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Unlike NBC, World Feed Keeps Nations' Smaller Olympic Coverage Afloat

Posted on: Thursday, 23 February 2006, 06:00 CST

By Michael Hiestand

TORINO -- Xu Wei brings takeout back to his network's two small rooms in the International Broadcast Center as he oversees the Olympic coverage on China's CCTV. The government network, serving a nation of about 1.3 billion compared with NBC reaching about 296 million Americans, has 26 staffers and a grand total of four cameras.

NBC has about 247,000 square feet of workspace in the center and at venues. It will serve its 2,800 workers about 207,000 meals in its commissaries during the Games.

Xu, however, needn't worry about advertisers. NBC, with about $900 million in ad revenue at stake, sees its ratings publicly dissected. Xu is relaxed when asked about ratings on his ad-free network: "I don't have any data on that."

But he speculates that because of "bad times" -- Beijing is seven hours ahead of Torino -- "maybe ratings aren't good." Does that worry him? Says Xu, shaking his head intently, "Oh, no, no, no."

Some networks here can relate to NBC's now-famously embattled ratings. Cosmin Vasile Cernal is an analyst with the 11-person crew from TVR in Romania, a nation that hasn't yet medaled. "That is a problem for our ratings," he says. "I read disappointment with your athletes is a problem in America, and your Olympic TV station is not so happy either."

TV networks here can get by with tiny crews because they rely on the world TV feed, which uses about 500 cameras to produce about 900 hours of action meant to be presented in an unbiased fashion.

For most networks, Olympic TV means showing hours and hours of live world feeds, sometimes slicing them into highlights. Their announcers could go to venues but don't have to -- they do voiceovers from monitors in the broadcast center studios.

Finland's YLE, for instance, produces Nordic skiing for the world feed. For its own coverage, YLE uses only two cameras in a makeshift studio in its broadcast center office -- and otherwise relies almost completely on the world feed. Although frugal YLE cannot pro-vide NBC's customized close-ups, the Finns have more freedom: YLE's TV coverage is also available live online and on cellphones.

Showing live coverage online used to be impossible because it could cross national borders and impinge on other networks' TV rights. Technology has made it possible for online content to be limited to specific geographic areas -- like Finland -- and YLE producer Jyrki Kempapainen says it's "extremely popular."

NBC isn't likely to try it anytime soon. NBC says its Olympic website -- which drew more page views in the first five days of Torino's events than it got for the entire 2002 Winter Games -- could make a $6 million profit. That might not seem like much given NBC parent General Electric has annual revenue of about $152 billion.

But NBC says its TV side could produce a $75 million profit -- so NBC doesn't have much motivation to cut its TV audiences with live online action.

Norway's NRK network, which is ad-free, doesn't have to worry much about that -- and it offers its TV coverage online. So the network, NRK team leader Ase Marie Hauan says, "can be more flexible than an American network." But not about everything. Told that NBC tapes top sports action and holds it for prime time, Hauan is surprised: "We would never do that. It would never work in Norway."

RTR, a Russian government network, says its new tactic is boosting Olympic ratings. It quit showing ads.

And viewers in Japan see coverage split between six networks in a seemingly chaotic schedule. Hirotaka Isozaki, program director for the Tokyo Broadcasting System, says the giant ad agency Dentsu created the schedule. And he seems incredulous when asked if viewers get confused: "They can just switch channels to find things. Or read the newspaper."

Mexico's TV Azteca faces a challenge no U.S. broadcaster will have to endure: cover an Olympics where your home country has no athletes. Carlos Aguilar, one of the network's three commentators, says it has to fall back on the most popular winter sport back home -- figure skating: "I guess it's because women like to watch it. And maybe boys and girls."

NBC could understand that. And this: The Seven Network in Australia, where February is also a ratings sweeps month, starts its prime-time Olympic coverage a little later. Seven general manager Col Southey says it frees up time for the new season of Desperate Housewives -- yes, those housewives are imported Down Under.

(c) Copyright 2005 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.

Source: USA TODAY

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