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Olympics 2012: NBC's 5 Biggest Lessons From London
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TMC
Aug 8, 2012, 8:36:08 PM8/8/12
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http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/olympics-2012-nbc-biggest-lessons-london-359254
Twitter venom and tape-delay gaffes mean little as record ratings and
surprising digital numbers power Games success.
The games of the 30th Olympiad have been a study in opposites: In
online chatter, NBC is being ripped for tape-delayed TV coverage and a
series of perceived errors. Yet ratings are setting records, allowing
NBCUniversal CEO Steve Burke to declare that the company's $1.2
billion investment in the Games might actually break even compared
with an anticipated $200 million loss. THR analyzes the five biggest
takeaways from NBCU's coverage.
1. TWITTER IS FOR HATERS
The London Olympics are the first all tape-delayed primetime Summer
Games of the social-media age. And in the Twitter echo chamber, where
snark and derision are currency, unfettered opinionating has created a
narrative of unforgivable gaffes and disaffection with NBC's coverage.
According to Powell Tate's PoliPulse -- a dashboard of real-time
social-media conversations -- the majority of the conversations were
negative, with 48 percent of users unhappy with NBC's editing and
spoilers. (The network ran a Today promo July 31 showing Missy
Franklin with her gold medal for the 100-meter backstroke minutes
before that race aired during primetime on the East Coast.) Meanwhile,
only 15 percent of viewers appreciate that NBC is live-streaming most
events online, according to PoliPulse.
2. GAFFES WILL GO VIRAL
Twitter may be for haters, but it also has brought mistakes into the
mainstream: the spoiled Franklin victory; an insensitive promo
featuring Crystal the Animal Practice monkey on the still rings coming
out of Bob Costas' stirring recap of Gabby Douglas becoming the first
African-American woman to win the all-around gymnastics gold medal;
and a July 29 interview with gymnast Aly Raisman, who had just
qualified for the women's all-around field at the expense of teammate
Jordyn Wieber, who was seen sobbing in the background. These missteps
have been pounced on in the Twitter-verse and in turn have become
international news stories.
3. IF YOU LIVE-STREAM IT, THEY WILL COME
In the first nine days of the Games, nearly 8 million users signed up
for NBC's live-streaming service, and there were 7.1 million downloads
of the company's Olympic apps -- NBC Olympics and NBC Olympics Live
Extra -- the most downloads for any single TV event. Also in the first
nine days, NBC notched 102.6 million video streams, surpassing the
75.5 million total streams for the entire 2008 Beijing Olympics. The
takeaway: Viewer migration online is real, and it's being driven by
big must-see events like the Olympics.
4. SPORTS IS CANNIBALIZATION-PROOF
A pledge by NBC Sports chairman Mark Lazarus to show all events live
either online or on TV raised initial concerns that it would depress
viewership for NBC's highly lucrative primetime presentation, which
because of the five-hour time difference between London and the East
Coast had to be entirely tape-delayed. But the 2012 Games finally
could put the cannibalization argument to rest -- at least when it
comes to sports. For the first nine days, the Games averaged 33.9
million viewers a night on NBC, steamrolling all competition and
becoming the most-watched of any non-U.S. Summer Olympics since the
1976 Montreal Games, when there were only three network broadcast
channels and no such thing as the Internet. Importantly, London is
beating tune-in for Beijing -- where many events were shown live in
primetime -- by double digits.
5. NUMBERS DON'T LIE
For all the complaints about inevitable mistakes and that tape-delayed
primetime coverage, Americans still love watching the Olympics. The
July 27 Opening Ceremony was watched by 40.7 million viewers, topping
tune-in for the 1996 Atlanta Games (39.8 million) and the Beijing
Games (34.9 million) to become the most-watched Summer Olympics
Opening Ceremony in history. And the biggest night of competition to
date -- July 30, when the U.S. women's gymnastics team captured the
all-around gold medal and 17-year-old Franklin won her first of four
gold medals -- was watched by 38.7 million viewers, many of whom
already knew who was going to be atop the medal stand. As NBC Olympics
executive producer Jim Bell told The Hollywood Reporter, "The numbers
speak for themselves."
Checking Out Some Wednesday Linkage:
http://fangsbites.com/2012/08/checking-out-some-wednesday-linkage/
Twitter venom and tape-delay gaffes mean little as record ratings and
surprising digital numbers power Games success.
The games of the 30th Olympiad have been a study in opposites: In
online chatter, NBC is being ripped for tape-delayed TV coverage and a
series of perceived errors. Yet ratings are setting records, allowing
NBCUniversal CEO Steve Burke to declare that the company's $1.2
billion investment in the Games might actually break even compared
with an anticipated $200 million loss. THR analyzes the five biggest
takeaways from NBCU's coverage.
1. TWITTER IS FOR HATERS
The London Olympics are the first all tape-delayed primetime Summer
Games of the social-media age. And in the Twitter echo chamber, where
snark and derision are currency, unfettered opinionating has created a
narrative of unforgivable gaffes and disaffection with NBC's coverage.
According to Powell Tate's PoliPulse -- a dashboard of real-time
social-media conversations -- the majority of the conversations were
negative, with 48 percent of users unhappy with NBC's editing and
spoilers. (The network ran a Today promo July 31 showing Missy
Franklin with her gold medal for the 100-meter backstroke minutes
before that race aired during primetime on the East Coast.) Meanwhile,
only 15 percent of viewers appreciate that NBC is live-streaming most
events online, according to PoliPulse.
2. GAFFES WILL GO VIRAL
Twitter may be for haters, but it also has brought mistakes into the
mainstream: the spoiled Franklin victory; an insensitive promo
featuring Crystal the Animal Practice monkey on the still rings coming
out of Bob Costas' stirring recap of Gabby Douglas becoming the first
African-American woman to win the all-around gymnastics gold medal;
and a July 29 interview with gymnast Aly Raisman, who had just
qualified for the women's all-around field at the expense of teammate
Jordyn Wieber, who was seen sobbing in the background. These missteps
have been pounced on in the Twitter-verse and in turn have become
international news stories.
3. IF YOU LIVE-STREAM IT, THEY WILL COME
In the first nine days of the Games, nearly 8 million users signed up
for NBC's live-streaming service, and there were 7.1 million downloads
of the company's Olympic apps -- NBC Olympics and NBC Olympics Live
Extra -- the most downloads for any single TV event. Also in the first
nine days, NBC notched 102.6 million video streams, surpassing the
75.5 million total streams for the entire 2008 Beijing Olympics. The
takeaway: Viewer migration online is real, and it's being driven by
big must-see events like the Olympics.
4. SPORTS IS CANNIBALIZATION-PROOF
A pledge by NBC Sports chairman Mark Lazarus to show all events live
either online or on TV raised initial concerns that it would depress
viewership for NBC's highly lucrative primetime presentation, which
because of the five-hour time difference between London and the East
Coast had to be entirely tape-delayed. But the 2012 Games finally
could put the cannibalization argument to rest -- at least when it
comes to sports. For the first nine days, the Games averaged 33.9
million viewers a night on NBC, steamrolling all competition and
becoming the most-watched of any non-U.S. Summer Olympics since the
1976 Montreal Games, when there were only three network broadcast
channels and no such thing as the Internet. Importantly, London is
beating tune-in for Beijing -- where many events were shown live in
primetime -- by double digits.
5. NUMBERS DON'T LIE
For all the complaints about inevitable mistakes and that tape-delayed
primetime coverage, Americans still love watching the Olympics. The
July 27 Opening Ceremony was watched by 40.7 million viewers, topping
tune-in for the 1996 Atlanta Games (39.8 million) and the Beijing
Games (34.9 million) to become the most-watched Summer Olympics
Opening Ceremony in history. And the biggest night of competition to
date -- July 30, when the U.S. women's gymnastics team captured the
all-around gold medal and 17-year-old Franklin won her first of four
gold medals -- was watched by 38.7 million viewers, many of whom
already knew who was going to be atop the medal stand. As NBC Olympics
executive producer Jim Bell told The Hollywood Reporter, "The numbers
speak for themselves."
Checking Out Some Wednesday Linkage:
http://fangsbites.com/2012/08/checking-out-some-wednesday-linkage/
Duncan Heenan
Aug 9, 2012, 4:04:31 AM8/9/12
to
The ususal mantra from Olympic medal winners is that they want to 'inspire a
generation'. Their example would suggest that the aspirations they are
promoting are to become millionaire celebrities, rather than doing sport for
its own sake. If we really want to inspire a generation, I suggest the media
give more coverage to those who take part without winning, and return to
proper jobs afterwards, thrilled by the experience and not feeling that they
have 'lost' by not taking away a gold medal. One of the lessons of sport
should be to help us to enjoy the processes of life in all its aspects, and
not just the measurable outcomes.
--
Duncan Heenan
generation'. Their example would suggest that the aspirations they are
promoting are to become millionaire celebrities, rather than doing sport for
its own sake. If we really want to inspire a generation, I suggest the media
give more coverage to those who take part without winning, and return to
proper jobs afterwards, thrilled by the experience and not feeling that they
have 'lost' by not taking away a gold medal. One of the lessons of sport
should be to help us to enjoy the processes of life in all its aspects, and
not just the measurable outcomes.
--
Duncan Heenan
Jim G.
Aug 10, 2012, 3:35:12 PM8/10/12
to
TMC sent the following on Wed, 8 Aug 2012 17:36:08 -0700 (PDT):
a broadcasting monopoly speaks for itself, as well.
--
Jim G. | Waukesha, WI
"You will create an evil of your own making." -- Knights Templar Grandmaster Data
> As NBC Olympics
> executive producer Jim Bell told The Hollywood Reporter, "The numbers
> speak for themselves."
And as this world-class liar or world-class idiot (or both) should know,
> executive producer Jim Bell told The Hollywood Reporter, "The numbers
> speak for themselves."
a broadcasting monopoly speaks for itself, as well.
--
Jim G. | Waukesha, WI
"You will create an evil of your own making." -- Knights Templar Grandmaster Data
simonwhite
Sep 21, 2012, 7:14:09 AM9/21/12
to
Jim G.;631986 Wrote:
> TMC sent the following on Wed, 8 Aug 2012 17:36:08 -0700 (PDT):-
> As NBC Olympics
> executive producer Jim Bell told The Hollywood Reporter, "The numbers
> speak for themselves."-
> executive producer Jim Bell told The Hollywood Reporter, "The numbers
>
> And as this world-class liar or world-class idiot (or both) should
> know,
> a broadcasting monopoly speaks for itself, as well.
>
> --
> Jim G. | Waukesha, WI
> "You will create an evil of your own making." -- Knights Templar
> Grandmaster Data
thanks for this links
> And as this world-class liar or world-class idiot (or both) should
> know,
> a broadcasting monopoly speaks for itself, as well.
>
> --
> Jim G. | Waukesha, WI
> "You will create an evil of your own making." -- Knights Templar
> Grandmaster Data
--
simonwhite
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