Jul
28
NBC Cleans Up With 2012 Olympics Opening Ceremony
We can complain about tape delays, find pirated feeds, talk about it on Twitter, but when the ratings are all said and done, NBC can wave the ratings in our collective faces and say, “This is why the show was tape delayed!!”
Last night’s overnight ratings for the London Olympics Opening Ceremony was the highest non-US event. Ever. That’s right. It beat Beijing four years ago. It wasn’t even close.
NBC garnered a 23.0 rating with a 40 share. That beats the Opening Ceremony in Communist China by 7%.
The highest rated local market was San Diego which had to wait six hours after the ceremony began in London. In fact four of the ten top highest rated local markets were in the Mountain or Pacific time zones. So no matter what I or anyone says, NBC will continue the tape delay strategy for the Opening Ceremony.
Here’s the press release.
NBC HAS BEST OPENING CEREMONY OVERNIGHT RATING FOR NON-U.S. OLYMPICS EVER
23.0 Rating and 40 Share is 7% Higher than Beijing, 28% Higher than Athens and 24% Higher than Sydney
National ratings and viewership will be available later this afternoonLONDON – July 28, 2012 – NBC’s coverage of the 2012 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony from Olympic Stadium in London registered the best overnight rating (Winter or Summer) for a non-U.S. Olympic Opening Ceremony ever. The Opening Ceremony on NBC earned a 23.0 overnight rating and a 40 share (8-Midnight. ET/PT), according to data released today by The Nielsen Company.
Compared to Opening Ceremony overnight ratings for non-U.S. Olympics, the 23.0/40 is seven percent higher than the Opening Ceremony for the 2008 Beijing Olympics (21.5/37), 10 percent higher than the tabloid-fueled Lillehammer Games (21.0/34), and 15 percent higher than the Opening Ceremony for the 2010 Vancouver Games (20.0/33).
NON-U.S. OPENING CEREMONY OVERNIGHT RATINGS:
1. London – 2012: 23.0/40 NBC
2. Beijing – 2008: 21.5/37 NBC
3. Lillehammer – 1994: 21.0/34 CBS
4. Vancouver – 2010: 20.0/33 NBC
5. Nagano – 1998: 18.6/30 CBS
6. Sydney – 2000: 18.5/32 NBC
7. Seoul – 1988: 18.3/33 NBC
8. Athens – 2004: 18.0/30 NBC
9. Sarajevo – 1984: 17.2/27 ABC
10. Calgary – 1988: 17.0/40 ABC
11. Barcelona – 1992: 16.5/32 NBC
12. Albertville – 1992: 16.0/26 CBS
13. Turin – 2006: 14.7/23 NBCOPENING CEREMONY OVERNIGHT RATINGS FOR U.S. GAMES:
1. Los Angeles – 1984: 29.5/55 ABC
2. Salt Lake City – 2002: 27.9/43 NBC
3. Atlanta – 1996: 27.2/47 NBCTOP 20 METERED MARKETS FOR OPENING CEREMONY:
1. San Diego — 27.8/49
T2. Washington D.C. — 26.8/48
T2. West Palm Beach — 26.8/48
4. Salt Lake City — 26.6/50
5. Denver — 26.4/51
6. Norfolk — 26.3/42
7. Sacramento — 25.4/47
T8. Kansas City — 25.0/44
T8. Richmond — 25.0/41
10. Columbus — 24.9/43
T11. Boston — 24.8/45
T11. Indianapolis — 24.8/45
13. Seattle — 24.4/48
14. Los Angeles — 24.2/44
15. Atlanta — 24.1/39
T16. Philadelphia — 24.0/40
T16. Jacksonville — 24.0/40
T18. Austin — 23.9/44
T18. Ft. Myers — 23.9/44
20. Portland — 23.8/48Jim Bell served as executive producer of NBC’s Opening Ceremony coverage; Bucky Gunts, director; Molly Solomon and Joe Gesue producers
The final numbers for Friday’s Opening Ceremony will be out later today.
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Disagree. NBC got the high rating because it only showed it at that time on tape delay and not everyone is going to seek out a pirated Russian website streaming it live like the rest of the world is seeing it.
Here's a novel concept: Show events live, as they happen, then let's see what the ratings are. Replay it in prime time for Grandma Sally and Aunt Bee, but show the events live. Heck, you can double-dip on your advertising that way. People will watch. They watch Wimbledon live. They watch the British Open live. They watch World Cup soccer from South Africa live. But I can't watch the Olympics live? (Note: On my 55-inch TV, not my 17-inch computer monitor.)
Out here in the Mountain time zone, I can't even get Saturday morning events live. The men's road race was shown on one-hour delay. Why? What purpose does that serve?
So let NBC crow all it wants, but people are ticked off because it keeps pulling this garbage. And the ratings are where they are going to be because there are no other choices to watch the events on 55-inch HD TVs like they want to because NBC won't give people the choice to watch events live.
And with marquee events being delayed to prime time for "better ratings," can we expect NBC to delay Sunday Night Football until prime time in the Mountain and Pacific time zones for better ratings?