OPINION: So Apparently… NBC Knows What They’re Doing with the Olympics

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I’ll admit when I got it wrong. In this article, I lambasted NBC for their coverage of the 2012 Olympics. Turns out I have no idea what I am talking about.

Despite cries from the blogosphere, NBC went right on with their delayed coverage, Seacrest-filled social updates and edited coverage of the key parts of the games. Yet, according to the New York Daily News, their coverage shattered all previous ratings records.

On average, over 31 million people tuned in to see the Olympics, and that may just make it the most watched event on NBC all year. People still watched even though the results were all over the internet. I swear, people watched the events even though they knew the results! In fact, excepting the 1984 Los Angeles games, this was the most watched games since 1976! The majority of internet users weren’t even alive in 1976!

So, there goes my promising career as a network programming executive. Mea culpa. I guess we bloggers don’t know everything.

Was it the stirring story of Michael Phelps bulldozing all past medal records, or the smiling face of Gabby Douglas? Was it the grueling journey of the US Beach Volleyball teams as they endured hour upon hour of competition, finally meeting each other in a pitched battle for first place? Or, was it the insightful backstories provided by veterans Bob Costas and Tom Brokaw? NBC must be looking at these games carefully… they have two years to capture that spark and duplicate it before the winter games in Sochi, Russia.

About the Author

Stuart Sweet
Stuart Sweet is the editor-in-chief of The Solid Signal Blog and a "master plumber" at Signal Group, LLC. He is the author of over 10,000 articles and longform tutorials including many posted here. Reach him by clicking on "Contact the Editor" at the bottom of this page.