The sports industry has plenty of fans -- just not enough viewers, said NBC Broadcasting & Sports Chair Mark Lazarus. Speaking with SBJ/SBD Exec Editor Abe Madkour yesterday at the ’17 NeuLion Sports Media & Technology conference, Lazarus said mobile and social technology “has allowed people to follow sports very easy and get satisfied they are up to date, and not necessarily have to sit down and having to watch and entire game or a big piece of it." He added, "We as an industry have to move people from followers to watchers.” The 5% decline in NFL ratings that NBC is seeing this year is the result of fans watching less of the games, not a loss of fans altogether, he said. Consumers’ short attention spans was a widespread topic on panels throughout the day, and Lazarus said, “For someone to register on Nielsen, they need watch for six minutes. If we get them to watch for 9 or 12, our ratings grow.” Lazarus also elaborated on reports that NBC will air six-second commercials during the PyeongChang Games. Those are an extension of the logic that led to NBC-owned Golf Channel’s “Play Through” feature that airs commercials alongside golf action, he said, pleasing advertisers while also keeping fans around. "We live in an attention deficit, Cliff’s Notes world, where everything is bang-bang,” he said. “And we have to keep up."
