Posted on 08/16/2004 6:52:01 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - NBC's broadcast of the 2004 Olympics has gotten off to as bumpy a start as the U.S. Olympic team itself, with prime-time ratings for the first three days of the Summer Games down slightly from four years ago, according to figures released on Monday.
NBC's prime-time Olympics coverage still towered over the usual summer sitcoms, reality shows and reruns offered on rival U.S. networks during the first three days of the Athens Games, posting a hefty household rating of 14.1 and a full quarter share of all viewers watching TV on those evenings.
But compared with the 2000 Summer Games in Sydney, Australia -- the lowest-rated Olympics in more than 30 years -- prime-time ratings for Friday through Sunday in Athens were off 3 percent, though Sunday evening alone posted a year-to-year gain, Nielsen Media Research reported.
A rating point is equal to 1 percent of the 108.4 million U.S. households with TV sets.
NBC's telecast of the opening ceremonies -- a showpiece event that sets the tone of Olympics coverage and typically attracts higher ratings than the first two weekend days of competition -- drew an average audience of 25 million viewers, down from 27.3 million for the Sydney Games (news - web sites), the network said, citing Nielsen data.
But NBC cheered its own performance, focusing on a broader gauge of viewership -- the total number of individuals who tuned in to some portion of the broadcast, regardless of when.
By that measure, about 56 million viewers saw at least some of the nearly four-hour spectacle of Greek gods, chiseled athletes and spectacular fireworks that kicked off the Summer Games in the ancient capital.
"With the average American television household having 25 more channels to choose from than it did four years ago, it feels great to be right on the viewership levels of Sydney's Opening Ceremony," Dick Ebersol, Chairman, NBC Universal Sports and Olympics, said in a statement.
FALLING NUMBERS
Among all U.S. households with TV sets, NBC's ratings for Friday and Saturday night were down from the same nights four years ago, each by about 11 percent. Sunday was a better day for the network, though, as prime-time ratings rose nearly 6 percent over 2000.
The Olympics got off to a somewhat disappointing start for the United States, with a stunning loss by the basketball "Dream Team" to Puerto Rico and American athletes clinching fewer gold medals overall than at the same point four years ago.
Attendance in Athens has been disappointing, too, as organizers fell short of promises to sell about 65 percent of a total 5.2 million tickets to events by the games' opening, though stands at some events were still barely half full.
POMP, PAGEANTRY
While ratings were flat to lower, U.S. TV critics were generally pleased with Friday's opening event, including those jaundiced by the Olympics' increasing commercialism.
"Even with all the bluster and bloat -- beginning with the strains of the 'Jurassic Park' theme that opened NBC's coverage -- the Games themselves remain hard to screw up, fueled by the noble ideal of seeing the world compete in sporting arenas, not on battlefields," Daily Variety's Brian Lowry wrote on Monday.
"After some second-guessing about their preparedness, the Greeks clearly rallied to the task before them, delivering an Opening Ceremony that met the high standard for these spectacles," Lowry said.
But others could not resist digging at the games' sponsored nature -- especially with NBC saying Friday it had reached a goal of $1 billion in advertising commitments.
"Welcome to Greece. Home of Eros, the God of Love; Zeus, the God of the Heavens; Visa, the God of Debt; and Nike, the God of Shoes We Want," wrote the Los Angeles Times' Paul Brownfield, in opening his review.
NBC has said it expects the 2004 games to be as profitable as Sydney, a figure sources have pegged at around $50 million.
NBC, and its sister networks carrying Olympic coverage, are units of NBC Universal, part of General Electric Co.
I was convent educated here in Ireland.
Getting hit by a paddle was an every day happening, normally felt during maths class.
Playing hockey was childs play by comparison! *L*
So, someone's not going to watch the remaining 15 days of the Olympics, because she was on day one...
OK then.
Olympics? Did the games begin already? And who is NBC?
Are ye being sarcastic?
I hear ya..
I'm watching the cheese heads take a pounding by the Seahawks.. ;-)
The Olympics never really held any fascination with me except in '84, and nobody can ever come close to ABC's coverage.
I remember Innsbruck ,, Munich ,, LA ,, Tokyo best
I was just 16 in '72, and remember Munich somewhat, but I suppose I wasn't old enough to appreciate the ramifications of it all.
I do remember McKay saying "they're all gone".
Im a year ahead of ya.. I was 17, watched a couple nights of the downhill at this cheerleader's house by the fire.. well, sort of watched it. ;-)
Awesome picture, but unfortunately about 24 hours too late. NBC really screwed this one up IMHO. If they'd broadcast the Olympics in HD at the same time as their SD coverage, I'd be all over it. As it is, a full day delay is just ridiculous. You'd have to live in a hole not to hear who won what from the day before, so it's not worth watching at all. Their HD coverage is just pretty pictures with all the drama & mystery removed. Boring.
I'm with you on ABC's coverage. I find myself constantly annoyed by NBC and their smarmy, over-the-top, overhyped coverage. And they're better this year than they've ever been. Still not good enough. But I love the games, so I keep watching.
Too late. Not interested any more. As far as I'm concerned, the modern Olympics is an idea whose time has past — rather like the old World's Fairs.
I find that I hardly watch ANYTHING on NBC, just because it's NBC.
I think the Olympics used to be a lot more fun to watch in the 1970s. I remember the 76 and 80 Olympics as a child, and they seemed more full of suspense and energy and excitement.
One of the best Friday night lineups in my memory - BRISCO, THE X-FILES and in the town where I lived, first run episodes of STAR TREK DEEP SPACE NINE...
Here's all you need to know: Field hockey is the traditional sport for Yankee preppie girls.
TS
4 times is too much; it is spelled "AMATEUR."
So when will they make poker an Olympic sport? They might as well, they've made every other sport an Olympic sport.
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