Olympic spirit—and revenue—eludes some operators

Cable World, Feb 25, 2002 by Christopher Schultz

Despite record ratings and an unprecedented U.S. medal tally, some operators are dissatisfied with the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics programming that was shown on CNBC and MSNBC.

"I can't wait for it to be over," Larry Fischer, EVP--advertising sales operations at Time Warner Cable, said last week. "NBC is doing well with the Olympics, and NBC Cable isn't. And that's concerning me."

Fischer's concern was relative: The Olympics attained solid ratings on cable. The single-day Olympics-viewing record was set Sunday, Feb. 10, on CNBC, when live coverage of a hockey doubleheader (Sweden vs. Czech Republic and Canada vs. Germany) followed by the U.S. vs. Finland curling match achieved a 1.4 rating (1.1 million households).

However, these ratings were reached as CNBC's broadcast parent, NBC, unprecedentedly dominated prime time, rendering it somewhat futile to try to cash in on cable's ratings increases.

When an event like the Olympics maintains such a stranglehold on prime-time viewership, Fischer said, cable buyers remain on the sidelines. There's less spot activity, he said, and "it's harder for us to compete, because there's less to compete for."

Relative ratings aside, some operators were discontented by cable's programming allotment. For Ron Pancratz, VP-ad sales for Cable One, the Olympics did poorly. "If we're in Nebraska and get a spot on the Nebraska football game, we can put a premium on it, but a spot on the curling match? You can say `Olympics' all you want. We're trying to find hometown heroes now. We're doing everything we can."

For its broadcasts, NBC tried to choose events that would attract prized younger viewers, according to Roy Rothstein, VP--national broadcast research at Zenith Media. "[NBC] made a major push to get 18- to 34-year-olds in, and they've done it," he said. "NBC cherry-picked. I believe they did."

Which left cable with less attractive events. "It's cable as also-rans," Bob Gessner, GM of Massillon Cable in Massillon, Ohio, said last week. "I sure didn't see a lot of women's figure skating."

But the Olympics are here to stay, whether ad sales meet expectations or programming isn't as captivating as that on broadcast. Despite his reservations, said Cable One's Pancratz, "I suspect we'll carry them again."

A spokesperson for NBC said that given the ratings increases--300% on MSNBC and 125% on CNBC--along with very positive feedback from some operators, "It's safe to say that this is a runaway success on cable."