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NBCU Acquires TV Rights To Swimming Championships
Looking to build on the interest in swimming sparked by the Beijing Games, USA Swimming and NBC Sports announced a partnership sure to make a splash. The partnership will result in the broadcast of the 2009 USA Swimming National Championships and the 2009 World Swimming Championships on NBC Sports and Universal Sports, NBC's newly minted Olympic channel.NBC will provide weekend coverage of the 2009 World Championships and Universal Sports, the channel it co-owns with InterMedia Partners, will offer midweek coverage. Read More >
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NBC's Prime-Time Rating Back Over 16 On Tuesday
NBC earned a 16.3/27 national rating with 26.6 million viewers for Tuesday night's prime-time coverage of the Beijing Games, up 3.8 percent from a 15.7/26 for the comparable night in Athens in 2004. Through Monday, NBC is averaging a 17.1/29 national rating (29.3 million viewers) for 12 prime-time telecasts, up 8.2 percent from a 15.8/27 in Athens and marking the best rating through the second Tuesday of a non-U.S. Summer Games since an 18.1/34 for the 1992 Barcelona Games.
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Medal Stand
Gold
Usain Bolt
No male sprinter had won the 100 and 200 meters in the same Olympics since 1984, but Usain Bolt did that and more when he broke Michael Johnson's 200-meter world record. The long-limbed Jamaican (who has become a poster boy for Puma) put on a spectacular show that lent some pizzazz to an otherwise ho-hum week at the track.
Silver
NBC ad sales
Riding a tide of impressive ratings, NBC's ad sales division has sold $25 million in advertising since the Olympics began and $15 million in the past seven days. The network expects more to be sold between now and the closing ceremony on Sunday, a great sign for the network.
Bronze
The weather
The rain in Beijing put a damper on two of NBC's live programs last night, delaying the start of the women's beach volleyball game and forcing BMX racing to be rescheduled to Friday. What happened to China's ability to control the weather?
Tin
Protest zones
What's the point of creating a protest zone if you have to apply to get permission to protest there? It came to light that two Chinese women, Wu Dianyuan, 79, and Wang Xiuying, 77, made five visits to the police this month to get permission to protest inadequate compensation for their home's demolition. Now news arrives that they've been sentenced to "re-education through labor." Did China forget that the world's watching? -
Women’s Pro Soccer Eyes World’s Top Star
Brazil’s Marta is considered to be the world’s most dazzling women’s soccer player, but does the new U.S. women’s league stand a chance of signing her for its inaugural season? Women’s Professional Soccer Commissioner Tonya Antonucci thinks so.
“She’s indicated interest in coming to WPS, which is fantastic,” Antonucci said. Read More > -
Catching Up With AVP Head Leonard Armato
The Olympics couldn’t come at a better time for the AVP. The professional beach volleyball company recently reported revenue of $8.8 million, compared to $11 million reported for the same period in 2007. But AVP CEO Leonard Armato is optimistic that the Beijing Games will be a catalyst, spurring the kind of growth the tour experienced after the Athens Olympics in 2004 when revenue increased 38 percent. He shared that and more with SportsBusiness Journal writer Tripp Mickle outside the beach volleyball venue in Beijing. Read More > -
NBC's Prime-Time Ratings Continue At Steady Clip
NBC earned a 15.8/26 national rating with 26.4 million viewers for Monday night's prime-time coverage of the Beijing Games, down 3.7 percent from the comparable night from a 16.4/27 in Athens in 2004. Through Monday, NBC is averaging a 17.2/30 national rating (29.6 million viewers) for 11 prime-time telecasts, up 8.9 percent from a 15.8/28 in Athens and marking the best rating through the second Monday of a non-U.S. Summer Games since an 18.4/35 for the 1992 Barcelona Games. Read More >
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NBC Has Sold $25M In Ad Time Since Start Of Games
With NBC's ratings exceeding projections through the first half of the Games, the network has sold $25 million of ads since the start of the Beijing Games, said Senior Vice President of Sports and Olympics Sales and Marketing Seth Winter. In the past seven days alone, NBC has sold $15 million worth of spots. Before the Games began, NBC said that it had eclipsed $1 billion in ad sales from more than 100 companies. Read More >
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Catching Up With Marketing Expert Michael Payne
For more than 20 years, Michael Payne played a key role in the global marketing strategy of the Olympic movement. He served as its marketing director for more than a decade before stepping down after the Athens Games in 2004 to join Formula One. He now runs his own consulting firm.While he was in Beijing, the author of “Olympic Turnaround” sat down with SportsBusiness Journal staff writer Tripp Mickle. Read More >
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Springboard to success or prelude to Olympic fatigue?
An opening ceremony to die for. A swimmer making a splash for the ages. A nation of 1.3 billion passionate, or at least potential, fans. TV ratings that “Seinfeld” could take to the bank. Political tension as a backdrop.
Can the Olympics get any better than this?
Ever again? Read More >
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Hurdles remain for track and field in U.S.
It used to be the centerpiece. It wants to be again.
So, as the Beijing Olympics track and field competition got under way last Friday, the stewards of the sport in the U.S. are seeking ways to rebuild its tarnished, drug-linked reputation, to repackage itself to garner TV rights fees and to broaden a fan base that reaches beyond the “track geek” aficionados. Read More >
