Millions of viewers within the US are Tuning on the Summer Olympics in Paris – and plenty of of them get a giant dose of Snoop Dogg as a part of the experience.
Starting with the opening ceremony, the five-day average viewership was 34 million, combining daytime and primetime coverage, up 79% from the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, in keeping with a report by NBC Sports. release.
Executives of ComcastNBCUniversal – the TV and streaming broadcaster of the games within the USA – has praised not only the success of its production, but additionally that of the celebrities and personalities who were hired for the coverage, most notably Snoop Dogg.
The hip-hop artist turned sports commentator and entertainer was on the sidelines on the Paris Games, talking to athletes and their families, trying out sports with Olympic stars and trying his hand at evaluation.
Molly Solomon, NBC's executive producer of the Olympics, called Snoop Dogg an “ambassador of happiness” during a press conference this week.
“We were pleasantly surprised by his popularity, but you can never underestimate Snoop Dogg,” Solomon said, praising his “wonderful mix of confidence and positivity. His charisma and charisma are just so positive.”
Snoop Dogg, the joined the Olympic torch relay, has caused considerable excitement on social media – from clips of him cheering alongside the families of the Olympians to take quite a few selfies with athletes and spectators, including tennis legend Billie Jean King.
He has created several viral moments, including when he cheered alongside the wife and young son of US swimmer Caeleb Dressel as Team USA won its first gold medal and Dancing in the gang because the U.S. women's gymnastics team responded from the mat.
His swimming lesson Olympic legend Michael Phelps also circulated on the Internet.
“The first time I saw him on the Olympic broadcasts was at the track and field qualifying competitions in June,” said Krissy Birdsall, a student on the University of Wisconsin-Madison, adding that she saw more of the Games in Paris due to the convenient time difference. “He was quite entertaining. And he brought a different perspective to the world of track and field.”
Excited audience
In recent years, NBCUniversal has relied on the success of the Olympic Games in Paris and on Snoop Dogg.
The rapper, once known for hits like “Gin and Juice,” made his first appearance on the 2021 Olympics, hosting a highlights show with comedian Kevin Hart on Peacock. Although viewership of the Tokyo Games this yr was sparse and few live events aired on Peacock, their show captivated audiences and several other clips went viral.
“Snoop set the Olympic world on fire in Tokyo,” Solomon said in an interview with CNBC. The following yr, NBC executives met with Snoop Dogg to debate his future place within the Olympic broadcast, she said.
“He really wanted to go to the Olympic city and tell the story of the athletes,” Solomon said.
Solomon and “Primetime in Paris” host Mike Tirico spoke about Snoop Dogg’s work during a press conference in July before the Games, noting his early arrival before the opening ceremony and his relationships with the athletes.
Snoop Dogg, for his part, made his preparations sound a bit of simpler.
“My preparation for prime time is to be myself,” he said throughout the press conference, adding that he “gets into practice facilities with different teams. … I'm one of those guys who likes to get involved.”
Before the Games, Snoop Dogg was also present on the Olympic Trials this summer and has appeared at various venues since then. While Tirico, singer Kelly Clarkson and former National Football League star Peyton Manning presided over the opening ceremony, Snoop Dogg interviewed American athletes wearing the identical Ralph Lauren blazer as them.
“Snoop Dogg is one of those people who can completely transcend himself and be versatile,” said Kendall Wright, a student at Northwestern University.
He was decorated He wore USA gear, including an NBC jacket together with his name and T-shirts with the faces of star athletes equivalent to Coco Gauff and Kelly Cheng.
“It's a sporting event, but it's not the traditional crowd,” John Fortunato, a professor of communications and media management at Fordham University's Gabelli School of Business, said of the Olympics. “You see him at the different events and he has so much personality that he can put himself in the shoes of the crowd as a fan. That's his real appeal.”
Snoop Dogg is staying with NBC. Fans will see more of him on NBC and Peacock this fall when he returns as a trainer at “The voice.”
“I understand why Snoop Dogg and Alex Cooper were included in the Olympia program, especially because of the millennial and Generation X target audience,” says Jenna Mindes, a human resources skilled from Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey.
She is a big gymnastics fan and competed within the Olympic trials in Minneapolis this summer, but she was not thrilled about celebrities participating within the Olympics.
“I think in gymnastics, and maybe in lesser-known sports, big fans are kind of gatekeepers who take their sport very seriously … and when celebrities come into the conversation, it almost seems to dilute the sport,” she said.
There was “a lot more pop culture, celebrities and a lot more Snoop than ever before,” said Rick Cordella, president of NBC Sports, adding that this helped make the Paris Olympics more popular.
Meanwhile, the show “Gold Zone” on Peacock, which broadcasts several live sports concurrently and is hosted in the same format by Scott Hanson of “NFL Red Zone”, has develop into an enormous success, as has the watch-along show by Alex Cooper, the host of the podcast “Call Her Daddy”.
“We really took a different approach,” Cordella said of Peacock's Olympic strategy, which played a giant part in its viewership.
The success of the Paris Olympics follows the 2021 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, which had the bottom rankings ever, and the lesser-watched 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.
The Tokyo Olympics faced quite a few problems. They were postponed for a yr because of the Covid-19 pandemic; events were without family or fans in attendance; few or no events were available on the Peacock streaming service; and there was a major time difference for U.S. viewers.
According to NBC Sports, the Paris Olympics audience has been at its peak since July 26. The opening ceremony, which took place on the Seine, had 28.6 million viewers, in comparison with 17.9 million in Tokyo and 26.5 million on the 2016 Rio Games, making it the most-watched opening ceremony since London in 2012.
During a current interview Speaking to NBC Nightly News' Lester Holt, Snoop Dogg said he never thought “even in his wildest dreams” he would play the role, especially after watching the Olympics as a toddler.
“I’m the biggest kid in the crowd,” he told Holt about cheering on U.S. athletes on the Games.
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