NBC's Lazarus: Olympic Coverage "Over-Delivering" On All Platforms

NBC Sports Group Chair Mark Lazarus on a conference call today said the net is “over-delivering” on every platform – TV, online and mobile – through the first six days of the London Games. NBC Research President Alan Wurtzel noted NBC’s digital offerings have eclipsed metrics established at the '08 Beijing Games. Among the markers through the first six days:

• There have been 28 million visitors to www.NBCOlympics.com, 8% higher than '08.
• There have been 64 million video streams across all platforms (PC, iPads and iPods), a 182% increase. Of those, 29 million were live events, up more than 300% from '08. 
• There have been 5.3 million hours of live video streamed, which surpassed the total for the Beijing Games. 
• The most-viewed live stream event was the women’s team gymnastics final on Tuesday, which had 1.5 million viewers.

Advertisers are getting positive feedback from the Games. Wurtzel said Nielsen IAG’s research showed the teenage audience is up a total of 28% (52% among teenage girls and 7% among teen boys). Among kids ages 2-11, viewership is up 33%. Wurtzel said, “We’re cultivating the next Olympic generation.”

Meanwhile, NBC’s coverage of the archery competition exceeded expectations, as the sport has been the most popular Olympic offering on cable. It has delivered an average of 1.5 million viewers, higher than even basketball coverage. “Archery is the new curling,” Wurtzel said.

For more on the Games, see SBD/SBJ's dedicated London Olympics Blog.