A U.S. Medal Agenda? Clock-Time and Salience Analyses of Biological Sex Representation in the 2020 and 2022 NBC Olympic Telecasts

Abstract

This report examines how the National Broadcasting Company’s (NBC’s) primetime telecasts of the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympic Games and the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games presented male and female athletes. Clock-time analyses (of how much time each sporting event was featured in primetime) and salience analyses (of the most mentioned athletes by NBC employees) are reported. Results show that women received the majority of clock-time and name mentions during both Olympiads, a further continuation of NBC’s most recent Olympic broadcast practices, which appears to continue to be driven by American women winning the majority of the United States’ medals during both the Summer and Winter Games.