network tv still ailing - winter olympics vs american idol
It seems the American public’s fascination with amateur performers over the professionals continues beyond the Grammy Awards. Fox TV’s “American Idol,” which crushed the Grammies, has now trounced the Winter Games on NBC twice and will face them three more times next week starting Tuesday. Last Tuesday, two days after ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy” outrated the Olympics, “Idol” attracted 27 million viewers from 8 to 9 p.m. Eastern, crushing NBC’s 15.4 million. The next night, when they met again from 8 to 9, “Idol” expanded its lead in the second half-hour with 31.1 million viewers to NBC’s 15.4 million.
The Games are a valuable franchise for NBC Universal, which has committed $5.7 billion for the Olympic television rights from 2000 to 2012, including $613 million for the rights to carry the Turin Games. NBC has promised its advertisers a final rating in Turin between 12 and 14; if the rating is lower, NBC will have to provide them with free commercial time. (Well, whoops!) Meanwhile internet users have downloaded 2.9 million video streams since the Winter Games began.