BLOOMBERG - LOWEST-RATE WINTER OLYMPICS EVER?

As ratings for NBC's coverage of the Winter Olympics from Turin, Italy remained substantially below the average that the network had promised advertisers, it appeared virtually certain that the network will be forced to give advertisers "make goods" to compensate for the audience short-fall, analysts said today (Monday). Andy Pappalardo, senior partner for ad buyer Mediaedge:cia told Bloomberg News that he expects the make-good agreements to be triggered because of the underperformance. "It's going to be tough for NBC next week," he said. Columnist Robert Bianco in USA Today observed today that this year's Olympics "are on track to become the lowest-rated on record." On Saturday, the NBC telecasts recorded a 10.8 rating and an 18 share, substantially below the 12-14 rating that the network had promised advertisers. (To be sure, the news wasn't all bad. The ratings for CBS and ABC combined couldn't match the NBC figures, with CBS averaging a 4.8/8 and ABC, a 4.7/8. Fox trailed with a 4.0/7.) On Sunday, the Olympics telecasts improved slightly to an 11.6/17 -- still below the guaranteed average. And for the second week in a row, they were easily topped by both ABC's Desperate Housewives and Grey's Anatomy. At 9:00 p.m., Housewives scored a 14.2/20 to the Olympics' 13.0/18. At 10:00 p.m., Grey's Anatomy drew the highest ratings of the night with an average 15.0/23 to the Olympics' 11.4/17.

20/02/2006