NBCUniversal, parent of the NBC broadcast channel and several cable networks, made a profit of roughly $120 million from the 2012 Olympics in London, the company previously said.
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RATINGS: NBC had its best night of the Rio Olympics on Tuesday, registering 33.4 million viewers for a broadcast that included live coverage of Phelps winning his 20th and 21st gold medals and the dominating performance of the USA women’s gymnastics team. This year’s NBC first Wednesday of the Summer Olympics fell 22% in viewers from those who tuned in for the August 9 broadcast.
Imagine that. And while the details behind how this could possibly have arrived through NBC’s 2016 Olympic might sound technical, the basics are easy.
Add that $30 million to the massive $1.2 billion booked prior to the Games, which Lazarus described as the most “economically successful in history”.
Viewership for NBC’s prime-time Summer Olympics coverage is down significantly from the record figures of four years ago but substantially ahead of the competition. Once again, many Americans are watching the Olympics. Keep in mind that if you use NBC Sport you can basically stream the Olympics on any device you may have, be it a Smart TV or a tablet or a smartphone – if it can stream then it will. “Our advertisers are happy”, Lazarus said. An estimated 38.7 million watched the corresponding night in London in 2012.
“There isn’t that pressure now to have to watch the entire Olympics live except if there’s a big event people are talking about”, Gold said.
While not a low for Rio, that’s down 21 % in the key demo from what the net’s primetime coverage of Day 5 of London 2012 pulled in.
Date Total Audience Delivery NBC-only viewership TAD Lift Sat. 8/6 23.5 million 20.6 million 14% Sun.
Viewership has met NBC’s expectations, “it’s just the mix is a little different”, he said.
“NBC has been advancing this paperback romance novel approach for many years now, tape-delaying and heavily packaging the Olympics with soft-focus stories”, Jenkins wrote.
“Finally, around 11 pm, NBC was nice enough to put on the main event”, Google Ventures partner MG Siegler said in a Medium post.
NBC’s streaming is available free, but only to cable or satellite TV subscribers.
“We’ve all grown up playing sports”, said Joanne Gerstner, who teaches sports journalism at Michigan State.
The digital numbers have been a bright spot for NBC during a time when traditional TV ratings have been disappointing , according to SportsBusiness Daily.
Further, digital viewing is being boosted through social media – not just organically but also via original content that NBC itself is creating with BuzzFeed and Snapchat.
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Defending Olympic beach volleyball champion Kerri Walsh Jennings and partner April Ross have played two matches so far at midnight Rio time, with a third to follow.
