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SALT LAKE CITY — NBC’s coverage of the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro caused quite a stir among viewers, especially with those who were unable to view the much-anticipated competition due to the network’s limited live coverage and restrictive online streaming requirements.
Thanks to viewers’ frustrations — and despite NBC’s online viewing limitations — streaming rates for the 2016 Games were higher than ever, and viewers expressed that cable companies need to pay attention to their demands and the changing landscape of online streaming.
Streaming takes the gold
NBC’s website provided a concurrent stream of events occurring at any given moment and gave online viewers a 30-minute window during which to stream Olympic events. After that, all viewers were asked to log in through their television providers. Still, streaming of the 2016 Games topped that of London, Sochi and Russia combined. In fact, more than 1.8 billion minutes were viewed online this year.
This comes as no surprise to Logan Bryant, an industry trends expert at Dish2U.
“Streaming has been changing the landscape of the cable industry for a while now,” he explained. “Cord-cutting has become an increasingly popular practice, especially among millennials. Young people no longer consume content in the same way, so it makes sense that they’re not watching the Olympics in the same way.”
Cord-cutting trends are already highlighting the urgency with which the media industry needs to change to adapt to viewers’ habits.
The NBC monopoly and ratings
NBC has held U.S. broadcasting rights to the Summer Olympic Games since 1988 — and will continue to own them until at least 2032, thanks to a $7.75 billion bid made by the company in 2014. This monopoly gives NBC a big ratings advantage over other networks every four years, and a lot of leeway to decide how it wants to package and present Olympic events for viewers.
But the lack of alternate viewing options and the controversy surrounding NBC’s coverage has resulted in a mixed bag, ratings-wise, for the company. The network broadcasted events on 10 different channels, but not all events were shown live. Women’s gymnastics, for example, were delayed until prime time in order to maximize advertising revenue for NBC, which claims the event is better prepackaged, as gymnastics is “sluggish to show live.”
Prime-time Olympic coverage continued to be the most-watched television content during its time slot, but live viewership for the 2016 Olympics was actually lower than that of the 2012 Games. The opening ceremony in Rio saw 28 percent fewer people tuning in compared to the British ceremony four years ago.
NBC Sports Group Chairman Mark Lazarus, however, claims the 2016 Summer Games have been “the most economically successful” in history.
