Beijing Olympic Ratings Worst of All Winter Games


An average of 11.4 million viewers watched the Beijing Olympics on NBC Universal platforms each night – the smallest prime-time audience on record for any Winter Games and a pretty good 19.8 million nightly viewers for the Pyeongchang Games in 2018.

more than two weeks of coverage starting with cold opening show NBC’s television channel, which ends Sunday, February 4, has attracted a combined 160 million viewers across its Peacock streaming service and other platforms, NBC Universal announced on Monday.

Dramatic story lines proliferated during NBC Universal’s 2800 hour run, but few appealed to an audience that craved escape raids and tales of triumph. Pandemic restrictions contests to be in a bubble. The result: mostly empty stands and posts from NBC announcers like Johnny Weir and Tara Lipinski. a compound in Connecticut.

Many of the most memorable episodes lacked the refreshing, inspiring qualities that made blockbuster Olympic broadcasts. Mikaela ShiffrinAn American skier who won three Olympic medals before arriving in Beijing stumbled disastrously several races and returned home empty-handed. Kamila ValievaThe 15-year-old Russian figure skating star, fell apart during free skating while overcoming a doping scandal. When she got off the ice, her coach scolded her on camera.

Geopolitical tensions also triggered the Olympics. China sought to purge the Games of political overtones using bots and fake accounts. Concerns over the well-being of the Chinese tennis player Peng ShuaiLast year, a political official accused of sexual harassment threatened to overshadow the Games.

“The Olympic brand is really struggling. “Many people no longer feel that emotional connection,” said Tang Tang, a media professor at Kent State University who studies the Olympics.

The Beijing Olympics lacked the kind of powerhouse narrative that turned American swimmer Michael Phelps and his teammates. eight gold medals It became a must-watch television series in 2008. One of the debuting stars of this year’s Games Chinese-American skier Eileen GuHe competed for China instead of the USA. and the players National Hockey League did not attend.

“Audiences watch the Olympics for the stories. They need that superhero story, that star quality,” said Professor Tang. “They see the Olympics not as a real sporting event, but as something more personal.”

In 2014, NBC Universal bought the American rights to broadcast the Olympics through 2032 for $7.75 billion. But the Beijing Games and the Tokyo Games six months ago were logistically challenging. Tokyo Olympics withdrawn the smallest audience Since NBCUniversal began covering the Summer Games in 1988.

In Beijing, NBC Universal grappled with a 13-hour time difference from New York, meaning that social media and news reports often gave Olympic results long before viewers watched a broadcast. The company said this year’s Olympics was the most watched Winter Games ever, with 4.3 billion minutes broadcast on digital and social media.

Long before this month, NBC Universal told advertisers to expect lower ratings for the Beijing Games compared to the Pyeongchang event. The company said on Monday that its coverage in Beijing surpassed anything in prime-time television outside of the NFL.

The biggest night for the Games this year was February 13, which was watched by 24 million viewers, most probably from NBC Universal. Super Bowl broadcast. The football match attracted 70 percent of the total viewers, or 112 million viewers, who watched the Olympics over the course of more than two weeks.



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