When gold medal contenders Yevengy Plushenko of Russia and Johnny Weir of the United States took the ice for the men’s figure skating short program on NBC’s telecast Feb. 14, most of America had its television sets turned to a completely different set of contenders – those on the juggernaut that is Fox’s “American Idol.” In the greatest upset since Sarah Hughes beat Michelle Kwan for the gold medal in 2002, “American Idol” walloped the Olympics by a score of 27 million viewers to 16.1 on that bleak Tuesday night.
While NBC did recover to average 18.6 million viewers for the Olympics, this telecast was the least watched since the closing ceremonies of the 1998 Nagano games. If anything could be read as a bad omen, this poor showing was it. The following night, the Olympic telecast broke the previous night’s record for futility with an audience of 17.9 million viewers.
NBC’s primetime coverage of the Torino Olympics averaged a 12.2 share of the national audience, with each share representing 1 percent of the national television viewing audience of 1,102,000 viewers. Torino’s rating share is 36 percent below the 19.3 share achieved in Salt Lake City in 2002 and 25 percent below the 16.3 share achieved in the 1998 Nagano games. Total viewership also suffered a major decline when compared to past Winter Olympics. While Salt Lake City averaged 31.9 million viewers, Torino averaged 20.2 million viewers, a 37 percent decrease. Even Nagano averaged 25.1 million viewers a day, a number 25 percent larger than that received in Torino.
While these numbers may seem large, one has to realize that the event at hand is the most significant athletic competition worldwide and one of the most coveted events for television networks. If the Olympics were not a big deal, NBC would not have paid $2.3 billion to broadcast this year’s Winter Olympics, in a package that also included the broadcast rights for the 2004 and 2008 Summer Olympics. NBC will still limp out of this rating debacle with a $60-70 million profit, but one question remains: Where did all the viewers go?
“Between chem and physics, I just didn’t have four hours each night to watch Bob Costas. If I wanted to know the results, I would just go on the Internet,” said freshman Amen Holman.
It’s hardly likely that this drop in viewership can be attributed to the ever-increasing academic standards in American schools, like Holman indicated. There used to be a time when major events such as the World Series, the Academy Awards, and the Olympics translated into monster ratings. In the age of TiVo, satellite dishes and the Internet, the only sure thing nowadays is the Super Bowl. Due to these changes, networks have realized that marquee events such as the Olympics are not invincible after all.
“In the past, the Winter Olympics have not had a lot of competition because typically the other networks would lie down and say, ‘Why put our best stuff up against a powerhouse?” said Stacey Lynn Koerner, an analyst for the Initiative Media Agency.
This is no longer the case. Not only did the Olympics have to go up against new episodes of “American Idol,” the Olympics also had to compete against other megahits such as “Grey’s Anatomy,” “CSI,” “Dancing with the Stars” and “House.” You know something is wrong when you have trouble outdrawing a show that consists of Nick Lachey’s little brother and Master P participating in a ballroom dancing contest.
“I did watch some events, like hockey and speed skating, but there was so much else on at the same time,” said freshman Dan Levin. “I mean, why would I miss ‘House’ for curling?”
Many young adults held similar views as Levin, a fact evidenced by the 45 percent decrease in viewership among viewers 18-49 years old from the Salt Lake City Games.
Apparently most young viewers turned their backs on Bode Miller, Sasha Cohen and Emily Hughes to watch shows like “American Idol.” Apart from there being other viewing options, other reasons include the time difference from Torino and the posting of results on the Internet.
“I only watched the events I had interest in, like the U.S. Hockey games,” said freshman David Barlow. “The results are on the Internet almost immediately after the event, and if it is a terrible game there is no point of me watching.”
Other reasons that media outlets have cited for the fall in viewership include the fact that historically, all Olympics that occur outside the North American continent result in a decrease in American viewership.
The decrease can also be attributed to the unique circumstances surrounding the 2002 Olympics. Only a few months earlier, the terrorist attacks of 9/11 had shaken the country and a strong patriotic spirit drove people to cheer for the athletes who were representing their country. In addition, NBC was the most watched television station in 2002, and this may have contributed to the large viewership for Salt Lake City.
While all of these reasons seem plausible, viewership for the Torino games is still much lower than that of past games. No longer can networks expect the entire country to come together for two weeks to watch sporting events as they did in earlier times.
The institutions and technologies of the current day and age have changed dramatically and networks will have to accept this fact and program events accordingly. Regardless of how many people actually watched the Olympics, the personal and group achievements of the athletes participating in Torino should not be underestimated. I know I won’t be shedding any tears for NBC.