NBC Sees Increase In Young Male Viewers During Beijing Games
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NBC Sees Increase In Viewership From
Male 18-24 Demo For Beijing Games Coverage |
Havas media firm MPG is suggesting that some of NBC's Beijing Games rating success was "driven by a demographic group that has proven increasingly difficult for network TV to reach: young male viewers," according to Brian Steinberg of AD AGE. MPG's research indicated that the number of men between the ages of 18-24 who watched the Olympics "jumped 40% compared with the Athens games in 2004, the greatest increase of any demographic group." MPG VP & Dir of Communications Analysis Nina Kanter said that some of the personalities who became stars during the Games, including U.S. swimmer Michael Phelps and Jamaica sprinter Usain Bolt, had a hand in the increases, as well as the "kinds of events that were broadcast during prime time, such as BMX bike racing and matches between bikini-clad volleyball teams" (ADAGE.com, 8/29). This summer marked the first time since '02 that broadcast gained viewers during the time period, and TV historian Tim Brooks said, "The Michael Phelps phenomenon helped (broadcast) a great deal. A lot of us thought that this Olympics would probably be flat or down somewhat, when in fact it was up because of that." Turner Research "did an analysis of where NBC's Olympics viewership gains came from, and concluded that 40% of the growth was due to more viewers coming to their TV sets" (MULTICHANNEL NEWS, 9/1 issue). NBCU Cable "did its part ... pulling in a record 88 million viewers for its coverage from China, the most ever for an Olympics and 28% above the 68 million from Athens" (MULTICHANNEL NEWS, 9/1 issue). Meanwhile, NBC’s coverage of the Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony topped the “specials category” among out-of-home viewers from June 30-August 10 with 1.1 million viewers (BROADCASTINGCABLE.com, 9/2).
"TODAY" IS THE GREATEST: The HOLLYWOOD REPORTER's Paul Gough reported NBC's "Today" "rode the Beijing Olympic wave earlier this month to its best ratings performance over two weeks since 2000." Nielsen Media Research said that for the week ended August 22, "'Today' averaged 6.2 million viewers," which is "2.4 million viewers ahead of ABC's 'Good Morning America' and 3.7 million more than CBS's 'The Early Show'" (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 8/30).
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