NBC Sports Pivots from HH to Cross-Platform Guarantees

In the past even when NBCamp8217s lineup showcased live events with viewers in Eastern and Central time zones seeing the competition play out in the moment those living in the Mountain and Pacific time zone were subjected to a tapedelayed experienceamp160 The erstwhile scheduling strategy aimed at presenting the best events in primetime and maximizing audience and ad revenues drew criticism from fans denied immediate big screen access It also prompted many to decry the monetization of the Games by NBCUniversalamp8217s parent Comcast and General Electric before itAlthough the Olympic spirit may hinge on athletes being amp8220faster higher and strongeramp8221 the billions paid in rights fees make finishing with plenty of green and ultimately in the black a competition unto itselfAccompanying the shift to an alllive presentation across NBC is a new game plan for how NBC Sports is selling its coverage from South Korea Traditionally the programmer peddled the Games on a TV household guarantee amp160But with digital consumption continuing to rise NBCU has streamed every event live since the 2012 Games NBC Sports is deploying Total Audience Delivery a metric combining viewing across broadcast cable and streaming outlets and based on viewers 2plusamp8220Itamp8217s the first time we are combining the audience guarantees across platformsamp8221 Dan Lovinger Executive Vice President of Advertising Sales at NBC Sports Group who headed an Olympic Upfront presentation on March 29 told the press on a conference call later that afternoonWith a favorable time zone one hour ahead of the East Coast and research expressing strong viewing intent the expectation was that Rio could challenge or even surpass the results from the 2012 London Summer Games despite seismic shifts in viewing habits But following a major downturn for the opening ceremony NBC never caught up averaging 254 million viewers with a 144 rating across 17 nights of coverage a massive audience but still down from 311 million viewers and a 175 rating from the 2012 Olympics The result makegoods for underdelivery even as NBC registered 250 million in profitsThe 2016 Olympics marked the first Games in US history when there were live primetime presentations on cable networks at the same time as on the primary broadcast channel The content on NBC was also streamed simultaneously for the first time Tacking on those extra viewing sources NBC Sports reported that the Total Audience Delivery provided a 7 lift to 275 million viewers the secondhighest average audience for any nondomestic Summer Games but still well short of Londonamp8217s legacyLovinger on the conference call said that the Rio Games generated 191 billion minutes of viewing 35 billion on digital platformsamp160 He noted that with the switch to total viewers quotwe39re better able to pivot from linear to digital and back again depending on where we see the viewership spikes coming from on a daytoday or eventtoevent basisquotNBC primetime which given the 13hour differential from PyeongChang to the East Coast will find many key events including figure skiing and skiing playing out live will continue to be paramount but wonamp8217t be the end all as has been in the pastAt this stage of the sales game Lovinger said PyeongChang is pacing ahead of Sochi which generated some 11 billion in ad sales The expectation is that the 2018 Games will surpass that markamp160 The sales process is receiving as assist as NBC holds the rights to Super Bowl LII which will take place Feb 4 four days before the opening ceremony amp160amp8220If they can afford it the onetwo combination of the Super Bowl and four days later the Olympics is pretty unbeatableamp8221 Lovinger saidAdditionally Spanishlanguage broadcaster Telemundo will televise the 2018 World Cup from Russia so NBCU holds the trifecta of top sports events amp8220an embarrassment of richesamp8221 in Lovingeramp8217s wordsThere is something else about the 2018 Winter Olympics that will be significantly different Viewers wonamp8217t see Bob Costasamp160 Heamp8217s dialing things back reducing his duties at NBC Sports and ending his record run as primetime host of 11 Olympics every one since Barcelona in 1992amp160Mike Tirico will be taking his placeamp160 He joined NBC Sports from ESPN quickly stepping to the tee box with NBCUamp8217s coverage of golfamp8217s Open Championship before pulling various NFL and Notre Dame duties He also took a turn as daytime host the 2016 Summer Games from Rio de Janeiro and will now move into the primetime hosting spotlightClick the social buttons above or below to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this article are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated bloggersamp160amp160

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NBC Sports Pivots from HH to Cross-Platform Guarantees

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NBC Sports Pivots from HH to Cross-Platform Guarantees

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J.P. Fields

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