Follow ShowHype on Twitter
Idle Chatter: Swimming in Olympic Gold
Pressed —
... -NBC's set to clear about $100 million in profit from the Olympics thanks to sky-high ratings. Jeff Zucker wants to you remember this moment next time you're accusing him of failing upward. [NYT] ...
Olympics: 'A Great Story For Network Television'
Media Decoder —
NBC’s ratings for the Summer Olympics have been “far beyond the network’s expectations,” Bill Carter reports in Monday’s New York Times. Network executives project that profits will surpass $100 million for the Beijing Games. Jeff Zucker, the chief executive of NBC Universal, said in a telephone interview that the success of the Games showed the future of network television might not be quite as dismal as had been forecast. “It’s a great story for network television,” he said. “This proves the pipes still work.” He added, “When you have an event that transcends popular ...
Olympics: NBC Dominates Sunday Ratings, Too
Media Decoder —
On the first night of individual event finals in gymnastics, NBC’s coverage of the Beijing Olympics maintained its television ratings dominance on Sunday. According to Nielsen’s estimates, an average of 25.2 million viewers tuned in to NBC during prime time, far more than any other network’s programming but less than previous nights of this year’s Summer Games. Through Saturday, the Olympics had averaged close to 30 million viewers a night, nearly 4 million more than four years ago. CBS ranked second on Sunday thanks to “60 Minutes” at 7 p.m. (7.1 million), “Big Brother” at ...
Phelps' 8th Win Means Flashback to 1990
Gothamist —
... Yes, Michael Phelps's quest to win eight gold medals has helped give NBC much higher than expected ratings for the Beijing Olympics. And his eighth gold medal on Saturday was a bonanza. ...
Olympics: NBC Releases More Advertising And Reaps More Gold
Media Decoder —
Wary of making ratings commitments it couldn’t keep for the Summer Olympics, NBC Universal withheld some commercial inventory for use as make-good ads — free commercials to compensate advertisers when audience levels aren’t as high as anticipated. Given the unexpectedly high ratings for the Beijing Games, NBC “released the additional inventory to clamoring advertisers” late last week, Bill Carter and Richard Sandomir reported in Monday’s New York Times. It didn’t take long to sell the inventory: on Tuesday NBC said that it had sold an additional $25 million in advertising ...
