Beijing and Tokyo Olympics. Paris streaming minutes are up 25% over those previous Games combined.
It also looks to be winning over a coveted consumer group: Gen Z, who have kept executives up at night over their relative lack of interest in sports.
2024 Olympics help boost Peacock among Gen Zers
Key brand metrics for Peacock are all up double digits among the digitally-native generation compared with July 2021, the month the 2020 Olympics premiered. For example, 56% of Gen Zers said Peacock was a “good value” in July 2024, a whopping 26 percentage point increase from July 2021.
“Gold Zone'' isn't the only feature that’s leading to a more engaged Gen Z audience. Peacock invested heavily in influencer partnerships, bringing on one of Gen Z’s favorite podcasters for its Olympic coverage, Alex Cooper. The “Call Her Daddy” host, and former college soccer player, is anchoring a live-streamed show on Peacock called "Watch with Alex Cooper.” If Peacock continues to deliver a high quality product with media personalities beloved by the generation, it's sure to secure Gen Z viewership well beyond the 2024 Olympics.
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▶️ For more streaming trends, check out our media and entertainment tracker here.
🤔 Gen Z: The moderate generation? 🤔
Ahead of the 2024 presidential election, Gen Z’s political ideology looks to be moderating.
As of June 2024, Gen Z adults are nearly just as likely to identify as political moderates (27%) as the average U.S. adult (29%). That’s up six percentage points from the 21% of Gen Zers who said the same in January 2021. Simultaneously, the share of liberal-identifying Gen Z adults dropped from 41% to 29%, and the share of self-described conservatives grew from 16% to 21%.
Gen Z Adults Are Getting More Moderate
It’s very likely that liberal identification among Gen Z adults experienced a surge in early 2021 in the wake of the January 6th insurrection and President Biden’s inauguration. Even so, it continued to decline well after that news cycle had moved on.
The bottom line is this: More and more Gen Zers are moving toward the political middle, at the most detriment to liberalism. And while the chart above shows data collected among all Gen Z adults, this trend also holds true for Gen Zers who are registered to vote.
▶️ For more data on Gen Z’s political ideology, read our latest memo here. And if you’re interested in learning more about our Morning Consult Intelligence platform, email [email protected].
What Else We’re Reading
Gen Z loves making Kamala Harris memes. Will they vote? (Vox)
The Cities Where 20-Somethings Are Still Getting Hired (The Wall Street Journal)
Gen Z is going sober—and powering the $565 million NA industry (Fortune)
Gen Z Loves Pistachios—Why More Brands Should Embrace This Health And Wellness Trend (Ad Age)
Income gap between white and Black Americans narrower for millennials than Gen X, study finds (PBS News)
Traveling Millennials, Gen Zers Are Cruise Industry’s Best Hope (Bloomberg)
Panera Is Giving Out Free Avocado Toast on National Avocado Day: ‘Toast, Don’t Roast, Millennials’ (People)
Coming Up
8/7 Report: The Middle-Income Consumer. In this report, we’ll take a look at where middle-income consumers break the predictable patterns with their high- and low-income counterparts.
8/14 Report: Earning Restaurant Loyalty. In this report, we identify the key drivers of loyalty outcomes for restaurants and beyond.
Nicki Zink is deputy head of Industry Analysis. Her team identifies trends affecting key demographics across food & beverage, travel & hospitality and financial services. Prior to joining Morning Consult, Nicki served as the head of digital intelligence at Purple Strategies, a corporate reputation and strategy firm. She graduated from Miami University with a bachelor’s degree in mass communication. For speaking opportunities and booking requests, please email [email protected].
