This article from MediaWeek, made me think "are the Olympics relevant?" Personally, I think so, but I think they represent a devalued entertainment currency. The explosion of other competitions (X-Games, for example) and speed of other media outlets seems to have taken the wind out of the ratings sale for NBC. I knew Bode Miller failed before each event, I didn't need to watch. However, if there were events that I like (biathlon, hockey, snowboarding and speed skating). Outside of hockey, these are all novelties for me. I don't get to see these every day.
NBC's Web site had excellent traffic, but the TV ratings lagged. TV ratings in general are a different beast compared to thirty, twenty, even ten years ago. By understanding the needs of viewers and advertisers, I think NBC could reshape the Olympics as a viewing experience. It will be interesting to see how viewers, sponsors and advertisers embrace Bejing 2008 and Vancouver 2010.
How would you reshape the Olympics to make it more relevant?
4 comments:
http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002075679
I would change the way time is displayed in the US. NBC should think about making a fake sun. Then get the help of C. Montgomery Burns and build a sun blocking machine. That way when Beijing is staging the 100 metre final, it'll be 8 o'clock and prime time in the US. No more tape delay. Just change the clocks.
Or just have the Olympics in the US every four years.
Monty Burns saves the day!!
This kind of silliness drives me bonkers. The Olympics are good TV, sure, but they are also about actual athletic competition - first and foremost, I dare say. It ain't the Games that are the problem, if there is one, it's Americans who prefer American Idol to actual competition. But even that's a false dichotomy: there's no reason you can't like both. Biathlon's one of the biggest in-person and TV sports in Europe, but the Euros love a lot of trash, too. NBC screwed up their coverage with the usual focus on skating and on American stories above all. We're not as nationalistic as they seem to think: Ole Einar Bjorndalen is as fascinating an athlete as Michelle Kwan, if NBC would care to really understand him and his sport.
Regarding adjusting the competitions for TV, though, I touch on that at the end of a recent post on Xferen.
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