How the Olympics played out on YouTube

When we started preparing for the Olympics last year, we prioritized two things: giving you a front-row experience, and serving you video at the best quality possible. You responded in a huge way:

Around the world
  • Giving more people access to watch live and recorded events was key. Across the US and 64 countries in Africa and Asia you watched 231 million total streams. Of those, 72 million total streams came from IOC YouTube Channel.
  • At peak, YouTube delivered video for more than half a million livestreams at the same time. That’s 5X the capacity of Wembley Stadium.
  • Live video looked better than ever before, with a 7X improvement in quality based on low buffering and high frame rates.
In the U.S.
  • We powered online coverage for NBCOlympics.com, delivering more than 159 million total streams.
  • Through NBC’s native apps, 37 percent of views came from mobile devices, and more than half were in HD.
  • The U.S. Olympic Committee YouTube Channel shared behind the scenes video with more than 6.75 million views, and 50 YouTube Creators “Invaded” London to show the full experience through their eyes.


We hope you enjoyed the Games on YouTube and across Google, and thanks for tuning in.

The YouTube team

U.S. Olympic Team rolls out new channel on YouTube

In just over a month the Summer Olympics will kick-off in London with thousands of athletes competing for their countries to bring home the gold. While the world will watch the summer games, YouTube will bring a new dimension to the competition.

Today, the USOC is launching their TeamUSA channel on YouTube that will give fans all over the world an inside look into the lives of Olympic and Paralympic athletes’ as they train and prepare for one of the world’s most prestigious sporting events.

At TeamUSA on YouTube, you'll be able to:

  • Follow 17 Olympic/Paralympic athletes on their way to potentially making the 2012 Olympic Games in Qualified and the 2012 Paralympic Games Returning Veterans: London Bound
  • Learn from Olympic coaches and athletes in Olympic Coaching Tips
  • Relive past Olympic memories with Olympians and the Olympic footage with Gold Medal Moments

Tommy O'Hare, YouTube Sports content partnerships manager, recently watched “Maya Moore: Qualified First Look.”

The IOC to show live coverage of the London 2012 Olympic Games on YouTube in Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa

This summer, from July 27 to August 12, the world will turn their attention to London to watch the daily trials and triumphs of the greatest living athletes at the Summer Olympic Games. Today, we’re excited to announce that millions of Olympic fans from across 64 territories in Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa will have a chance to watch the games live from London on the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) YouTube Channel at www.youtube.com/olympic.

In total, the IOC’s YouTube Channel will offer fans in these countries over 2,200 hours of high-definition sporting event coverage from London 2012, including all the medal finals.

People in countries including Singapore, India, Malaysia, Nigeria, Uganda, and Kenya (full list here), can tune in to the IOC channel on their desktop, tablet, or mobile device enjoy live coverage of the events as well as highlight clips free-of-charge. The IOC channel will have 10 HD live-feeds from the Games, running from 9am to 11pm London time, plus a 24-hour broadcast of the Olympic News Channel. There will also be highlight reels and full videos of events after they’ve finished — all organized by the day, medal event, or the sport.

For those not in these particular countries, you can already watch historic clips from past Games on the IOC channel and teasers from London on the London 2012 YouTube Channel. Hopefully, these will hold you over until the triumphant entrance of the athletes at the Opening Ceremony on July 27.

Tommy O’Hare, sports content partnerships manager, recently watched TK,
Flying Finn Ritola signs off with fifth gold - Amsterdam 1928 Olympic Games.”