| NBC Posts Low Olympic Ratings, |
|---|
By JOE FLINT
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
NBC's coverage of the Summer Olympic games from Sydney ended up being the lowest-rated in recent history, but still easily beat the competition during the network's 17-day coverage of the event.
Final numbers from Nielsen Media Research indicate that on average, 21.5 million viewers watched the 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. prime-time coverage of the games. That was down 35% from the 33.1 million who watched the 1996 games from Atlanta. Of course, games held in the U.S. tend to perform much better in the ratings. But ratings for Sydney were down 17% from the 1992 games in Barcelona and down 14% from the 1988 Seoul games, when the time difference posed similar problems.
NBC initially promised advertisers that the games would average at least a 16.1 household rating, but the General Electric Co. unit ended up delivering a 13.8. (Each rating point represents 1,022,000 homes.) Because of that, NBC had to offer advertisers additional commercials during the games to cover for the lower-than-expected ratings. In order to avoid packing the broadcast with commercials, NBC reduced the number of promotions for its fall lineup, a painful move for the network, as one of the biggest appeals of the Olympics is the platform it offers to market new shows.
In an effort to boost the ratings, NBC also took the unusual step of not airing any commercials on several nights during the low-rated first half-hour (7 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.) of coverage, because Nielsen doesn't start measuring a program until a commercial is shown.
Still, NBC executives said the network is pleased with the numbers, considering that the competition for viewers has grown intensely during the past 20 years and they were up against a huge time difference, which led them to show the games on tape delay in the U.S. Also, the games aired in September and October rather than July, when there are fewer choices and kids aren't busy with school. NBC, which paid $705 million for rights to the games, said it sold $900 million in gross advertising and expects to turn a slight profit even though the games underdelivered.
Comparisons to games before 1988 are hardly fair since cable television was then in its infancy. To compare ratings to anytime before 1980 also is difficult, because in those days there were only three broadcast networks and viewers had fewer choices, which just about guaranteed very high ratings for the games.
"We live in a changing television landscape, yet the Olympics remain the strongest television franchise in the U.S. and the world," NBC Sports Chairman Dick Ebersol said. The games also boosted NBC's cable networks MSNBC and CNBC, which saw large increases in ratings from coverage of the games.
The fall season also got under way this week. NBC's Monday comedies "Daddio" and "Tucker" posted disappointing ratings, but "Deadline," a new drama, had solid numbers, as did CBS's new comedy "Yes, Dear" and the premiere of its veteran show "Everybody Loves Raymond." Both NBC and Viacom Inc.'s CBS benefited in part from lower-than-usual ratings for the "Monday Night Football" match on Walt Disney Co.'s ABC. The game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Seattle Seahawks had limited national appeal.
Write to Joe Flint at [EMAIL PROTECTED]
