Network Competitors Set to Skate All Over NBC's Olympics

By Lisa de Moraes
Thursday, February 9, 2006; C01



The Winter Olympics are so over.

Sure, the competition hasn't started yet -- NBC's event coverage kicks in Saturday, after tomorrow's opening ceremonies.

But whereas in the past the Games pretty much owned prime time and the other broadcast networks stayed out of the way, this year those networks intend to swamp the Games coverage with a tsunami of original programming.

So what's different?

No buzz.

"Everyone sensed a lack of buzz -- and they're feeling good about their shows," said one competitor. The Games "are not this insurmountable thing -- 'Idol' scares me a lot more than the Olympics does."

No buzz, because no "personalities" have emerged, the suit explained.

Figure skater Michelle Kwan "is in her eighth Olympics," the executive joked. (Technically, this will be Kwan's fourth Winter Olympics, although in her first she was a backup competitor.) Skier Bode Miller "is the best thing that's ever happened to NBC and I'm not sure anybody's that interested in him."

What else has changed?

NBC's ratings.

"NBC is the fourth-placed network now. Why should the first-, second- or third-placed networks back down because the fourth-placed network has the Olympics?" noted another competitor.

Even though the Games bring a lot of new viewers to the network, NBC, with its ratings substantially down from its heyday, has far less ability to promote the Olympics than four years ago. It's not an appointment network anymore.

"This is the first time NBC has had the Olympics where they haven't been the number one network," Fox scheduling guru Preston Beckman said.

So, for the first time, the Olympics will face original episodes of "Survivor." Four years ago, CBS waited until after the Winter Games to debut an edition of its tribal competition.

The Games also will tangle with "Dancing With the Stars."

Plus, original episodes of "Desperate Housewives."

And "Grey's Anatomy."

"Lost."

"24."

"House."

And, biggest of all, for the very first time, "American Idol."

"Idol" is averaging more than 34 million viewers on Tuesdays and nearly 32 million on Wednesdays this season -- up 11 and 19 percent compared with last season.

That's appointment television on almost every night of the week.

The most watched shows aren't on NBC. So it's not like any of the biggest shows in the prime-time firmament are being rested by NBC while it airs the Winter Games.

NBC's most watched prime-time program is "Law & Order: SVU," which ranks No. 21 for the season to date.

Fox's "American Idol" is No. 1.

And the Winter Olympics will face a mess of "Idol" over its 16 days.

Seven hours on five nights, to be exact, including the usual two hours next week, plus expanded two-hour editions Feb. 21 and Feb. 22.

(Staring at a two-hour "Idol" and the Olympics, ABC did blink on that night and is airing a rerun of the "Lost" pilot instead of a new episode because, as ABC scheduling chief Jeff Bader told the Associated Press, "there are certain programming combinations that you don't want to go up against -- we're better off saving an original.")

And, to commemorate the Games, Fox has added a one-hour "Idol" edition on Thursday, Feb. 23.

A perfect storm is brewing that night.

NBC's Olympics coverage, including the women's figure skating finals (aka the Winter Olympics Ratings Motherlode), must overcome not only that "Idol" show -- in which two women and two men will get whacked from the singing competition -- but also the final night of competition on the second edition of ABC's hit "Dancing With the Stars" and an original episode of CBS's reality staple "Survivor."

"It's one time period where we think all matter might be sucked into," joked another exec at a competing network.

Broadcasters also are being bullish because prime-time Olympicasts will not be live; four years ago, the Winter Olympics hailed from Salt Lake City, where the time difference was not such an issue.

Also, competition results are easily obtained by viewers, who are four years more Internet-savvy. So if Michelle Kwan gets to the finals and you find out in advance she does not win, "you're probably not going to watch it," one of the competitors speculated. (On the other hand, another noted, if you find out she did, you're probably going to tune in.)

And, speaking of figure skating, there's a whole lot of it in NBC's prime time for the next two weeks, even though that sport skews toward older women.

Which explains, only in part, why the country's most watched network, CBS, will run more repeats against the Games than its competitors. CBS's audience includes a larger percentage of those older viewers but its prime-time slate is also riddled with drama series that are not serialized. Dramas that are not serialized repeat well. Dramas that are serialized -- think "Lost," "24" -- don't.

Added to which, this February -- a ratings sweeps month -- is anomalous, what with ABC having the Super Bowl and NBC the Olympics.

"You look at the season and lay it out where you think you can best utilize your originals," CBS scheduling chief Kelly Kahl noted. "We made the determination this was not the most effective place to use them."

when's the hockey on?

Hockey will be on every night on CBC if you live in Canada! I can't wait!

Interestingly enough, their strategy is working. Ratings for the Olympics on Friday and Saturday hit more than 20 million viewers, BUT the other networks did not suffer one bit, except CBS, which is running and hiding. Interesting.

Olympics vs. DH tonight...winner DH. While the Olympics did well Friday and last night, they are way down from what they should be.

Olympics vs. DH tonight...winner DH. While the Olympics did well Friday and last night, they are way down from what they should be.

I'm more interested in seeing how much of last week's aud Grey's Anatomy manages to retain.

I was really surprised at the ratings for Dancing With The Stars on Friday. It's a very older skewing show, so the Olympics should be eating into its ratings. But that didn't happen. The Friday results show drew a 9.7 rating, down only slightly from the 10.2 last week. Even CBS's repeats are performing at normal repeat levels so far.

I'm very conflicted about tonight. My gut says DH and Grey's will top the Olympics, but I just don't know. I'm also interested to see how well Grey does.

Oh and CBS is really in trouble this month with all the repeats. Maybe they should have done what ABC is doing with a few shows... one new episode and one repeat.

It hasn't even faced AI yet. I'm waiting to see what it does then.

It hasn't even faced AI yet. I'm waiting to see what it does then.

If DH and/or Grey's beats it tonight, then Idol defintely will.

I found it sad that NBC had to say in it's press release that it was the highest-rated program on the network since Athens 2004. Ouch. :lol:

LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) Fast National ratings for Sunday, Feb. 12, 2006
"Grey's Anatomy" out-rated its lead-in, "Desperate Housewives," for the first time on Sunday, but NBC's Olympics coverage was able to slide past ABC for an overall ratings win.

NBC scored a 13.2 rating/20 share in primetime, beating out ABC's 11.3/17. CBS took third with a 6.0/9. FOX, 3.4/5, came in fourth, and The WB trailed with a 1.7/3.


ABC managed to grab a victory among adults 18-49 with a 7.7 rating. NBC was right behind at 7.2. FOX was third at 2.6, followed by CBS, 2.0, and The WB, 1.1.
The first hour of prime-time Olympics coverage delivered an 11.6/18 for NBC at 7 p.m. CBS' "60 Minutes," 7.6/12, was second. "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" was third for ABC at 6.2/10. "Malcolm in the Middle" and a "King of the Hill" rerun averaged 2.5/4 for FOX. The WB aired an hour of "Reba."

The Olympics improved to 14.0/20 at 8 p.m. with coverage of snowboarding, short-track speedskating and the men's downhill. ABC jumped up to second with another hour of "EM: Home Edition," 9.2/13. A "Cold Case" rerun was third for CBS at 6.5/9. Repeats of "The Simpsons" and "The War at Home" kept FOX in fourth. "Charmed" averaged 2.1/3 for The WB.

NBC peaked at 9 p.m. with a 14.7/21, beating ABC's "Desperate Housewives," 14.5/20 (although ABC had the lead among younger viewers). CBS aired the movie "The Sum of All Fears." FOX went with reruns of "Family Guy," 4.0/6, and "American Dad," 3.5/5, and The WB was fifth with a "Charmed" repeat.

At 10 p.m., "Grey's Anatomy" conlcuded its post-Super Bowl cliffhanger with a 15.4/24, topping an original "Housewives" for the first time ever. The Olympics scored a 12.4/19 for the hour, while CBS' movie came in at 4.7/7.

First off... The Olympics are doing BAD(for Olympics standards). I think CBS is going to re-think this all repeat strategy and maybe add some new episodes for next week.

WOW!!! Grey's beat DH for the first time ever. :eek: This show deserves to move and prop up another night.

Hockey will be on every night on CBC if you live in Canada! I can't wait!
http://img119.imageshack.us/img119/5954/olympic24sz.gif + http://images.bravenet.com/common/images/smilies/hockey.gif = :clap:

HORRIBLE ratings last night(well, for the Olympics).

A new CSI: Miami would have been VERY close(within .1 or .2 ratings points) at 10pm...

Olympics Bring More Ratings Gold to NBC Monday
(Tuesday, February 14 08:54 AM)
LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) Fast National ratings for Monday, Feb. 13, 2006

Night four of the Winter Olympics brought NBC another ratings victory Monday, but the other networks didn't suffer too badly from the competition.

NBC averaged a 12.8 rating/19 share in primetime to win by a comfortable margin. CBS, airing mostly repeats, was second at 7.5/11, and ABC and FOX tied for third at 6.2/9 (though FOX had more total viewers, 10.1 million to 9.1 million). The WB took fifth at 3.0/4, beating UPN's 2.1/3.

Among adults 18-49, NBC's 6.5 rating led the way. FOX came in second with a 4.0, followed closely by ABC, 3.9, and CBS, 3.7. The WB averaged 1.6 and UPN 1.3.

NBC began its night from Turin with a 12.1/18 at 8 p.m. CBS was second with repeats of "The King of Queens," 6.3/10, and "How I Met Your Mother," 5.5/8. A "Wife Swap" rerun was third for ABC, beating FOX's "Skating with Celebrities," which posted a 4.9/7. The WB got a 4.0/6 from "7th Heaven." UPN trailed with "One on One" and "All of Us."

The Olympics improved to 13.4/19 at 9 p.m. with coverage of pairs figure skating, snowboarding and speedskating. CBS stayed in second with a
"Two and a Half Men" rerun, 8.8/12, and "Courting Alex," 7.2/10. FOX grabbed third with "24," 7.5/11, dropping ABC to fourth with "The Bachelor: Paris," 6.1/9. UPN's "Girlfriends" and "Half & Half" averaged 2.4/3, good enough to beat "Related" on The WB.

The Winter Games scored a 13.0/20 at 10 p.m. to complete NBC's sweep of the night. A "CSI: Miami" rerun averaged 8.7/13 for CBS, while hour two of "The Bachelor" scored a 6.8/10.

Idol Killed the Olympics American Idol's" Hollywood auditions scored a 15.1/23, the night's best rating, at 8 p.m. The Olympics were second for NBC at 10.0/15, but FOX held a huge lead among younger viewers (11.1 in 18-49 to 4.1 for NBC).

NBC took the overall lead at 9 p.m. as the Olympics improved to 12.5/19. FOX dropped to second with "House," 11.9/18 (and still led among adults 18-49).

First off... The Olympics are doing BAD(for Olympics standards). I think CBS is going to re-think this all repeat strategy and maybe add some new episodes for next week.

WOW!!! Grey's beat DH for the first time ever. :eek: This show deserves to move and prop up another night.

I agree 100%. ABC needs to use Grey's surge in popularity to their advantage, and build up other nights of the week. Then, maybe a new hit can be spawned right after DH. Maybe some new comedies that would greatly appeal to the DH crowd?

I agree 100%. ABC needs to use Grey's surge in popularity to their advantage, and build up other nights of the week. Then, maybe a new hit can be spawned right after DH. Maybe some new comedies that would greatly appeal to the DH crowd?

I think GA is looking like Mondays right now. Tuesdays at 9pm is too choked up. Mondays at 9pm are fairly open. If I were ABC, I would go back to 4 comedies on Tuesday and keep Boston Legal at 10pm, and on Monday, Wife Swap, Grey's Anatomy and a new drama at 10pm. That was ABC will have three great timeslots in which to launch new dramas- Sundays, Mondays and Wednesdays at 10pm. It could really make a move on CBS's dominance next year. Right now, it's 1.4 million viewers behind in the season average (11.6mil vs. 13mil), boosted, granted, by the Super Bowl. Losing football might not even hurt the network, especially if it can get a cohesive night-long schedule going (instead of having football airing at scattered times across the country and the 8pm show taking the hit in viewers because of it).

Airing comedies out of DH wouldn't work, unless to just launch them, Comedies usually don't work well out of dramas and I don't remember the last time a sitcom aired in the 10pm timeslot (not counting special airings). Anybody else remember any? It's an interesting question.

Tomorrow night's ratings are going to be the most interesting in quite awhile. Going into today I thought Idol Results/DWTS and probably Survivor would all beat the Olympics at 8pm... but after the Olympics got a 27 share at 10pm last night during Figure Skating(and the 2nd round where medals are handed out is tomorrow night), I think the Olympics can beat everything *IF* the Americans do well(Sasha Cohen is in the lead and the other two are within striking distance).

Skating Boosts Olympics, but 'Idol' Still Wins Tuesday
(Wednesday, February 22 08:59 AM)

LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) Fast National ratings for Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2006

The Winter Olympics scored its biggest audience to date Tuesday, but not big enough to push NBC past FOX and "American Idol."

FOX averaged a 16.8 rating/24 share on the night, beating out NBC's 15.1/22. CBS was a distant third at 6.7/10. ABC took fourth with a 4.8/7, beating out The WB, 2.1/3, and UPN, 1.2/2.

Among adults 18-49, FOX's 12.9 rating dominated the field. NBC finished second with a 7.2. CBS' 3.0 was good for third, followed by ABC at 2.6. The WB averaged 1.3 and UPN a meager 0.6.

The first hour of "Idol" delivered a 16.1/23 at 8 p.m. as viewers got their first listen to the 12 female semifinalists. NBC's Olympic coverage, which featured the start of the women's figure skating competition, came in at 12.6/18. An "NCIS" rerun, 6.7/10, was third for CBS. ABC came in fourth, averaging 3.9/6 with "According to Jim" and "Rodney." The WB aired the movie "Final Destination 2," which topped UPN's cinematic offering, "Black Knight."

Both "American Idol," 17.5/25, and the Olympics, 15.0/21, increased their audiences at 9 p.m. CBS held onto third with another hour of "NCIS." ABC improved slightly with a second "According to Jim," 4.2/6, and "George Lopez," 4.1/6. The WB remained in fifth with its movie. UPN trailed with the conclusion of "Black Knight."

At 10 p.m., the Olympics posted a 17.7/27, NBC's best hour of Olympics coverage so far. CBS finished second with a "CSI" rerun, 7.0/11. ABC's "Boston Legal" averaged 6.3/10.

It looks like the same thing is happening in Canada. The Olympics---long considered the world's premier sporting event---are being beaten in the ratings by stupid reality shows. It's not as bad as what NBC is up against, but it's still a big concern for CBC, and it may get worse now that the men's hockey team is no longer involved. Here's an article which explains all this from a Canadian perspective.


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Toronto Sun --- Thu, February 23, 2006

A sad reality

The Olympics are losing to American Idol, Survivor and Dancing With The Stars in the ratings race
By BILL BRIOUX




Despite Canada's growing Winter Olympic medal haul, fake games are beating real Games in the TV ratings race.

Tonight will be no exception as CBC and NBC's Olympic Winter Games coverage from Turin, Italy, goes head-to-head with Survivor Panama: Exile Island (Global/CBS, 8 p.m.), American Idol (CTV/Fox, 8 p.m.) and the 90-minute second season competitive finale of Dancing With The Stars (8 p.m., ABC; both CTV and ABC will have the two-hour results show live Sunday at 8 p.m.).

Last Wednesday and Tuesday's American Idol episodes on CTV were the No. 1 and 2 shows for the week in Canada with Survivor at No. 3. All three drew close to 3 million viewers (all figures from BBM Canada).

The best CBC could score last week was a seventh place finish, which came Sunday as Cindy Klassen won her record third of four Olympic medals (and Canada's men's hockey team got beat by the Finns). That drew 2.2 million viewers. CBC had four other Olympic nights in the Top-30, mainly in the bottom half.

Numbers, shnumbers -- why are fake reality shows beating the ultimate reality show, The Olympics? Tonight's NBC coverage will feature the women's figure-skating finals, usually a huge draw on both sides of the border. But more viewers Stateside will tune in to ABC's Dancing With The Stars, which outdrew Survivor last week with nearly 20 million viewers. Three so-called celebrities remain: WWE diva Stacy Keibler, Drew Lachey (boy band brother of tabloid nitwit Nick Lachey), and former NFL Hall of Famer Jerry Rice.


So, okay, Rice, great hands, but two left feet. He's a long shot tonight according to Vegas odds maker Pinnacle-Sports, which has wrestling babe Keibler as the heavy favourite.

The fact that America is more into Jessica Simpson's talentless, soon to be ex-brother-in-law than Sasha Cohen, the tiny, 21-year-old American who skated to a surprise first after a flawless short program, hammers home the point that, today, tabloid trumps talent on TV.

Americans seem to watch only when Americans win but what's the excuse in our country? As of this writing, we might have a shot at curling Gold tonight. Curling anything used to clean up on Canadian screens. Yet American Idol -- which will send four of 24 finalists packing tonight -- will probably go through the house. We've traded real rocks for fake rock.

The irony is that Dancing With The Stars probably comes closest to the spirit of the Olympics. It is a competition, before judges, with participants having to show some degree of physical skill. You don't feel guilty cheering these folks on -- even if you don't really know who they are.

The Olympics, of course, have one huge disadvantage: Turin is six hours ahead of Toronto. Nielsen has CBC's afternoon numbers (1,304,000) averaging ahead of their prime time numbers (1,274,0000). Most of us know who won before we sit down to check out CBC and NBC's evening prime time highlights. If you knew who was out on Idol, Survivor or Dancing tonight would you watch anyway? Probably not so much. Still, look for them to take Gold, Silver and Bronze tonight

I think the Olympics are overrated anyway. For that matter, sports is overrated period. We think that because someone is an athlete, they are God almighty. Who cares? To me, I would rather watch paint dry than watch any sports on TV.

8pm was the most competitive hour in years...

and what the heck was FOX thinking airing a repeat of Skating With Celebrities? :rolleyes: Wife Swap beats it on Monday Night... :lol:

Skating Carries NBC to Thursday Win
Olympics hold off 'Idol,' 'Dancing'
February 24 2006

Fast National ratings for Thursday, Feb. 23, 2006

A hotly competitive Thursday night that featured the marquee event of the Winter Olympics and three strong reality franchises -- all at the same time -- went to NBC, although FOX still scored big with "American Idol."

For the night, NBC averaged a 15.0 rating/22 share, beating second-place ABC's 10.2/15. FOX finished third at 9.1/13, and CBS was fourth at 8.6/13. There was a big dropoff from there, with The WB coming in at 1.7/2 and UPN trailing with a 1.4/2.

NBC also grabbed the top spot among adults 18-49 with a 7.5 rating. FOX, 6.6, finished second in the key ad-sales demographic, followed by CBS, 4.8, and ABC, 4.7. The WB averaged 1.0 and UPN 0.8.

The first live "Idol" results show of the season led the 8 p.m. hour with a 13.2/20 (and dominated the 18-49 demo as well). NBC's Olympic coverage was second at 11.2/17. The penultimate "Dancing with the Stars" posted a 9.7/14 for ABC. CBS dropped to fourth with "Survivor: Panama," 8.5/12. The WB aired the movie "Just Married," which edged reruns of "Everybody Hates Chris" and "Love, Inc." on UPN.

The Olympics, which featured the women's figure skating final, took over the lead at 9 p.m. with a 15.4/22. Hour two of "Dancing with the Stars" improved to 12.8/18 on ABC. A "CSI" rerun on CBS was third at 9.5/14. FOX fell to the No. 4 spot with a repeat of "Skating with Celebrities," 5.0/7. The WB's movie stayed ahead of UPN, which went with a second "Everybody Hates Chris" and "Eve."

At 10 p.m., the Olympics hit 18.4/29, topping 30 million viewers for the hour. ABC's "Primetime" was second at 8.3/13, and CBS' "Without a Trace" repeat averaged 7.8/12.

According to Mediaweek, Survivor edged DWTS in viewers... surprised me a bit. The 8pm hour was all filler though. I turned it on after Survivor and didn't miss any of the couples dancing.

It's not as bad as what NBC is up against, but it's still a big concern for CBC, and it may get worse now that the men's hockey team is no longer involved.
The 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Games men's hockey final with teams USA vs. Canada was one of the most watched TV events ever in Canada. That said, the CBC no longer has to worry because CTV (crappy TV) has the rights to the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games.

[QUOTE=Brent88]8pm was the most competitive hour in years...

and what the heck was FOX thinking airing a repeat of Skating With Celebrities? :rolleyes: Wife Swap beats it on Monday Night... :lol:

I agree, hopefully FOX airs something else after Idol next week.

[quote=Brent88]8pm was the most competitive hour in years...

and what the heck was FOX thinking airing a repeat of Skating With Celebrities? :rolleyes: Wife Swap beats it on Monday Night... :lol:

I agree, hopefully FOX airs something else after Idol next week.

The performances are 90 minutes next week:

Tuesday at 9:30-The War at Home :barf:
Wednesday at 9:30-Free Ride(Preview) :barf:
Thursday at 9:00-Skating With Celebrities Season Finale :barf:

I think the Olympics are overrated anyway. For that matter, sports is overrated period. We think that because someone is an athlete, they are God almighty. Who cares? To me, I would rather watch paint dry than watch any sports on TV.


Spoken like a true female! :p