[opendtv] Re: NBC Olympics
- From: Craig Birkmaier <brewmastercraig@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 07 Aug 2016 11:40:18 -0400
On Aug 6, 2016, at 9:52 PM, Monty Solomon <monty@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/06/sports/olympics/nbcs-rio-plans-a-focus-on-prime-time-and-a-flood-of-streaming.html
NBCUniversal’s broadcast strategy for the Rio Games will show a media giant
more than ever straddling two approaches to attract viewers to is prized
sports property.
There are many good reasons that NBC spent billions to lock up the Olympics for
more than the next decade. The Summer Olympics have always been an opportunity
to get a big promotional bounce for the fall prime time network line-up. In the
past they never were viewed as a profit center - the prestige and promotional
value was sufficient.
Those days are now history.
Prime time TV ain't what it used to be. There are still some high value shows
that get good ratings, but they are few and far between. Much of what makes up
the network prime time schedules is relatively cheap throw away content that
has no long term value. When you know the guy who the bachelorette chooses the
mystery is over...
But there is another form of TV content that has become critically important to
the networks, despite the fact that it has no long term value...
Live Sports.
Live sports is the last remaining vehicle for advertisers that still works.
Viewers still make appointments, and when they watch live they cannot skip the
ads. And Internet VOD access to recent live events works just as well, since it
can be designed so that ads cannot be skipped.
The Olympics are the ultimate live/VOD sporting events; and now technology is
making it possible to cover them in ways never possible in the broadcast era.
As a result, their financial value has expanded dramatically. 1600 hours of
live linear TV that viewers can watch live, or delayed a bit for their
convenience.
Compare this to the ~200 hours of capsulized broadcast coverage of the Olympics
we grew up with. NBC understood that technology was about to change the way we
watch the Olympics and that the financial return would grow significantly, so
they bid to lock it up for as long as possible.
Given the way they are accomplishing this using multiple networks they own in
the extended basic MVPD bundles, I think it's a safe bet to assume that these
bundles will continue to be the way the congloms plan to distribute their
content in the future.
Regards
Craig
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