NBC says the Beijing Olympics proved so captivating that millions of Americans now need to catch up on some sleep.
NBC Universal is giddy following its 17-day Olympics coverage, which ended Sunday with a tape-delayed presentation of the closing ceremonies. With thousands of hours available on the broadcast network, cable affiliates and online, the company said it would surpass the 1996 Atlantic Olympics to capture more viewers than any other event in U.S. television history.
Michael Phelps’ bid for eight gold medals was a dream when the Olympics began and for NBC, it turned into a miniseries.
Without being able to check for the results on the Internet in advance, an estimated 39.9 million people tuned in to watch Phelps break Mark Spitz’s record of seven gold medals in a single Olympics on his final relay.
American gymnasts Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson, and beach volleyball players Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh were secondary stars, but their competitions also unfolded live in prime-time.
NBC showed little taste for upsetting their Chinese hosts; in a brief visit to China’s Three Gorges dam Mary Carillo chose to joke about beavers instead of talk about safety issues or the displacement of communities. But it didn’t turn out to be much of an issue. With pollution and political dissent swept away, at least temporarily, the focus was on compelling athletic stories.
NBC News brought the “Today” show and “Nightly News” anchor Brian Williams to Beijing. During a 10-day period just before the games and in the first week of competition, those shows devoted 48 percent of their newshole to the Olympics, far more than their rivals. That led the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism to question, in a report, how much these broadcasts were letting business considerations influence news coverage.
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