While there was outcry of frustration over the lack of real-time video coverage during the 2012 Olympics in the United States, NBC brought in big ratings and advertising dollars. Even with the outcry of #NBCfail, NBC expects to break even with their prime-time model and possibly make a small profit, bringing in more in advertising than they did during the Beijing games. And the audience numbers back this. NBC averaged 31 million prime-time viewers a night, and over 200 million viewers overall – making this the most-watched non-US Summer Olympics in 36 years. However there is a more fundamental challenge at bay than a Twitter trend. The traditional model worked for NBC this time, but audience expectations have shifted with the advent of streaming video, forecasting a need for new broadcasting models to make future high-profile events available where, when, and how the audience wants to watch.
How We Used to Watch and the Changing Landscape
Until recently, US audiences accepted that Olympic games were provided by a single broadcasting network and its affiliates. It didn’t matter that the main coverage was available only at a few select channels and only through traditional television. It didn’t matter that we couldn’t easily browse... Read more
Tagged 'nbc' 
The Next Olympics: 2012 Forecasts a Shift in US Broadcasting Models for 2014
What the Industry and Rio Olympic Games Can Learn from #NBCFail
Rather than consider the following a delayed analysis of the much tweeted-about NBC Olympics London telecast, think of this as a preview of the Rio Games four years hence.
NBC would certainly spin it that way.
By now, you know that members of the “loudmouth minority” have railed against NBC for delaying the airing of the Summer Games despite making promises that all but the ceremonies would be shown live somewhere.
I was especially aghast after seeing on Twitter the result of Usain Bolt’s 9.63 second 100-meter win before what NBC presented to us as a live stream was sent to American viewers on computers, or in my case, an iPad.
Former President Bill Clinton famously said, "It depends upon what the meaning of the word 'is' is.”
In so many words, NBC said “It depends on what the meaning of the word ‘live’ is.”
Recently, Today executive producer, Jim Bell, who also was the Games' executive producer, dismissed the criticism, again incorrectly stating in a Hollywood Reporter interview that “everything was live.”
Why is it such a big deal? Why can’t I be content with 5,500 hours from London, unprecedented as far as Olympics are concerned?
Because we live in real time. Even a delay of 9.63... Read more
How To Fail At Marketing – Lessons From NBC
Holy smokes folks - what the hell is happening to NBC? This is the network my family grew up watching no matter what was on. To this day, even though I can't stand it, I still have The Today Show on in the background over Good Morning America and whatever the heck the CBS show is called because my parents wouldn't have it any other way.
It's certainly no secret that cable and the internet have successfully segmented the broadcast television audience. But realize just what's happened here. From the first time that it was "Howdy Doody Time" screamed out in black and white - until Kristin shot JR in full color, the three broadcast networks accounted for 90% of all the prime-time television watched by Americans. Basically, everybody watched, enjoyed, hated and talked about the same news and entertainment. And, nowhere was this more prevalent than NBC. For almost 20 years in the 80's and 90's, this was the TV that we talked about. It was "Must-See TV" with shows like Friends, Hill Street Blues, The Cosby Show, Cheers, L.A. Law, Frasier, Seinfeld, ER and on and on.
And of course, the gold standard of brand-loyal television programming excellence was The Tonight... Read more
