Since the opening ceremony of the Olympics last week, NBC has been busy negotiating with anxious advertisers, offering ways to make up for the Games¡¯ steep drop in viewers, people familiar with the matter say.
Haggling over ¡°make-goods¡± isn¡¯t unusual in TV. But the discussions show that NBC¡¯s ambitious Olympics effort from Tokyo is drawing a smaller audience than the broadcaster or advertisers expected. With the coverage at its halfway point, average nightly viewership through Tuesday was down 42% from the 2016 Summer Games across all of NBC¡¯s outlets.
A decline through the second week threatens to eat into the revenue that NBCUniversal counts on to cover expenses and turn a profit from the games. The company, part of Comcast Corp., sold more than $1.25 billion in commercials for this year¡¯s Olympics, a record. It¡¯s paying about $1.1 billion for the broadcast rights.
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