NBC Sports Group Chair Mark Lazarus said that, "Though NBC drew criticism for not airing more of the games live, showcasing taped events in prime time 'undeniably' helped ratings." He added that he "wondered if NBC should have tape-delayed more events, such as the U.S. men's gold-medal basketball game and the men's tennis finals between Andy Murray and Roger Federer, which were live." Lazarus: "It's undeniable we hurt our ratings by doing that. We have to balance what we're trying to do for viewers across the country and our business model." BLOOMBERG NEWS' Sherman & Fixmer noted NBC provided live online coverage of every Olympic event for the first time, "although web viewers needed to show that they were a pay-TV subscriber to get access." Lazarus said that the net "may allow more events to be seen by non-cable subscribers in future Olympics, but any new packages will have to be approved by NBC's cable operator partners" (BLOOMBERG NEWS, 8/14).
OLYMPIC PROPORTIONS: The GUARDIAN's John Plunkett writes, "Such was the popularity of the BBC's coverage of the London Olympics that BBC1 took more than a third of all TV viewing and BBC3 overtook both Channel 4 and Channel 5 for the duration of the 2012 Games." BBC1 "had a 36.2% share of viewing across the 17 days of the Games." This was "more than four times ITV1's average all-day share of 8.3% (excluding ITV +1)." While BBC1's audience share "was up by nearly 40% on the figure it was attracting immediately before the Olympics, ITV1's share of the audience fell by nearly 40%, compared with 13.6% in the preceding three months" (GUARDIAN, 8/15).
AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL: Fox Soccer yesterday announced that is has signed a new four-year agreement CONCACAF to broadcast the CONCACAF Gold Cup and CONCACAF Champions League. The agreement runs through the '15-16 edition of the Champions League. The deal also covers the '13 and '15 Gold Cups (Fox Soccer).
INSIDE EDITION: Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic hired J. Michael Falgoust as a Ravens Insider. Formerly of USA Today, Falgoust will lead coverage of the Ravens for CSNBaltimore.com and contribute to CSN's news and game-day programs. Additionally, CSN and CSNPhilly.com hired Geoff Mosher as an Eagles Insider (Comcast).
