NBC Olympics Ad Sales Up 20% Despite Falling Viewership, Complaints

U.S. broadcaster NBC has received "a furious response from viewers for the scale and implementation of ads in its Olympics coverage -- both over the air and online," according to Simon Gwynn of CAMPAIGN LIVE. But the network said that it has already sold $1.2B of ads during the Games -- up 20% on the final revenues from London 2012, "in spite of the shifting balance of media consumption over the last four years." NBC drew 26.5 million viewers for the opening ceremony of the 2016 Games on Friday evening, down 35% on the "number of Americans that tuned in for the London 2012 opening ceremony." NBC's coverage "may have been affected by the decision to show the ceremony on a one-hour time delay, and with a generous helping of ads -- a strategy that riled many viewers on Twitter." The complaints "were not restricted to the live broadcast either -- plenty of viewers reported problems with the streaming service, with ads sometimes appearing at inopportune moments" (CAMPAIGN LIVE, 8/8).

NBC won The Commercial Olympics last night. What an astounding run of ads with little splashes of Rio in between to keep them apart.

— Dick DeBartolo (@thegizwiz) August 6, 2016

Coming up after the break: Will @NBC break its own world record for highest ratio of ads to actual sports? Stay tuned! #Olympics #Rio2016

— David Chernicoff (@chernithings) August 8, 2016

@NBCOlympics App freezes right before the 4x100 relay. You know what never freezes? Your ads. Thanks for showing us who matters.

— Brad (@kayser49) August 8, 2016

Always been a fan of @JimGaffigan but the frequency of the Chrysler ads on NBC's streaming Olympics coverage is getting a bit tiresome.

— Chris Duck (@_Duckman_) August 8, 2016