NBC's Olympic claims deserve closer inspection
STEVE SPRINGER / ON THE MEDIA
Their viewer comparisons don't begin to tell the whole story.
The Olympics may be fading into history, but the wake left by Michael Phelps and other athletes continues to bubble.
Looking at the numbers
In attracting 214 million viewers over 17 days, the 2008 Beijing Olympics were watched by more Americans than any event in U.S. television history. So claims NBC.
Wait a minute.
What about "Roots," the highest-rated miniseries of all time? The story of slavery in America attracted 80 million viewers for each of its first seven nights and 100 million for the final episode for a total of 660 million.
Can we say the Beijing Olympics were the most-watched sports event in U.S. television history?
No again.
Despite NBC's using eight channels over 17 days to rack up its number, 214 million is far short of the number of viewers for 12 World Series going back to 1973, according to Nielsen Media Research.
The difference is dramatic: One channel for the World Series as opposed to eight, six or seven days as opposed to 17.
The high was 266.5 million for the seven-game series between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Milwaukee Brewers in 1982. It drew an average of 38,070,000 a game.
Four of the 12 were six-game series, three of those between the Dodgers and the New York Yankees. The high for those archrivals came in 1978, when 265.7 million watched the Yankees win. NBC should know better. It televised that 1978 Series and six of the top 12.
So was Beijing at least the most-watched Olympics in U.S. television history?
Sort of. The 2008 Games had the most viewers, but not the highest ratings. Beijing had a 16.2 rating (percentage of TV households) and a 28 share (percentage of televisions in use). That was better than the 2004 Games in Athens (15.0/26) and the 2000 Olympics in Sydney (13.8/24).
But the 1996 Games in Atlanta (21.6/41) and the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona (17.5/34) had better numbers.
In terms of ratings, the best that can be said is that the 2008 Games were the best of the last three.
Still, NBC had a huge audience, extended its reach to new broadcast outlets and presented a multilevel platform that took advantage of burgeoning growth in both the Internet and mobile devices. But the most-watched event in the history of U.S. television? Not even close.
Looking at late night
Even before Phelps had dried off, a behind-the-scenes duel started between late-night shows to secure his appearance and those of other U.S. medalists.
