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Web Sites Take Home Olympic Gold

Rather than wait out NBC's long tape delays, people are turning to the Web for immediate Olympic results.

By Miguel Helft, The Industry Standard   

The same is true for NBC. When the TV network agreed to pay $705 million for the TV rights to the Sydney 2000 Olympics, it knew that anything short of ratings gold would be utter defeat.

So far, it doesn't look good. In its first five days covering the games, the network's ratings fell below those of prior Olympics. They are down nearly 36 percent from those of the Atlanta games in 1996, 20 percent below those of Barcelona in 1992 and 12 percent below those of Seoul in 1988.

Pundits are blaming the underwhelming TV audience on a number of factors: the tape-delayed coverage, a generally disappointing showing by American athletes, the beginning of the football season and the end of the baseball season (which compete with the Olympics for viewers), and NBC's lackluster production.

Of course, delayed coverage, ratings competition, and corny commentary are not new. That's why many observers are pointing to yet another culprit this year: the Internet.

NBC may be delaying its coverage of the games, but much of the Net isn't. Beyond the sports sites, Internet destinations from newspaper sites to America Online are publishing exhaustive news and analysis. "There is some marvelously innovative coverage going on in the Internet across the world," admits Kevin Monaghan, vice president of business development for NBC Sports.

Surfing for Alternatives

The ubiquitous online coverage of the games is not just diluting the TV audience; it's also fragmenting the Web audience. All sorts of news and information sites are seeing double-digit traffic increases tied to the Olympics, giving the likes of ESPN.com, CNNSI.com, and NBCOlympics.com a run for their money.

While exact figures are not yet available, it's unlikely NBCOlympics will meet its official target of 10 million visitors. Meanwhile, "unofficial" sites such as ESPN's are drawing far bigger audiences.

All this audience dilution wasn't supposed to happen; at least, that's not how the International Olympic Committee planned it. To protect its key source of income--TV contracts, which totaled $1.3 billion globally for the Sydney games--the IOC went all out to limit Internet coverage. It banned audio Webcasts and online video highlights, whether live or delayed. And it refused credentials to Net journalists.

Clearly, the protectionist policy has flopped.

NBC concedes that the flourishing Internet coverage is changing the power dynamics of the sports media world. "With all these different platforms and choices, certainly you are not going to reach the masses that you have reached in past Olympics," says Monaghan.

The committee acknowledges--and now claims it is pleased with--the Net's growing influence on the games. Officials concede they suspect it will grow at TV's expense.

Bernhard Warner of the Industry Standard contributed to this story.

For more in-depth coverage of the Internet Economy, visit The Industry Standard.