‘I think it shows that NBC is very progressive compared to any other form of sports media, ‘ Prof Billings said.
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There’s been criticism of the media, including NBC, for commentary perceived as sexist during the Olympics.
Not surprisingly, NBC’s Saturday coverage peaked at 20.4 overnight for Phelps’ final race, the 4x100m medley relay, from 10-10:15 PM ET, which the United States won to bring Phelps’ overall haul to 23 Olympic gold medals and 28 total medals.
The NBC broadcast network is down 22% in total average prime-time viewers to Nielsen 27.4 million through its second Sunday of Olympic programming from London’s 33.6 million.
The US team’s men have won 32 medals in Rio – nine of them gold – whereas the women have won 36 medals, with 16 golds. With three gold medals under her belt already, Biles is heavily favored to win the beam title after posting a score of 15.633 in qualifying.
The shift towards televising women’s sports follows a trend set in the 2012 Olympics, when women were also given more airtime.
Monday’s slate at the 2016 Rio Olympics will feature three more event finals in the gymnastics competition, where Team USA will hope to add to an impressive medal count. The men had been on for 35 seconds.
‘We’d be naive if we didn’t acknowledge that the sports they are showing, a lot of them involve women in swimsuits and leotards, ‘ he said.
In individual gymnastics events, the men’s high bar and parallel bars, along with the women’s floor routine, will be the ones to watch. Meanwhile, boxing is an example of a sport that doesn’t appeal to women at all, and it has gotten no prime-time coverage at all.
NBC’s total audience delivery rating encompassing NBC, cable and streaming viewing, reached 26.8 million for Saturday, which was still down from the comparable night at the 2012 London Olympics (28 million).
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For track and field, medal events will begin bright and early with the men’s triple jump finals and women’s discus finals beginning at 8 a.m.
