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Olympics ratings down, NBCU CEO predicted this and preemptively blamed millennials
- Thread starter XiaNaphryz
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Livingskeletons
If I pulled that off, would you die?
Get Bob Costas to start announcing again.
That will get me to watch.
That will get me to watch.
SoRuffShoNuff
Member
I don't think it has anything to do with getting with the times or bad commentary. It's that with the streaming options, that even NBC provides, if you want to see an event you can see it as soon as you get home instead of waiting for the prime time show. Also in the past you were stuck watching whatever NBC decided to show, not the case now. If you want to watch a Badminton stream during the live swimming events you can.
Canada's demographics are relatively similar to the US, so if the CBC can increase their ratings, then the failings of NBC's ratings should be down to their own ineptitude. I haven't watched much NBC Olympic coverage, but what I saw was unwatchable garbage. And therein lies their problem: their coverage self-admittedly targets middle-aged women who don't really care about the actual competition. There's nothing to appeal to millenials, so why should there be any surprise at being unable to reach that demographic?
We live in an age of social media and instant notification of sporting results, yet NBC places no value on showing live events, so they're doomed to ever decreasing ratings until they change their ways.
They won't.
Hierophant
Banned
shout out to channel 7 in australia for actually having good coverage without ads every two minutes
professor_t
Member
For all of the people who are bitching about the tape delay, are you saying they should have shown it live and then shown it again during prime time?
Only showing it live wouldn't have been a realistic option in the US given that most people are actually at work during that time. It's kind of a rock and a hard place.
Only showing it live wouldn't have been a realistic option in the US given that most people are actually at work during that time. It's kind of a rock and a hard place.
Once TV in Mexico did very well, it was far better that the "comedic" shit that Televisa and TV Azteca used to do, and also they didn't choked sponsors down our throat.
Only complain I have is that the closing ceremony was delayed 2 hours for some reason, but you could easily watch it online, so no biggie.
Only complain I have is that the closing ceremony was delayed 2 hours for some reason, but you could easily watch it online, so no biggie.
That's exactly how much of the world does it, so what's the big deal? It's not as if most people can't find out results trivially anyways. In any case, this is only an example of NBC's poor attitude towards Olympic coverage. Their presentation is garbage even without the tape delay.
Another thing that pissed me off was when they finally DID get around to showing their tape-delayed broadcasts, they showed entirely too many commercials instead of other athletes competing. All too often, they would come back from a commercial break, talk endlessly about an American athlete, and then go right back to a damn commercial without showing a single athlete competing.
I mean, what the fuck?! Is commentary supposed to substitute for actual sports coverage? There are other athletes competing! Withholding coverage until prime time just gives them an excuse to slice and dice the event and stuff as many commercials into it as possible.
I mean, what the fuck?! Is commentary supposed to substitute for actual sports coverage? There are other athletes competing! Withholding coverage until prime time just gives them an excuse to slice and dice the event and stuff as many commercials into it as possible.
These programs are supposedly tailored to middle-aged women who care more about the human stories than in the actual competition. It's pretty awful for everyone else though.
The issue is that NBC was time shifting. I don't think many people time shift sports.
LumpOfCole
Member
I stopped watching after the 3rd commercial break in 8 minutes during the start of the opening ceremony.
Heavy_D206
Member
I'm saying you do all day live coverage and then at night after the events are done you run a Highlight Show for 2 hours or whatever.
The Faceless Master
Member
but they weren't live. i saw clips of tons of stuff long before they aired 'live on NBC' and i'm sure tons of other Millennials did too.
I only watched main events like track and field, swimming and some volleyball here and there.
Ive been working 24/7 this summer so barely have time to watch
"Millennials" don't even watch TV. I talk with many people my age at my work and nobody watches. Just watch for weather/news then everything else is Netflix, Hulu etc..
Ive been working 24/7 this summer so barely have time to watch
"Millennials" don't even watch TV. I talk with many people my age at my work and nobody watches. Just watch for weather/news then everything else is Netflix, Hulu etc..
What I mean is NBC can still continue with their style of prime time coverage but also look into a sustainable business model with live streams on other devices. Maybe they already have, but then sending out the "dooooooomed" PR that ratings are down 20% without providing info on how other Olympic contents generate revenue for NBC through other media is a little dishonest.
It can also be a strategy to pave the road for their next negotiation with IOC on broadcasting rights
baxter2231
Member
There are so many sports i didnt get to see because of NBC. I watched like 30 seconds of archery and like 10 min of indoor cycling. They need more channels and they need to air stuff live and just replay it later on a random channel. This is all on NBC not the viewers.
Iva Demilcol
Member
This is the first time I almost skipped the broadcasts of the Olympics. I was not in the mood to watch them. Supposedly I'm a millennial too...
Here, NBC, I'll solve your fucking problem for you, since you don't even realize where your problem lies.
I was ready to watch a whole lot of Olympics. Unfortunately, my cable package did not include all of the specific channels required to see all of your coverage. And due to this, I was also unable to watch the events on your website. I was not about to fork over to my cable company for 3 additional channel packages (in addition to the two I already pay for) for the 3 channels I was missing. (It was also spectacularly unclear that this was why I was unable to watch online. I had to research on several different sites to realize this was the problem, because I was never given an error message directing me to an actual solution.)
I would, however, have been willing to pay you directly for access to your web coverage. Put a payment option on your website for access to live web streams next time, and I - and I imagine many others - will gladly pay for it. Your TV partners may chafe at the notion, but if so, tell them to get off their asses and allow people to reasonably subscribe to your Olympics coverage channels without requiring them to buy into 5 or more packages. I'd also accept this option.
The current coverage was an absolute nightmare for anyone on FIOS. I imagine this is because you want to protect your investment in Comcast. If you're willing to torpedo your Olympic ratings to protect that investment, go right the fuck ahead, I guess.
I was ready to watch a whole lot of Olympics. Unfortunately, my cable package did not include all of the specific channels required to see all of your coverage. And due to this, I was also unable to watch the events on your website. I was not about to fork over to my cable company for 3 additional channel packages (in addition to the two I already pay for) for the 3 channels I was missing. (It was also spectacularly unclear that this was why I was unable to watch online. I had to research on several different sites to realize this was the problem, because I was never given an error message directing me to an actual solution.)
I would, however, have been willing to pay you directly for access to your web coverage. Put a payment option on your website for access to live web streams next time, and I - and I imagine many others - will gladly pay for it. Your TV partners may chafe at the notion, but if so, tell them to get off their asses and allow people to reasonably subscribe to your Olympics coverage channels without requiring them to buy into 5 or more packages. I'd also accept this option.
The current coverage was an absolute nightmare for anyone on FIOS. I imagine this is because you want to protect your investment in Comcast. If you're willing to torpedo your Olympic ratings to protect that investment, go right the fuck ahead, I guess.
Some of the events in the primetime coverage weren't live. The vast majority of their coverage was live.
I don't think it's sports that are less ingrained into young people. Football, basketball, soccer, hockey... the major sports are all still huge, and some are bigger than ever, numbers wise.
I do think there is less of an appeal for people to watch their country compete in a bunch of sports no one really cares about. Swimming? Track and field? No one gives a FUCK about these sports during the 4 years between the Olympics. Why would we suddenly give a shit now? because the networks say so?
I feel like the Olympics name and branding holds a very special appeal to older generations. My mom despises sports, but watched the Olympics religiously for the last two weeks. Like... more hardcore than I watch basketball, which I actively follow. But I can guarantee you that she isn't going to look into any of these Canadian divers or runners or swimmers at ALL between now and the next Olympics.
so while these older generations will still tune in every four years to watch no matter what... I get the feeling the younger audiences are asking "Wait, why do I care about these events?"
I do think there is less of an appeal for people to watch their country compete in a bunch of sports no one really cares about. Swimming? Track and field? No one gives a FUCK about these sports during the 4 years between the Olympics. Why would we suddenly give a shit now? because the networks say so?
I feel like the Olympics name and branding holds a very special appeal to older generations. My mom despises sports, but watched the Olympics religiously for the last two weeks. Like... more hardcore than I watch basketball, which I actively follow. But I can guarantee you that she isn't going to look into any of these Canadian divers or runners or swimmers at ALL between now and the next Olympics.
so while these older generations will still tune in every four years to watch no matter what... I get the feeling the younger audiences are asking "Wait, why do I care about these events?"
and anything besides NBC required a cable provider, PS Vue or something.
yeah. Like I said in my previous post, they should be offering people the opportunity to pay a fee for access to their web coverage.
sports less ingrained in the demographic? I would say its probably never been higher......basketball is at an all time high at least. Everyone and there mother knows who stephen curry is and my little brother and all his friends love playing, watching basketball.
When it comes to the olympics......eh, when they get older they will get into it.
But fuck comcast and fuck NBC
NBC.....like their parent company comcast......try use easy ways to make money and don't ever want to adjust or plan for the future. Time to start now if you want that contract to be worth anything. But, who am I kidding......they are absolutely a garbage tier company that can rot for all I care.
When it comes to the olympics......eh, when they get older they will get into it.
But fuck comcast and fuck NBC
NBC.....like their parent company comcast......try use easy ways to make money and don't ever want to adjust or plan for the future. Time to start now if you want that contract to be worth anything. But, who am I kidding......they are absolutely a garbage tier company that can rot for all I care.
UncleSporky
Member
If you're pre-emptively predicting problems due to the millenials snapchatting and facebooking their vidyas, then you've got no excuse. You saw the problem coming and you didn't try to do anything about it. Next time adapt your strategy to capture that market.
The $12 billion is fine as long as they make a profit, and they still are making it a profitable endeavor.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-olympics-rio-nbc-idUSKCN10M2B0
That's too bad. Hopefully, NBC starts losing money on their Olympics venture.
How would showing it live when everyone was at work have helped the ratings though?
I thought their coverage was fine except the commercials.
There is a decent-sized potential audience outside of the primetime hours, and what NBC was doing was tape delaying live events on the West Coast. Showing more events live wouldn't automatically increase their ratings, but doing so would mean that they would also have to change the way their programming appeals to the different demographics. And it's this latter part that has a chance at those better ratings.
Already Torn
Banned
If sports are being taken over by eSports and SnapChat and Fleek whatever's, then they should go the full way with Japan. We already have anime, bring on the anime fighters!
On top of that, I can't imagine a person who uses Facebook or does enough social stuff to use snapchat would be unaware of that angry Phelps meme, let alone the Olympics as a whole.
oh come on lol
Sport brings people together, it is part of the human condition to compete in athletics. Just as much as science and history make up the fabric of daily life, sport has its part to play as well.
The Olympics always focuses on history and sports science.
R10Neymarfan
Member
They won't because they have exclusive rights, a monopoly so people have no choice but to watch and they are milking that fact.
I wouldn't be surprised if NBC tries to find a way to control the internet in attempts to curb Americans from pirating LIVE feed from CBC or BBC
buttery fistful
Member
if more people shit themselves during their competition i'd watch more
Calamari41
41 > 38
I'm not a communications professional, but how about you show it live on a sister channel at 4 or 5 PM and then, if it's that big of a draw, show it again on the main NBC broadcast channel during prime time? How does the rest of the world, which apparently didn't see a viewership drop-off, do it?
I mean, they were interrupting tape-delayed-for-prime-time qualifiers to update us on Kerri and April's matches, which were happening live but slated to be shown hours later. That's just completely backward.
The ratings went down significantly this year, so there's a chance that they'll drop even more for Pyeongchang and Tokyo. Only a small number of people use VPNs so there's not a whole lot of point in clamping down on them.
there were online ads?
Only saw them on the mobile apps. Wonder if my adblocker handled those?
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