NBC President Bob Wright tells Bill Carter of the N.Y.
TIMES he feels "terrific" about the network's Olympic
coverage. Wright said that NBC is "making no apologies
either for its coverage or for its ratings performance."
Wright: "We're reaching 23, 24, 25 million viewers a night.
... In this era of fractionalizing audiences the ability of
the Olympics to gather audiences of that size will only get
more valuable." Wright: "That time difference is really
tough. I don't really know what [NBC Sports Chair Dick
Ebersol] could have done about that" (N.Y. TIMES, 9/28).
GE ON THE STREET: NBC parent GE has seen little change
in its share price during the Games. GE closed yesterday at
$59.44, up 0.7% since closing at 59 on Thursday, September
14, the day before the Opening Ceremonies (THE DAILY).
NIKE'S REFUND? In L.A., Lynch & Brown write that NBC
has chosen to "disappoint advertisers by promising far
better ratings than it could deliver, leading at least one
-- Nike -- to consider ... taking the highly unusual step of
asking for some of its $15-million investment back." While
NBC offered to re-run its sponsors' commercials to make up
for the ratings, Nike "fears the repetition of its two
Olympic-themed ads would bore viewers." Nike Senior Manager
of Communications Scott Reames said that Nike and NBC "were
discussing compensation options." Reames: "We're definitely
disappointed. We're also disappointed that there seems to
be a lack of really strong interest in the Games themselves.
... The fact they're not delivering viewers is also very
much of a financial concern for us." But Lynch & Brown add
that "many viewers think NBC is doing just fine." One NBC
exec said criticism was to be expected: "It's practically an
Olympic sport to criticize the Olympic coverage. The media
has an absolute fascination with attacking the Olympic
coverage. They did it during Atlanta, and that drew the
biggest ratings ever" (L.A. TIMES, 9/28).
MAYBE HE'S IN MOURNING OVER MLB? In N.Y., Neal Travis:
"I bleed for Bob Costas, a fine broadcaster, who has to helm
this misguided bit of mass marketing" (N.Y. POST, 9/28).
MORE REASONS FOR THE DROP? ELECTRONIC MEDIA's Tom
Shales: "That 'dull' presidential race everybody's been
denigrating as a snooze is starting to look pretty darn
exciting, indeed. Hell, bring it on. Anything's bound to
be better than Sob Stories from Sydney" (ELECTRONIC MEDIA,
9/25 issue).....A Toronto GLOBE & MAIL editorial states,
"NBC's disappointing ratings may be the first glimmer of
evidence that drug scandals, cheating and corruption are
lessening the Games' basic appeal" (GLOBE & MAIL, 9/28).
EASY DAVID: CBS' David Letterman, on NBC's tape-delayed
Olympic coverage: "Last night, I was watching the Olympics
[and] I saw Jesse Owens pissing off Hitler." On NBC's
athlete profiles: "Last night, the Ukrainian swimmer. They
had a moving three-to-four minute profile of this guy who
suffers from acid reflux" ("Late Show," CBS, 9/27).
