NBCUniversal is already out to advertisers with Olympic make-goods as ratings for its Opening Ceremony in Tokyo hit its lowest levels in more than three decades and fell short of the broadcaster’s guarantees to advertisers.
With 16.7 million people tuning in to watch Friday’s Opening Ceremony across NBC’s linear channel, website and apps and Peacock streaming service, according to preliminary numbers provided by NBCU, the event went down as the least-viewed since the Seoul Games’ opener in 1988.
As a result of those viewer returns, which the a media buyer says fell “definitely below” NBCU’s ratings guarantees, the entertainment giant began calling around this weekend about make-goods, which gives advertisers additional ad time to make up for any ratings shortfalls. Make-goods are certainly common in events like the Olympics, which is something NBCU also faced during the 2016 Summer Games in Rio.
Viewership for the three-hour, spectator-free ceremony in Japan was down 36% compared to Rio’s opening, which was watched by 26.5 million viewers. The London Games in 2012 drew 40.7 million viewers. Of course, both of those games happened before the advent of Peacock and surge in streaming.
The viewership drop recorded during this year’s Opening Ceremony, which began airing on Friday morning at 7 a.m. on the East Coast and 4 a.m. out West, was not entirely unexpected amid the pandemic, which has brought universal ratings declines for everything from the Super Bowl to Hollywood award shows.
However, there were a handful of silver linings for NBCU over the past weekend, with its Olympics coverage being consumed in more diverse ways (i.e., outside of linear TV) than ever before.
The Opening Ceremony’s digital audience hit a record high for NBCU, with NBCOlympics.com and the NBC Sports app seeing an average viewership uptick of 76% from the Opening Ceremony in the most recent Winter Games in PyeongChang 2018, and 72% from the Rio Games, reflecting the country’s ongoing shift towards non-linear formats.
“Just as athletes transformed the Olympics by continuing to push the boundaries of sport, our marketing partnerships have in turn evolved, reflecting how our audiences are watching the games today,” Mark Marshall, president, advertising and partnerships at NBCUniversal, said in a statement. “Enjoying the Games is not a linear sprint, but a multi-screen relay—and we know our platform will deliver for advertisers in delivery and impact. Our teams are speaking to our partners every single day to ensure we help them achieve their goals throughout the games.”
The first full day of competition also delivered one-year-old Peacock its busiest Saturday since its inception, aided by a slate of highly anticipated competitions including swimming, gymnastics and Olympic newcomer, skateboarding.
Through Saturday, NBCU reported users had streamed a total of 371 million minutes of Tokyo 2020 content, which is up 21% from a comparable time period in Rio five years ago, albeit when streaming and digital video were considered less integral parts of NBC’s wider Olympic’s broadcast.
Despite attracting fewer eyeballs than in previous years, ad engagement during the Opening Ceremony was up compared to previous Olympics, according to data from iSpot.tv provided by NBCU, which reports 61% higher attention index during the event versus competitive media placements.
Brand recall and message memorability during the Opening Ceremony were also up double-digits for brands compared to both prior-year norms and during the Rio Games in 2016, which will surely come as welcome news to the record-setting roster of advertisers that includes more than 100 brands appearing during the games for the first time.
