The Blog of Scott A. Turke

National spirit shows in Olympic TV Ratings | March 2, 2010

The preliminary numbers are in.  The gold medal hockey game drew a national 15.2 rating, equating to 27.6 million television viewers.  Only the 1980 gold medal game between the US and Finland drew more viewers with over 32 million tuning in to watch the Americans win the gold after stunning Russia earlier in the tournament.

Considering the additional competition in television from cable and more competitive programming done by the remaining broadcast networks, one could surmise that televising the Olympics was a success.  While down from the 2002 Salt Lake City games, the overall numbers posted by NBC were considered “dominant” by today’s television standards.

But, back to hockey.  While there has been debate over how well overall the games are perceived in the U.S., when the network is able to carry a live event, an event of importance, guess what?  Viewers tune in.  Otherwise, they are subject to tape delays (in which most Internet savvy consumers already know the results) and human interest stories about athletes.  The story over the last few summer and winter games is that those aren’t enough to draw the viewers in.

So, what is in store for 2014?  Well, there is an eight-hour time difference between the U.S. and Sochi, Russia.  It will be difficult for whichever network (broadcast or cable) to match the ability to carry live events, unless the Olympics’ organizers make scheduling adjustments in order to accommodate.  Who will carry the 2014 games is yet to be decided.  NBC’s commitment to the Olympic Games ends in 2012 in London.

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