NBCU: 6% of Olympic Viewing on Alternative Platforms
NBC Universal Total Audience Measurement Index (TAMi): Traditional TV viewership unaffected.
By Michael Malone -- Broadcasting & Cable, 8/13/2008 11:40:00 AM
NBC Universal executives in Beijing said their Total Audience Measurement Index (TAMi) more than reinforced what NBCU has long believed -- that a substantial number of people are consuming 2008 Olympic Games content on alternative platforms, and that those viewings have not dragged down traditional TV viewership.
“Everything has changed but nothing has changed,” NBC Olympics president Gary Zenkel said. “There have never been more options for viewing the Olympics” -- but people are still massing around the TV to watch Michael Phelps during primetime.
Friday’s aggregate TAMi tally was 74.6 million for the Opening Ceremonies -- 94% of that was on television, 5.7% was online, 0.03% watched on a mobile application and 36,000 (0%) watched via video-on-demand.
President of research Alan Wurtzel was heartened to see various categories grow over the first four days of the Games. Web viewing, for one, grew from 4.8 million uniques Saturday, the first day of actual competition, to 7.8 million Monday, Aug. 11. TV viewing mostly grew during the same period. “The Internet hardly cannibalizes television viewing,” he said. “It actually fuels interest.”
Wurtzel also spoke of the “wonderful halo” effect of the Olympics for advertisers, reporting that brand recall among viewers was 85% higher during Olympics spots than during conventional primetime.
He added that NBC’s various cable channels showing the quadrennial competition, such as CNBC and MSNBC, were seeing substantial ratings increases over their typical programming.
While he conceded that TAMi was a work in progress, Wurtzel said the program would play a meaningful role in measuring NBC’s ratings performance this fall.
-
NBC would have even more viewers online if much of the Mac population were not shut out by technology. Even though my Mac G4 has an appropriate version of Mac's operating system and an appropriate version of supported browsers, it is NOT equipped with a dual core processor. Equestrian sports themselves are accessible in real life only to the fairly well-heeled, but I love them anyway. It's really too bad that you have to shell out for a new Mac and technologically "cutting edge" to even see them this time around at the Olympics. But we've sure seen a lot of beach volleyball.
Janet Keefer - 8/14/2008 9:48:00 AM EDT -
MSNBC is losing daytime viewers due to the decision to run Olympics coverage. Regular viewers have discovered that news is optional on MSNBC. I am (was) a regular viewer. But when I didn't find news on MSNBC, I turned to CNN. Guess what? I found its daytime coverage more newsy and comprehensive than the lighter fare on MSNBC. I still watch the primetime shows, but you lost me when I need cable news during the day. With seven cables in NBC's stable, I don't get this decision. What good is higher ratings than the usual MSNBC programming? You could run sitcoms and get a higher rating than MSNBC daytime... so why bother to improve the news product if it's just a ratings game? Maybe B&C can do a story about this so you can explain what seems to be a misguided decision. And I bet your staff (at least the ones that didn't go to China) isn't pleased, either.
Ex-MSNBC daytime viewer - 8/14/2008 12:09:00 AM EDT
Olympian Research Effort from NBCU
07/07/2008NBC Hits $1B in Olympic Ad Sales
08/07/2008NBC Hopes to Top $1.03B in Olympic Sales
08/19/2008Universal Sports Adds Nine Markets
09/15/2008
