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safferinamerica MICHAEL GOLDMAN (@michaelmgoldman)
is an Assistant Professor at the University of
South African academic Michael Goldman gives San Francisco in the USA and Adjunct Faculty
a marketing perspective from the US. at the University of Pretoria’s Gordon Institute
of Business Science (GIBS) in Johannesburg.

TV sports coverage and
the concern over missing

Millennial viewers

The broadcast of the Rio Olympics in the US raises further questions about
changing media technology and the way people now watch coverage of sports events.

Michael Goldman reports on a new TV viewership landscape.

OLYMPIC GAMES VIEWERS so many people knew of the results and the network said more than 190-million
in the US were served up controversies before seeing them on TV. minutes of content was watched on its
delayed and American-centric As one analyst wrote: “NBC’s decision various social platforms. This is despite
coverage of Rio 2016, resulting in more to delay its broadcast is absurd at best there being internal discontent within
than a little ridicule for broadcaster and shallowly profit-minded at worst.” the broadcaster, where it was felt that
NBC, which invested around US$1,23- the usual ‘long form’ TV coverage of the
billion in rights fees. The logic of curating the content events was not ideal for the ephemeral
for a more passive evening audience nature of social media.
Some fans were critical of NBC’s heavy extended to the NBC Sports app, which
focus on swimming and gymnastics – lacked a live Olympics schedule. The Thus, the message heard by many
where the US excels – and the almost consumers was: ‘if you really want to
exclusive emphasis on American success ? watch the Olympics, you should just
stories. John Miller, Chief Marketing NBC was accused of watch it on real TV’. Mark Lazarus,
Officer for NBC’s Olympics coverage, shallow profiteering Chairman of NBC Sports, confirmed as
explained it thus: “More women watch much when he argued that marketers
the Games than men; and [women are] NBCOlympics.com website was better; and advertisers ‘pay for scale’, which the
less interested in the result and more although its multiple broadcast streams network would only be able to provide
interested in the journey… it’s sort of like required viewers to have advanced via their TV audience, rather than digital.
the ultimate reality show and mini-series broadband. Even NBC’s Web-based
wrapped into one.” ‘live’ action was slightly delayed. Unfortunately, NBC fell short of its
promises to advertisers on scale, with
NBC decided to delay most of NBC said there were 50-million a 16% decline (5,1-million) in total
the Rio TV broadcast for prime time online viewers of its Olympics coverage, audience, relative to London 2012.
evening viewership, based on a similar an increase of over 100% on London Importantly, NBC’s ratings among 18-34
successful London 2012 broadcast 2012. Overall, fans were able to watch year-olds dropped by a massive 31%,
strategy, when viewers could get home 2,7-billion minutes of live streaming pushing the median age for Rio 2016
from work and watch the delayed action video on the website and app, more TV viewers to 52,4 years – up from
at user-friendly times. than double the combined total from 49,5 for London.
all previous Games.
The difference in 2016, though, was These results confirmed a concern
that the local time in Brazil is only one NBC’s Olympics social media presence NBC had expressed previously – that
hour ahead of US Eastern time. Of was also criticised by some, although Millennials would be in a social media
course, the Internet and social media ‘bubble’ and wouldn’t even know the
has also moved on since London and Olympics was coming.

20 strategicmarketing October 2016 – January 2017