NBC Execs Bullish Over Strong Start As Games Are On Record Pace

NBC Averaging 16.2/30 Primetime National Nielsen Rating For First Two Nights Of Olympics

A SIGN OF THINGS TO COME: NBC's top execs told THE DAILY yesterday the huge early numbers are a harbinger of even gaudier numbers for the remainder of the Olympics. NBC Universal President of Research Alan Wurtzel said, "The buzz so far has been extraordinary. We're developing momentum to take us through the next two weeks. The first couple of days are critical." Wurtzel was especially happy with the 18-34 demo, which had been tuning out previous Olympics. So far this year, numbers from that group are up 22% compared to Athens and 14% compared to the '00 Sydney Games. Wurtzel: "With all the fragmentation and choices people have, to deliver more people like we're doing is incredible." NBC Universal Sports & Olympics VP/Strategic Marketing, Promotion & Communications Mike McCarley said that advertisers are taking notice of NBC's ratings numbers. The network held back some inventory for the Games, he said, and is preparing to field calls, particularly from movie studios and back-to-school advertisers. McCarley: "Our guys are starting to field a lot of calls. It's a great story to tell." Online numbers have also been big for NBC, as NBCOlympics.com posted 132 million page views for the first two days, including more than 4 million unique page views for each of the first two days. By comparison, the best day during the '06 Turin Games saw less than 2 million page views. NBC's mobile application saw 2.7 million page views in the past two days. Wurtzel said, "All three platforms are just on fire. Everyone is very, very gratified." NBC surveys have shown that 90% of viewers only watched the Olympics on TV; 10% watched both; and only 0.2% solely watched on the Internet. Wurtzel: "The notion that the Internet is cannibalizing TV is an urban myth. They are basically complementing each other" (John Ourand, THE DAILY).

Ratings For Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony Exceeds TV Industry Expectations

POLL VAULT: THE DAILY ran a non-scientific poll from last Friday through this morning, asking readers what rating they thought NBC would average in primetime during the Beijing Games. Of the 200 respondents, 52 said the primetime average for NBC would be between 14.1-16.0, while 51 respondents said the rating would be between 12.1-14.0. Only 15 respondents guessed NBC would average over an 18.0 Nielsen rating.

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