NBC Claims Good Ratings & Advertiser Response to Olympics Coverage

[dorispulaski]

Here's something hopeful for US skating fans. NBC is insisting that the Winter Olympics, overall, is a ratings success. Forbes, claimed otherwise, initially, but it looks like they may not have folded in the NBCSN viewership correctly? It's not clear from the article.

Important in NBC's claims are the ratings for Ice Dance which has always been the red-headed stepchild of the disciplines in US broadcasters' eyes. In the fall Grand Prix, NBC barely showed any ice dance coverage- for some events, no coverage was shown, at others, just the winning FD might have been aired.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/darrenh...putes-report-of-poor-winter-olympics-ratings/

This Monday’s primetime Olympics programming on NBC (8-11 p.m. ET) featuring Meryl Davis and Charlie White winning the United States’ first-ever ice dancing Olympic gold medal earned NBC very favorable ratings. It was determined to be the most watched and highest rated second Monday of an Olympics since the 2002 Salt Lake City Games. Overall, NBC is bullish on its viewership. “On NBCSN, we’ve set records almost daily for viewership, and we’ve exceeded every day in London 2012, which nobody would have expected,” said Hughes.

NBC also claims that its advertisers are thrilled with way the Winter Olympics are playing out across its platforms. Hughes says that NBC is exceeding its ratings guarantees to its advertising partners, but refused to provide the details on said guarantees, instead responding, “but we’re well past them— ask any of our advertising partners.”

The NBCSN news is good too, as a significant portion of that coverage was Tara & Johnny presenting whole skating events, showing every skater or team

So I have hopes that just perhaps, the GP will be shown somewhere other than Universal Sports this fall here in the US. And that this time, ice dance will be covered.

 

[Meoima]

Good news!!! I hope figure skating get more views from this time. And then the Worlds at the end of this month.

 

[noskates]

I hope NBC realizes what the major draw was. It was so refreshing after all these years to be able to watch figure skating in its entirety without the constant commercials of the major network, etc. It used to be you'd have one person or one team skate and then go to commercial, another skate, then another commercial. Gotta love NBCSN.

 

[Sam-Skwantch]

I really liked being able to watch FS twice a day!! I thought NBC did a great job.

 

[snowflakebeautiful]

Ahh!!! Super exciting!!!! :yay: Here's to hoping we'll get to see more skating in this upcoming quad!

 

[Matilda]

This is great news! Now if they could actually allow non-cable subscribers to buy access to the NBCSN live stream for the Olympics, they'd have even more viewers for the live broadcast. I enjoyed the couple of viewing parties I was able to host at my place, but most of my friends were really pissed off for having to miss the live/full coverage of the events because they either don't have cable or don't have the right package/provider.

Where can we lobby for live coverage of the Worlds? It's probably too late to arrange for this year, but how about 2015?

In the meantime, I hope NBC fulfills my dream of letting Johnny and Tara have a big, sparkly skating show with top international skaters and musical artists that actually attract a broader audience (instead of the Disson "whoever won American Idol X years ago" singers). And a reality show of them putting the show together A girl can dream, right?

 

[noskates]

Universal is airing live coverage but it's a purchased cable channel. I'm able to get it for $12.95/month and don't have to sign a contract. $12.95 is a small price to pay for being able to watch Worlds in its entirety. I'll have to tape it during the night but.....

 

[ice coverage]

Important in NBC's claims are the ratings for Ice Dance which has always been the red-headed stepchild of the disciplines in US broadcasters' eyes. In the fall Grand Prix, NBC barely showed any ice dance coverage- for some events, no coverage was shown, at others, just the winning FD might have been aired. ...

I hate to say that unless Davis/White continue to compete, I do not have high hopes that NBC will start devoting additional time to GP ice dance.
NBC justifiably had hyped D/W as favorites to win Team USA's first Olympic gold medal in ice dance, so my gut is that NBC's viewership for Sochi ice dance was tied mostly to them and to anticipation of their historic win.
In the likely absence of D/W, I regrettably do not expect the only-every-four-years NBC Olympic audience to have a lasting appetite for ice dance.

That said, NBC's numbers for Sochi ice dance were impressive , per NBC's Feb 25 press release regarding its entire coverage of the Games.

The Feb. 17 primetime telecast featuring Meryl Davis and Charlie White winning America’s first-ever ice dancing Olympic gold medal averaged 23.5 million viewers and a 13.8 household rating/21 share – resulting in respective 29% and 18% advantages over the combined primetime viewership and household rating of ABC, CBS and FOX. Those advantages rank as the most-dominant Monday night in the Sept.-May TV season since the 1998 Academy Awards (Titanic won best picture) by any broadcast network compared to the combined performance of the other major broadcast networks.
http://nbcsportsgrouppressbox.com/2...ia-more-platforms-than-any-winter-olympics-3/​

 

[dorispulaski]

Nothing like this happened when D&W and B&A were medal hopefuls in 2010, nor when B&A were medal hopefuls in 2006.



I guess the current hype is due to the fact that the ladies & men were known to have little chance to medal at all, as much as NBC realizing that D&W had a good shot at a gold.

 

[ice coverage]

Nothing like this happened when D&W and B&A were medal hopefuls in 2010, nor when B&A were medal hopefuls in 2006.



I guess the current hype is due to the fact that the ladies & men were known to have little chance to medal at all, as much as NBC realizing that D&W had a good shot at a gold.

But in 2014, Davis/White were more than "medal hopefuls" -- and more than even "gold medal hopefuls." They were legitimately hyped as gold medal favorites, beyond expectations for them in 2010. Big difference, IMHO. America loves winners.

And I am curious what the difference in ratings was between the Individual SD vs. Individual FD.
Not an apples to apples comparison, b/c the SD was on a Sunday night.
But my hunch is that viewership was higher when D/W had the opportunity to clinch the gold with their FD, as opposed to merely setting the stage with their SD.

Agree with your point about the ladies and men.

ETA, NBC numbers for the night of the Individual SD (Feb 16) -- which indeed are lower than for the Individual FD:

February 17, 2014 – Last night’s primetime Olympics on NBC (7-11 p.m. ET) averaged 21.3 million viewers and a 12.1 household rating/19 share – more than doubling the combined primetime viewership and household rating of ABC, CBS and FOX (9.9 million viewers and 6.0 household rating), according to live plus same day fast national data released today by The Nielsen Company.
http://nbcsportsgrouppressbox.com/2...ps-06-torino-games-for-9th-time-in-10-nights/​

ETA:

As mentioned in other threads at the time, U.S. interest in Davis/White (as opposed to ice dance in general, IMO) intensified after gold medals in Sochi had eluded some Americans from other sports (e.g., Shaun White, Hannah Kearney).

Also: in Vancouver, D/W won neither the CD nor OD, so they were not leading the competition going into the FD, although they remained within striking distance of the gold.
In 2014, Olympic interest in D/W kept building and building: they arrived in Sochi as Individual favorites as well as captains of Team USA for the Team event; they won the Team SD, and then the Team FD -- snagging the Team bronze; then they won the Individual SD ... so by the night of the Individual FD, I believe that they had been well established as "stars" whom NBC viewers wanted to watch as they finally captured the ultimate prize.​