NBC Gets Strong Figure For Phelps/Women's Gymnastics, But Primetime Still Down 20%

NBC is still seeing a 20% drop for its primetime Rio Games ratings through Tuesday night. The net is averaging a 15.6 rating (28.6 million viewers) after five nights, down from a 19.5 rating (35.6 million viewers) during the ’12 London Games. This year’s five-night figure also is down from a 17.8 rating (31.3 million viewers) during Beijing in ’08. Tuesday night -- which was highlighted by a live, emotional win in the pool by Michael Phelps and the coronation of the U.S. women's gymnastics team -- was NBC’s best figure yet for Rio, with the net averaging an 18.9 rating (33.4 million viewers) from 8:00-11:44pm ET. However, that is down from a 21.8 rating on the fifth night in ’12 and a down from a 20.0 rating in ’08 (Austin Karp, Assistant Managing Editor).

DIGITAL PASSPORT: NBC’s Total Audience Delivery, which counts broadcast TV, cable TV and digital streams, comes in at a 20.5 rating (36.1 million viewers) through five nights. The Total Audience Delivery gave NBC an 8% lift on Tuesday night over the broadcast TV-only figure. By comparison, the total-audience figure provided a 9% lift on Monday night, 7% on Sunday night and 14% on Saturday night. NBC Sports on Tuesday also reached 883 million live minutes of streaming across NBCOlympics.com and the NBC Sports app, which passes the total for all of the ’12 London Games (818 million). Meanwhile, NBC Sports saw 1.3 million unique streams on Tuesday from 3:00-6:00pm as the U.S. women's gymnastics team captured the Gold Medal, marking the best-ever Summer Games stream. The event was later part of NBC's primetime coverage on tape delay (NBC).

KEEPING UP APPEARANCES: In N.Y., Richard Sandomir notes NBC going into the Games saw London’s 17-night average of 31 million viewers "as an attainable goal," but that figure so far is "looking unreachable." Viewership in the 18-34 demo has fallen 32% for NBC's primetime coverage, but NBC "believes it has an answer" to where viewers have gone -- live coverage on cable TV (Bravo and NBCSN) and streaming. NBC Sports Group Chair Mark Lazarus: "We consciously went into these Olympics with a strategy to put content across all platforms." Lazarus and NBCU President of Research & Media Development Alan Wurtzel yesterday said that they "were surprised about the falloff in viewership on NBC and the unexpectedly good audiences on cable and online." But Wurtzel said, “The Olympics are not immune to the tectonic changes in consumer media behavior.” Sandomir notes putting sports like judo, tennis, soccer, fencing and basketball on cable in primetime "represents a new opportunity for viewers who prefer those sports or do not want to see the same core of elaborately produced sports that dominate NBC in prime time." Lazarus: "I don’t like the word ‘cannibalization.' But would some watch NBC if we didn’t put the sports on cable? Almost certainly. But they’re going to similar content -- to the Olympics, not to entertainment programming, other sports programming or news programming" (N.Y. TIMES, 8/11).

LATE ARRIVAL: The AP's David Bauder notes NBC last night "held back video of the scintillating men's gymnastics all-around competition." Japan's Kohei Uchimura "won the gold medal over Ukraine's Oleg Verniaiev by less than one-tenth of a point," but with the U.S. team "out of the running," NBC first aired coverage at 11:37pm ET. The Gold Medal was decided at 12:19am. Bauder notes it is "only natural for citizens of any country to be most interested in the performances of their own athletes and want to see when they're in medal contention," but in this case, gymnastics fans "have a right to feel cheated" (AP, 8/11). VARIETY's Sonia Saraiya noted women's gymnastics is "one of the most beloved Olympic sports," but in an effort to "juice the numbers for the rest of NBC’s Olympic coverage, the network split the gymnastics competition into two parts" on Tuesday. A shorter segment aired right at 8:00pm that "featured the athletes on the vault and uneven bars," followed by a longer segment starting around 11:00pm that "took the gymnasts through the balance beam, floor exercises, and post-win celebration." NBC during the two-plus hours in between aired "seemingly endless swimming coverage." By teasing the gymnastics coverage "early in the evening, NBC attempted to lock in viewers for the rest of the evening." The "gambit worked ... but in the midst of a highly anticipated story that had already been ruined for many viewers via the Internet, it felt egregious to push the biggest story of the night" past 11:00pm (VARIETY.com, 8/10).

GETTING THE MONEY QUOTES: USA TODAY's Erik Brady notes NBC's Michele Tafoya has been reporting pool-side in Rio, and the swimmers have been "saying some eye-opening things." Katie Ledecky told Tafoya that she "almost threw up in the pool," while Michael Phelps "told her about revenge" in his race with South Africa's Chad le Clos. Meanwhile, it was Lilly King's interview with Tafoya in which she called Russia’s Yulia Efimova a "drug cheat." Tafoya: "You have to be quick and really well prepared to know what you’re going after.” Tafoya said that someone on NBC’s production team after Sunday's semifinal "spotted King in the ready room shaking her finger at an image of Efimova on a TV screen as Efimova held up a finger as if to say she’s No. 1." That is how Tafoya "knew to ask King about Efimova." Tafoya said that her crew "high-fived because it took teamwork for Tafoya to be in position to ask King about the finger wagging" (USA TODAY, 8/11).

PEACEFUL UNEASY FEELING: In Chicago, Rick Morrissey notes no NBC announcer "has given even the slightest suggestion that there might be Americans who have used or are using" PEDs. There has been "a lot of flag-waving, but none of those flags has been red." He adds hearing the broadcasters "extol the virtues of U.S. swimmers" has made him "uneasy" (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 8/11). THE MMQB's Mark Mravic tweeted he watched the BBC's swim coverage last night and it "was a pleasure." The announcers "didn't scream" (TWITTER.com, 8/10).

THE LATE, LATE SHOW: The NATIONAL POST's Steve Simmons writes NBC "has ruined the Olympic swimming and track and field schedules" by showing the events "too late at night." Simmons: "Which is odd, considering NBC rarely shows anything live" (NATIONAL POST, 8/11).