A recent Morning Consult poll showed that coverage of the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing may attract fewer viewers than last year's Summer Games in Tokyo.
Among U.S. adults who are not watching this year's Olympics, 40% said skepticism of the Chinese Communist Party and their alleged human rights abuses was the primary reason.
''Forty percent of those who don’t intend to watch pointed to China hosting the Games as a reason for tuning out, including 31 percent who cited it as a 'major' reason,'' Morning Consult said. ''Among Republicans who said they don't expect to watch, 56 percent pointed to China as a reason, versus 28 percent among Democrats who don't plan to watch.''
The poll showed, however, that China was not the only reason for a drop in viewership caused primarily by Republicans. The Tokyo Games also had a more robust registered independent and Democratic viewership.
''Data collected during the Tokyo Games suggested that Democrats were significantly more likely to watch the Olympics than independents or Republicans. New data suggests the same partisan split will carry over to Beijing,'' the polling group reported.
''Fifty-seven percent of Democrats said they plan to watch at least some of the Beijing Games, compared with 40 percent of Republicans and 35 percent of independents.''
In total, 45% of respondents said they planned to watch the Winter Olympics, down from 51% ahead of the Tokyo Games in July 2021.
The poll took place Jan. 25-27 among a representative sample of 2,210 U.S. adults.
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