Ten days after the closing ceremonies, NBC is still basking in the afterglow of the hugely successful Olympics, winning the first full week of non-Games competition.
And it still has some good news coming out of Beijing as well.
The network, which drew a record 211 million cumulative viewers for the Games, did a good job of connecting with viewers during its coverage, according to a new study out this week from Digital Life America, a branch of Toronto-based research firm Solutions Research Group.
When asked to grade NBC’s performance in presenting the Olympics, respondents offered an average grade of A-, with a full 20 percent awarding it the highest possible mark of A+. Only 10 percent gave NBC a mark below a B.
Specifically, respondents praised the network’s strong production values and the availability of the games in high definition. On the less-technical end, viewers said that the network gave good insights into athletes’ lives, provided strong background coverage of Chinese culture, and covered a wide range of sports.
There were a few criticisms, many of them mentioned in the press during the 17-day event. Viewers complained that the network at times skipped around in its coverage too much, flitting from one event to another without seeing one sport through to the end. For example, gymnastics, swimming, beach volleyball and diving were all crammed into one night.
Some viewers felt the network put too much emphasis on a narrow number of sports, while others were confused about the airtimes for different events.
Overall, however, those criticisms were fairly minor, especially for an event that included more hours of coverage than any past Olympics combined across broadcast, cable and the web.
Still, DLA’s analysis finds that the vast majority of viewers continued to receive their coverage the traditional way, via TV, despite the availability of online, mobile and video on demand feeds. Eighty-six percent of respondents said they watched Olympic action mostly on "regular" TV.
Just 45 percent of digital video recorder owners reported recording Games coverage for later viewing, and a mere 16 percent of digital cable VOD subscribers used it to catch up on the Olympics.
Streaming video via NBCOlympics.com was only the fourth-most popular activity on the site, despite the availability of some 25 sports feeds. Most visitors reported going to check medal standings, with looking up the TV schedule ranking second.
Forty-four percent of respondents did say they’d be more likely to watch online coverage of the Games if their favorite sports weren’t available on television.
***
Meanwhile, in broadcast ratings for the week ended Aug. 31:
Among adults 18-49, NBC was first with a 1.7 rating and a 5 share, followed by Univision and Fox at 1.6/5, CBS at 1.4/4, ABC at 1.3/4, CW at 0.6/2, Telemundo and MyNetworkTV at 0.4/1, Telefutura at 0.3/1, and Ion and Azteca at 0.1/0.
Among adults 18-34, Univision was first with a 1.8 average rating and a 6 share, followed by Fox at 1.5/5, NBC at 1.3/5, ABC at 1.1/4, CBS at 0.9/3, CW at 0.6/2, Telemundo at 0.4/2, MyNetworkTV and Telefutura at 0.3/1, Azteca at 0.1/0 and Ion at 0.0/0.
Among adults 25-54, NBC was first with a 2.1 average rating and a 6 share, followed by CBS at 1.9/5, Fox at 1.8/5, ABC and Univision at 1.5/4, CW at 0.6/2, MyNetworkTV at 0.5/1, Telemundo at 0.4/1, Telefutura at 0.3/1 and Ion and Azteca at 0.1/0.
Top five English-language Big Five shows (18-49s): 1. NBC’s “America’s Got Talent” 3.1; 2. CBS’s “Two and a Half Men” 3.0; Tie-3. NBC’s “Deal or No Deal - Monday” and “America’s Got Talent – Wednesday” 2.8; 5. NBC’s “America’s Toughest Jobs” 2.7.
Top five English-language Big Five shows (total viewers): 1. NBC’s “America’s Got Talent” 11.12 million; 2. NBC’s “Deal or No Deal - Monday” 11.0 million; 3. NBC’s “America’s Got Talent – Wednesday” 10.34 million; 4. CBS’s “Two and a Half Men” 9.03 million; 5. CBS’s “60 Minutes” 8.03 million.
Top five Live+7 English-language Big Five shows (households, week ended Aug. 17): 1. NBC’s “Olympics – Tuesday Prime” 20.2; 2. NBC’s “Olympics – Thursday Prime” 18.1; 3. NBC’s “Olympics – Saturday Prime” 17.9; 4. NBC’s “Olympics – Monday Prime” 17.8; 5. NBC’s “Olympics – Wednesday Prime” 16.8.
Top five Live+7 English-language Big Five shows (18-49s, week ended Aug. 17): 1. NBC’s “Olympics – Tuesday Prime” 12.6; Tie-2. NBC’s “Olympics – Monday Prime” and “Olympics – Saturday Prime” 10.7; 4. NBC’s “Olympics – Thursday Prime” 10.5; 5. NBC’s “Olympics – Wednesday Prime” 9.5.
Show on the rise: “America’s Most Wanted,” Fox, Sunday 9 p.m. The crime-stopping show bounced back while not having to face the Olympics, posting a 1.8 among 18-49s, up 20 percent from the previous week’s 1.5.
Show on the decline: “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,” ABC, Sunday 9 p.m. Labor Day weekend cut into Sunday night family viewing, with the 9 p.m. hour of “Home Edition” posting just a 1.4 among 18-49s for a repeat, down 26 percent from the previous week’s 1.9 (also a repeat).
|
WEEKLY PRIMETIME AVERAGES BY NETWORK
Ranked on Households
Week Ending August 31 |
|
Network
|
Households
|
People 2+
|
Adults 18-49
|
|
Rtg%
|
(000)
|
Shr
|
Rtg%
|
(000)
|
Shr
|
Rtg%
|
(000)
|
Shr
|
|
NBC
|
3.8
|
4300
|
7
|
2.0
|
5860
|
6
|
1.7
|
2240
|
5
|
|
CBS
|
3.6
|
4010
|
6
|
1.8
|
5290
|
5
|
1.4
|
1880
|
4
|
|
FOX
|
3.0
|
3390
|
5
|
1.6
|
4580
|
5
|
1.6
|
2070
|
5
|
|
ABC
|
2.8
|
3130
|
5
|
1.4
|
4120
|
4
|
1.3
|
1700
|
4
|
|
UNI
|
1.9
|
2140
|
3
|
1.3
|
3630
|
4
|
1.6
|
2030
|
5
|
|
CW
|
1.1
|
1230
|
2
|
0.6
|
1590
|
2
|
0.6
|
790
|
2
|
|
MNT
|
0.7
|
820
|
1
|
0.4
|
1110
|
1
|
0.4
|
560
|
1
|
|
TEL
|
0.5
|
580
|
1
|
0.3
|
930
|
1
|
0.4
|
530
|
1
|
|
TF
|
0.3
|
340
|
1
|
0.2
|
550
|
1
|
0.3
|
350
|
1
|
|
ION
|
0.2
|
260
|
0
|
0.1
|
330
|
0
|
0.1
|
100
|
0
|
|
AZA
|
0.1
|
90
|
0
|
0.1
|
150
|
0
|
0.1
|
90
|
0
|
|
*
Each rating point is equivalent to
1. 128
million homes
Source: Nielsen Media Research
|
|
SEASON-TO-DATE PRIMETIME AVERAGES BY NETWORK
Ranked on Households
Week Ending August 31 |
|
Network
|
Households
|
People 2+
|
Adults 18-49
|
|
Rtg%
|
(000)
|
Shr
|
Rtg%
|
(000)
|
Shr
|
Rtg%
|
(000)
|
Shr
|
|
CBS
|
6.0
|
6770
|
10
|
3.3
|
9330
|
9
|
2.6
|
3390
|
7
|
|
FOX
|
5.7
|
6480
|
9
|
3.4
|
9610
|
9
|
3.6
|
4740
|
10
|
|
NBC
|
5.4
|
6050
|
9
|
3.0
|
8490
|
8
|
2.9
|
3740
|
8
|
|
ABC
|
5.2
|
5850
|
9
|
2.8
|
8010
|
7
|
2.6
|
3450
|
7
|
|
UNI
|
1.8
|
2030
|
3
|
1.2
|
3510
|
3
|
1.5
|
1960
|
4
|
|
CW
|
1.5
|
1700
|
2
|
0.8
|
2330
|
2
|
0.9
|
1220
|
3
|
|
MNT
|
0.7
|
840
|
1
|
0.4
|
1100
|
1
|
0.4
|
530
|
1
|
|
TEL
|
0.6
|
650
|
1
|
0.4
|
1040
|
1
|
0.4
|
570
|
