It’s rare we get to say great things about NBC, but what can I say? There are great things to say. 168 million max TV exposure so far. Almost 60% of the United States has watched at least some of the Olympics, and the performance keeps getting better. On a total viewers basis they are now ahead of Athens by about 10%, and keeping in mind that trends with broadcast television have been going down, down, down…anything that’s up, especially 10% up, is a good thing. We have more information on the TAMi here and here, if you’re interested. Here’s NBC’s latest release.
PHELPS AND GYMNASTICS POWERS NBC TO MOST VIEWED AND HIGHEST RATED NIGHT OF BEIJING GAMES
First Olympic TAMi Released Today
Total Viewership for Beijing Games Reaches 168 Million – Nearly 15 Million More Than Athens
BEIJING -Aug. 14, 2008 – NBC had its most viewed and highest rated night of the Olympics so far as Michael Phelps set the record for most Olympic gold medals ever won last night, reaching 82 million total viewers and posting a 19.9 rating, 34 share.
JEFF ZUCKER, PRESIDENT AND CEO, NBC UNIVERSAL: “Obviously our multi-platform Olympic strategy is a success, but this record-breaking Olympic performance is proving that network television is more alive than ever. We are breaking records that are 20, 30 and nearly 50 years old – this is a fantastic triumph for network TV.”
Today, NBC Universal has issued its first TAMi (Total Audience Measurement Index) for the first four days of the Beijing Games. On Monday Aug. 11, the total TAMi was 103,048,165. (more detail below)
ALAN WURTZEL, PRESIDENT, RESEARCH, NBC UNIVERSAL: “The beauty of the TAMi is that we can optimize the way we measure content across all of our platforms and evaluate how each platform is being used over time. When we look at the first few days of TAMi data, it’s clear that while the power of broadcast television remains unmatched, consumers are seeking out and taking advantage of all the different platforms offering Olympic coverage, creating an entirely new Olympic experience.”
- Monday night’s 82 million total viewers is the most of any night so for in the Beijing Games. The 34.0 million average viewers bested Athens by nearly four million viewers (30.1) and the night earned a 19.9 rating/34 share, a nine percent jump from Athens in 2004 (18.3/30).
- Through five days NBCU has attracted 168 million total viewers, nearly15 million more than the first five days for Athens (153 million).
- NBC’s Beijing Olympic five-day average viewership is 31.3 million, almost five million more than Athens in 2004 (25.8 million). The national rating average of 17.8/31 is the best primetime rating through the first Tuesday for a non-U.S. Summer Olympics since Barcelona in 1992 (18.2/34) and is a 16 percent jump from Athens in 2004 (15.4/27).
FIRST PUBLICLY ISSUED TAMI: The TAMi (Total Audience Measurement Index) will measure the 3600 hours of programming during the 2008 Beijing Olympics, including Television (P2+ reach), Online (Unique Users), Mobile (WAP unique users and Mobile VOD unique users) and TV VOD (unique users). Below is the TAMi for each of the first four days of the Games:
Friday, Aug. 8: 74,606,981
Saturday, Aug. 9: 97,785,013
Sunday, Aug. 10: 113,001,144
Monday, Aug, 11: 103,048,165
*A complete TAMi through Aug. 11 is available at NBC Media Village at www.nbcumv.com . Click TAMi graphic on right side of the page.
TRAFFIC CONTINUES TO SWELL ON NBCOLYMPICS.COM: Through five days NBCOlympics.com has easily surpassed the Athens Games in every metric:
- VIDEO STREAMS: 17.7 million for Beijing, 2.2 million for ENTIRE Athens Games (+705%)
- UNIQUE USERS: 21.1 million for Beijing, 11.1 million for ENTIRE Athens Games (+90%)
- PAGE VIEWS: 373.9 million for Beijing, 229.9 million for ENTIRE Athens Games (+63%)
NBC Universal, broadcasting its record 11th Olympics and surpassing ABC for the most Olympics broadcast by any network, will present an unprecedented 3,600 hours of Beijing Olympic Games coverage, the most ambitious single media project in history featuring the most live coverage (nearly 2,900 live hours in total), across the most platforms, of any Summer Olympics in history.
Of course, perhaps just part of the reason for these ratings has to do with the fact that morely people are simply staying home — and more likely to watch tv — this summer, cutting back on vacations because of gas prices!
I really enjoy Matt Lauer, Rowdy Gaines, Chris Collinsworth and Bob Costas..great work. Am thrilled Katie Couric is no longer a part of this. Michael Phelps is a true joy to watch and root for…seems like a very nice guy and well spoken. Also, love the all day coverage since I work at home and can check in when I want.
You guys got linked on Drudge. Congrats!
For a sports and spectacle fan, not to mention rooting for your own home teams…this is great coverage! thank you, nbc. good job.
Doug — Yikes, I didn't realize we'd gotten an additional link near the top of the page today. To say that made a significant difference would be understated. Wow. And thanks again for the kind words.
I got to watch the exciting woman's team hand ball game (didn't know it existed) between Romania and Bratislava! Yes, I was sitting at a bar and had no control over the TV. The Olympics are pathetic!
Hey, surprise! Live coverage = ratings. Who knew?<br><br>I do have to give NBC props for finally figuring it out. It took them long enough, but they're doing a better job this year than they have in any previous Olympics that they've covered. Was it 1992 or 1996 when every single event was covered tape-delayed, and in a style like it was a Dateline story?
Jeff,<br><br>You can't put all of that on NBC. There is a 12 hour time difference with the east coast and china vs. 5-8 hour difference with most of Europe, plus, the Europeans didn't reschedule events so that the best events would be on during primetime in New York. <br><br>Then again, we're not as big of consumers of Europe's product than we are China's, so forgive me being a bit cynical for a few seconds, but given the time differences and differences of economics between US and China and US and Europe, it's not a great surprise.
You guys run a fantastic website, so the kind words are more than deserved. I ran one myself from 2000-2006, but it's too hard to break-out and Nielsen was much more picky at that time. I remained a relative unknown except to a dozen or so readers, but it also allowed me the freedom to archive full ratings lists. Of course, it's all gone now, so it's a moot point.<br><br>the reason why your website is fantastic is because there's raw reporting of the numbers, plus analysis and lots of other goodies that the networks send out (things most people miss because they don't even know the networks have press sites). along with tvtattle, this has quickly become by favorite resource for television.
Jeff, it was fairly understandable what they did back in 1994 and 1996 because there was noplace else to go. One specific network had the rights to the Olympics and without a resource as well developed as the internet, for most, it was either watch it tape-delayed or wait for tomorrow's newspaper for the results. Of course, that's all changed now, so NBC has to be very agile. It seems to be doing a great job, helped in no small part by the US team's stellar performance (esp. Phelps) up to this point.<br><br>NBC must be doing jumping jacks that the next Olympics are just 18 months away and are being held in Vancouver, giving them prime-time live coverage for the big events. NBC really needed these Olympics to be huge not only from a profit standpoint, but also from a promotional one – it'll be interesting to see what kind of boost its premieres get out of this. Another plus for NBC – if these Olympics do end up boosting this season, the 2010 ones will boost next season as well. If any network ever needed a life-line this big, it was NBC, and it got just that and more.
Thanks very much Doug, it's appreciated. If Bill weren't on vacation, he'd thank you too…