NBC Olympics
coverage: 835 hours
Vancouver Games will receive twice the coverage
By Toni Fitzgerald
Jan 15, 2010
The 2006 Winter Olympics were the lowest rated in history, and NBC expects to lose money on this year's Vancouver Games.
Nonetheless, the network is pushing ahead with wide-ranging coverage of the event, the most it has ever aired from the Winter Games.
NBC Universal said yesterday that it will carry 835 hours of coverage across five networks and its online home, NBCOlympics.com.
That's almost double the coverage it aired from Torino four years ago (419 hours) and more than the combined coverage from the 2006 and 2002 Winter Games (794.5 hours).
It will include an average of 50 hours per day over 17 days, and it will all be broadcast in high definition, another Olympic first. Online coverage will also be available in HD.
NBC will carry the big events, including heavy primetime coverage of men's and women's figure skating and alpine skiing. Speed skating, primetime and freestyle skiing will also get primetime coverage.
The Opening Ceremonies will air at 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 12, kicking off 193.5 hours of coverage on the network.
USA Network will air mostly ice sports, with 41 hours concentrated on curling and ice hockey. The U.S. women's and men's hockey games will air live on the channel, and Universal HD will re-air all of USA's Games coverage.
MSNBC will air 100 hours of Olympics, including hockey, curling and speed and figure skating, starting at various times.
CNBC's 100 hours of coverage will consist of hockey, curling and biathlon, starting at 5 p.m. daily.
Of note, Bravo will not be airing coverage this year despite airing it in the past.
The online coverage should see huge gains over 2006. It was a big draw for the 2008 Summer Games and allows users to customize their experience. Since '08, live web video viewing has really taken off, driven by events such as President Barack Obama's inauguration and Michael Jackson's funeral.
The 2006 Winter Games averaged a 12.3 household rating and had the Olympics' worst-ever averages among total viewers and adults 18-49.
The network is still moving ad inventory for the Games. Though sales have picked up in recent months, NBC estimates it will lose $200 million on the event, mainly due to an exorbitant rights fee of $2.2 billion.
|
|
|
