Report: There Were Actually Fewer Olympics Ads Opening Night

So much for all the complaining about commercial overload during the opening ceremony of the Rio Olympics.

Surprise: The number of advertisements was actually down from the 2012 London Olympics.

According to The Wall Street Journal, during Friday night’s opening ceremony of the Games, viewers took to social media to voice their anti-advertising sentiments as many felt the broadcast was inundated with more ads than Olympians.

But according to ad tracker Kantar Media, the opening ceremony at the 2012 Summer Games had 72 advertisements—including paid ads and NBC promotions—within the 4 1/2 hours of television coverage. That means viewers watched 41 minutes and 30 seconds of commercials during that time.

This year’s opening ceremony had 19% less ad time during the initial 4 ½ hours of coverage, according to Kantar Media. During that time, there were 54 ad spots, adding up to 33 minutes and 45 seconds of commercials. The opening ceremony ran half an hour longer this year, with an additional two NBC promos during the final half hour, according to Kantar Media.

So why were so many viewers upset about the volume of ads if, in fact, there were fewer? NBCUniversal’s argument is that consumers are less tolerant of ads generally than they were four years ago, when binge-watching shows on ad-free streaming services wasn’t as commonplace.