This summer's surprise ratings smash? How about the Olympic games on NBC?
After spending nearly a billion dollars ($894 million, to be exact), NBC is finally reaping the benefits of being America's broadcast source for the 29th Olympiad in Beijing.
The opening ceremonies kicked off both the games and NBC's coverage with a bang, as the event was the most-watched sporting event since the Super Bowl. Grabbing nearly 30 million viewers a night since and streaming 6.3 million videos via their Olympics web site, NBC is on pace to snag a profit of $100 million on the deal.
Riding high on their coverage of Michael Phelps 8 swimming golds and the team and individual gymnastics contests, NBC is hoping they've established their ratings high enough to survive a lull during the second week of competition.
And of course, there's no measuring the benefits the endless self promotion provides. Having seen the "Kath & Kim" preview at least two dozen times, I'll be the show's biggest fan when it debuts the fall.
[via NYTimes.com]
Riding high on their coverage of Michael Phelps 8 swimming golds and the team and individual gymnastics contests, NBC is hoping they've established their ratings high enough to survive a lull during the second week of competition.
And of course, there's no measuring the benefits the endless self promotion provides. Having seen the "Kath & Kim" preview at least two dozen times, I'll be the show's biggest fan when it debuts the fall.
[via NYTimes.com]
