The Olympic Channel has celebrated it’s fourth anniversary with the release of data showing just how much it has grown since being launched after the Rio Olympic Games in 2016.

Since then it has produced more than 25,000 pieces of video content representing all Olympic sports disciplines and 206 countries.  The content has included 76 original series and films, resulting in more than 3.3 billion video views across all platforms.

The average watch time on the platform is 8:05 minutes per video watched.

The digital platform keeps users coming back, with a 65 per cent increase over the previous 12 months in monthly returning users (MRUs), one of the key metrics for the long-term success of the Olympic Channel.

On social media, the Olympic Channel community has grown to more than 10.4 million, with 74.9 per cent of those engaging with content on social media under the age of 35.

In 2020 before the global lockdown, the Olympic Channel was a worldwide digital rights holder, which ensured global coverage for the Winter Youth Olympic Games for the first time and led to the event being the most digitally consumed Winter Games to date.

The channel has worked with Worldwide Olympic Partners to co-create multimedia programming, including Olympic State of Mind presented by Bridgestone and What Moves Me presented by Toyota, which further associates their brands with the Olympics and ultimately helps to reach wider audiences worldwide.

“Engaging fans with a deeper and more immersive digital experience by serving more relevant content is a key area of growth for us,” said Mark Parkman, General Manager of the Olympic Channel.

“The past several months have brought unprecedented challenges to our industry and organisation. But our ability to continue to grow during the COVID-19 pandemic is a testament to the global appetite for inspiring, entertaining and compelling stories featuring Olympic sports and athletes and the tireless efforts of our entire team to engage fans with the Olympic values.”

The Olympic Channel global digital platform is subscription-free and currently available worldwide in 12 languages at olympicchannel.com and on its apps for mobile and connected TV devices.

As a glimpse into the future of how rights holder controlled media might look in time it could be said to present a pretty high definition picture.