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NBC Closing Gap With '12 London Rating, But Down 22%; Total Delivery A Brighter Picture

NBC after four nights of Rio Games coverage is averaging a 14.8 rating (27.3 million viewers), while primetime coverage on the broadcast net is still down 22% from the '12 London Games. The gap is the closest it has been since this year’s event began. The 14.8 rating through Monday night is below the 17.2 through the same period of the ’08 Beijing Games, but slightly above the 14.7 seen during the ’04 Athens Games. NBC on Monday from 8:00-11:05pm ET finished with a 16.4 rating (28.9 million viewers), marking its best figure for the Rio Games to date. That coverage featured six U.S. swimmers taking home medals -- including Lilly King in her headline-making win over Russia's Yulia Efimova -- and U.S. beach volleyball players Kerri Walsh Jennings and April Ross with a group-stage win. But the 16.4 rating is down 9% from an 18.0 rating in ’12 and marks the lowest first Monday of a Summer Games since a 13.8 for Sydney in '00. While down from its own Summer Games performance, NBC continues to dominate its competitors. The net through Monday had a 285% advantage over the combined rating for CBS, ABC and Fox, which is the second-best advantage it has had during the Games, behind only ’12. Salt Lake City was the top market on Monday for the third-straight night, drawing a 23.5 local rating (Austin Karp, Assistant Managing Editor). ADWEEK’s A.J. Katz wrote Monday’s figures were “not particularly good,” but also “not as bad as the declines of Rio’s previous nights.” The gap with London "appears to be slowly but surely tightening.” Katz: “Will Rio ever catch up to London, or even Beijing? That remains to be seen” (ADWEEK.com, 8/9).

PRIMETIME SUMMER OLYMPIC RATINGS ON NBC
DAY
RIO
LONDON
BEIJING
ATHENS
SYDNEY
ATLANTA
Opening Ceremony
Fri.
13.9
21.0
18.8
14.6
16.2
23.6
Night 2
Sat.
11.4
15.8
13.9
11.8
13.1
17.2
Night 3
Sun.
16.1
19.8
18.1
15.4
14.6
22.9
Night 4
Mon.
16.4
18.0
17.6
16.6
13.8
22.9
4-Night Avg.
14.8
18.9
17.2
14.7
14.3
21.8

THE WHOLE STORY: NBC yesterday rolled out its first Total Audience Delivery figure for live primetime Olympic coverage, with Monday night drawing an 18.1 rating (31.5 million viewers) across broadcast TV (NBC), cable TV (NBCSN, Bravo) and the NBC Digital platforms. Looking at the same night in ’12, coverage of the London Games had no simultaneous live streaming and no live coverage on cable TV. That corresponding Monday night drew an 18.0 rating (31.6 million viewers). The NBC Digital platforms also had their best day ever Monday, marking the third-straight day of record-setting numbers. NBCSN on Monday night had live coverage of men’s water polo and women’s volleyball, while Bravo had live tennis coverage. Outside of primetime, CNBC on Monday drew 846,000 viewers from 5:00-8:00pm, marking its best Summer Games figure on record in that time frame. The coverage was highlighted by the U.S-France women’s rugby game and men’s beach volleyball (NBC). The AP’s David Bauder writes NBC’s Total Audience Delivery is a stat that the company “hurriedly invented.” NBC believes the comparison to ’12 is “valid because even though the cable viewers weren’t watching the same thing as people tuned in to NBC, they were still watching the Olympics” (AP, 8/10).

STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS: NBC Olympics Exec Producer Jim Bell called Nielsen ratings a "measurement tool from the 1970s.” He said that it is important to look at the bigger picture." Bell: "We’re in a relatively new era of media consumption. ... The architecture of this operation is such that we’re building it for the future. And not just how people have been consuming the Olympics for the last 30 years but how we expect they will be consuming it for the next 30 years.” USA TODAY's Erik Brady notes NBC "reported big gains in live streaming with 13.4 million unique visitors on Monday, up 45%" from '12. Bell said that he "believes many of the people who stream events live in the afternoon will come back for more on TV in prime time" (USA TODAY, 8/10).

WE CAN WORK IT OUT: In L.A., Stephen Battaglio reports if NBC "falls short of the ratings goal, it will have to give advertisers free commercials to make up the difference." NBC is "prepared for the possibility, as some commercial time on the Olympics are held in reserve in the event that ratings are lower than promised." As a rule in TV sales, networks "prefer to fall a little short of the guarantee as long as they can make up the difference." NBC can also "use promotional time it allocated to its fall shows for so-called make-good commercials." But a "substantial shortfall would hurt the profit projections NBCUniversal executives have stated for the Olympics" (L.A. TIMES, 8/10). 

LIVE & IN COLOR? In Phoenix, Bill Goodykoontz wrote under the header, "NBC's Olympic Coverage Needs To Be Live(lier)." Instead of showing events live, NBC has "continued its now long-archaic practice of meting out bits and pieces of events, trying to turn its primetime broadcast into a sappy reality show." Goodykoontz: "Why would it do that in an era of instant information?" This "doesn’t mean there isn’t a place for inspirational stories and packages," as some of them are "really good." But the Olympics "stretch over more than two weeks," so there is "plenty of time to fit them in." Goodykoontz: "Just not during a live event everyone wants to see as it happens" (AZCENTRAL.com, 8/9). In a special to the BOSTON GLOBE, Univ. of Maine professor Michael Socolow wrote under the header, "Broadcast The Olympics Live. History Demands It" (BOSTON GLOBE, 8/9).

QUIET RIOT: NBC last night revealed some of its editorial policy regarding reporting results prior to the event airing during its primetime coverage. During last night's edition of "Nightly News," host Lester Holt said, "We’re not going to report any results that haven’t already been widely reported. But ahead of our primetime action, we can tell you, as expected, the American women’s gymnastics team was golden” (“Nightly News,” NBC, 8/9). Meanwhile, CBS’s Scott Pelley had a little fun at NBC's expense, saying, "Fair warning: We’re about to report an Olympic result because it’s news. It’s not our fault that the TV coverage is delayed” (“Evening News,” CBS, 8/9).

KEEPING IT REAL
: USA TODAY's Edward Baig notes NBC through its U.S. app "will supply 85 hours of Olympics VR programming for anyone with a $99 Samsung Gear VR headseat and a compatible Samsung smartphone." Events include both men's basketball, gymnastics, track and field, beach volleyball, diving, boxing, fencing and "various highlight packages from those sports." But "none of the action will be broadcast live in VR -- you'll have to wait until the next day." NBC Olympics President Gary Zenkel said the VR "will hopefully give us a great window into where this unique viewing experience may be headed" (USA TODAY, 8/10).

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