Olympics Earns More Social Buzz Than Biggest TV Events

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There were impressive results in the social media arena for NBC's London Olympics.

NBC says the London Olympics telecasts were more social than the 2012 Super Bowl, 2012 Grammys, 2012 Oscars, 2012 Golden Globes, and all seven games of the 2011 World Series combined. It pulled in 36 million people versus 32.7 million.

In addition, NBC says the Olympics completely dominated the prime-time social TV conversation. Between the hours of 7 p.m. and midnight, 99% of all social TV buzz was attributed to the prime-time Olympics telecasts.

NBC says totaling 17 days, there were nearly 83 million social comments in total, and 36 million of these came by way of NBCU telecasts.

Gary Zenkel, president of NBC Olympics, stated: “Actively joining the social conversation through our partnerships with these platforms, as well as calling out Olympic social trends and highlights in our linear television coverage, aided us in reassembling the ever-fragmenting media audience, most notably among that elusive younger demographic."

NBC says it brought new people to social media -- 2.4 million, making the Olympics the single largest driver of social TV conversation of all time. This was two times larger than the Super Bowl, which pulled in 1 million people.

The biggest single day: Sunday August 12, which registered 11.4 million comments. The Opening Ceremony telecast, pulled in 5 million comments.

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7 comments on "Olympics Earns More Social Buzz Than Biggest TV Events".

1. Nicholas Schiavone from Nicholas P. Schiavone, LLC
   

   commented on: August 15, 2012 at 6:24 p.m.
   Wayne, Your reporting is often precise, relevant, and engaging. Would it be possible for MediaDaily News to establish a policy that would provide an original data source for the social media data that you report, in the same way that Nielsen is provided as a source for TV audience data? Simply attributing the data to NBC -- or any other secondary source -- would not be sufficient. Hearsay leaves much to be desired in the valued and valuable reporting of MediaPost Publications. To make social data matter we must know its source, if not the methodology by which the data have been collected and tabulated. We need more meaning and less mystery when it comes to understanding and utilizing social media and its data. Thank you.
2. Keith Bemis from Virtual Media Development
   

   commented on: August 15, 2012 at 7:31 p.m.
   A Small Cap To The Head Of nbc sports chairman mark lazarus Corporate Values we always knew there was no such thing...just another buzz word. The nbc coverage of the 2012 Olympics in London was not an "Event" events are live thats the difference between an event and a show..or program,a film or movie.The Olympics are an event not the tuning into time shifted taped programming on nbc thats just watching the telly. Let's remember... nbc thought so much of the Olympics they decided we shouldn't all share it at the same time, at the same moment as the billion others, let's cheer the fact we weren't all let in on the celebration when it happened as it was happening with collective AWE nbc went to the party and bought us back..a tape. The universal consciouness was sedated in the USA placed into a induced coma. The USA population dependent on others more fortunate in other country's for information. The live nbc Olympics on the net did not work and ..others from small country's some without the latest HD, some gathered around old tv's with bent attennas in far away villages, towns watching on small outdated non-digital tv's watching their global instant connection together watching as the world celebrated together in perfect.. real time. The IOC who banned people for not repesenting the true Olympic spirit, for their behavior, for not playing by the rules of the game and yet they sold the rights until 2020 for American broadcasting to a souless broadcasting hijacker who basked in the fact people were "driven" into time slots like sheep. The IOC should award the small golden medal of greed to nbc and then ban themselves from the Olympics. Keep in mind only two country's did not see the Olympics live,,they were the USA and North Korea..it appears we have more in common with the North Koreans then we may have thought. It's a sign of disgust for nbc but from now on they have earned from me and will be known and addressed in only small caps as it fits small people in small company's.
3. Nicholas Schiavone from Nicholas P. Schiavone, LLC
   

   commented on: August 15, 2012 at 8:35 p.m.
   Buzz begets buzz. Hyperbole begets hyperbole. Lower case rants beget meandering intellectual mayhem. 83 million social comments are no guarantee of one word of wisdom. Here's to more really big ideas and much less big data that cannot be and should not be deciphered. And let's not forget: It's not called the "TV Business" for nothing.
4. Eleanor Dowling from Bluefin Labs
   

   commented on: August 17, 2012 at 9:07 a.m.
   Hi Nicholas, Here's a link to the original NBC press release that contains all the data sources relevant to this article: http://www.nbcumv.com/mediavillage/sports/nbcsports/pressreleases?pr=contents/press-releases/2012/08/14/nbcolympicssoci1344987486777.xml The social data mentioned in this article comes from Bluefin Labs, a social TV analytics company.
5. Nicholas Schiavone from Nicholas P. Schiavone, LLC
   

   commented on: August 17, 2012 at 11:15 a.m.
   Thank you very much, Eleanor.
6. Keith Bemis from Virtual Media Development
   

   commented on: August 22, 2012 at 1:22 p.m.
   Well 83 million social comments have a better chance of mining a pearl of wisdom then taping a live event and not having millions of unhappy viewers ranting..
7. Nicholas Schiavone from Nicholas P. Schiavone, LLC
   

   commented on: August 22, 2012 at 2:06 p.m.
   Social comments don't mine themselves -- not even 83 million of them. And when the pearl of wisdom is discovered -- or re-discovered, let us know what it is and what is to be done with it or about it. If viewers of tape-delayed Olympic coverage were truly unhappy, unhappy to the point of dissatisfaction, then they could have watched NBC's coverage live online or turned off NBC's tape-delayed prime time coverage in retribution. NBC's highly Nielsen-rated Olympic coverage suggests abundant satisfaction and great enjoyment with an approach that provided engaging context, viewing convenience and real Olympic drama. As for reports of millions of unhappy viewers ranting, such reports would appear to be over-rated by any measure. This entire fabricated kerfuffle reminds me of T.S. Eliot's question: "Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?" Time to move on. Onwards and upwards.

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