Illustration by Anya Chytrowski
23 years ago, Nancy Kerrigan, a figure skater, was violently attacked with a metal club just weeks before she took the ice at the Lillehammer Winter Olympic Games. The media frenzy and controversy that followed was a suspected contributor to why that Olympics got the highest ratings in recent Olympic history.
Fast forward to today with the PyeongChang Olympics right around the corner, and NBC is not optimistic about a boost in American viewers and ratings.
Over the past seven Olympics, the Winter Olympic Games’ numbers have dropped steadily. The last Winter Olympic games in Sochi got the lowest household rating ever, a mere 5.5 out of 20. If the patterns continue, PyeongChang will see frustratingly low numbers.
The reasons for this decline in viewership and ratings are difficult to pinpoint. As streaming services have become people’s go-to television source, given the choice between watching the Olympics and their favorite show, more and more people are choosing the latter. Consequently, primetime TV viewership has taken a hit.
The Summer Games are also traditionally more popular because of the wider variety of events and viewers’ increased ability to relate to the sports offered. The 2016 Summer Games lost momentum, however, possibly due to the state of American politics. In 2016, news shows saw higher viewer numbers while cable TV saw a decline in viewers. As the election approached, people watching TV programs, most of them were watching the news.
Finally, it may be that the United States (US) has gotten too good at winning. No longer is there doubt that the US will dominate the Olympics. The US has won gold at every Olympics, and has the most gold and overall medals of any country at the Summer Games. Our women’s basketball team hasn’t lost since 1992, and since the Soviet Union dissolved, the only countries to rival the US when it comes to medal counts are Great Britain, China, and Norway, the latter only at Winter Games. As Americans have come to expect their country’s dominance, American medals are met with entitlement rather than delight.
This year, America will send the largest Winter Olympic team in history. It’s also the most diverse US team, with ten African Americans, eleven Asian Americans, and Adam Rippon, the first openly gay male athlete in US Winter Olympic history.
Growing up, Rippon didn’t feel represented in the media, so he pledged that if he ever got the chance, he would become a role model for children like his younger self. Rippon is one of the many Olympians expected to bring the US more gold medals, and hopefully more exciting moments to reawaken the dwindling Olympic spirit throughout America.