At NBC, the Thrill Is Gone Along With the Audience

By BILL CARTER

NBC got its first taste of the difference between the Olympics and anything else it can offer in prime time: its audience Monday night dropped about 25 million from the network’s Olympic highs.
And if anyone deserved a ratings gold medal on the night, it was the chef Gordon Ramsay on Fox. With none of the Olympic hype, Mr. Ramsay’s two reality shows beat NBC from 8 to 10 p.m., with his returning series, “Hell’s Kitchen,” the dominant show of the night.

In isolation, without any expected halo from the Olympics, NBC’s performance would have been considered respectable, especially for its 10 p.m. drama “Grimm.” That drama returned for its second season — riding a crest of promotions in the Olympics — with its second-highest rating ever in the audience category NBC sells to most of its advertisers, viewers between the ages of 18 and 49.
That was hardly a huge number, a 2.0 rating, but it would generally rank as a solid performance for a drama at 10 p.m. on an August night. “Grimm” averaged about 5.7 million viewers, which was the second-best total for the night.

Less impressive was the showing of a new reality series heavily pumped during the Olympic coverage: “Stars Earn Stripes.” The show managed to beat the weak “Bachelor Pad” on ABC and repeats on CBS, but Mr. Ramsay’s new series, “Hotel Hell” — which didn’t benefit from 17 days of exposure to 30 million viewers a night — decisively topped NBC’s military-inspired  competition series.

“Hotel Hell” scored a 1.9 in the 18-49 ratings to a 1.7 in that hour for “Stars Earn Stripes.”
Mr. Ramsay kicked into high gear against the second hour of the NBC bombs and guns show. His “Hell’s Kitchen” scored the night’s best 2.7 from 9 to 10, far above the 1.7 NBC scored in that hour.
Over all, the non-Olympics programming on NBC was beaten by Fox by 28 percent.

NBC Censorship

Apparently NBC doesn't even have the edited portions available to watch now on it's website. As Americans, we pride ourselves as having boundless freedom of speech and communications and we also probably feel we are at the top of the list o f all countries in freedom of expression. But, if we tolerate this censorship of a worldwide event and are unable to view it in its entirety, aren't we victims of censorship? How is NBC's editing and unwillingness to offer (even to download, after the fact) any different than repressive regimes? It seems to me that not only are our politics being twisted and force fed and now sports and entertainment are also censored. Am I wrong here? I think it's pathetic that in a country such as ours (in which we pride ourselves on freedom of speech and communication) that we need to search the internet for clips of performances censored by NBC. How is this any different than those repressed by the government of North Korea? Granted, we're not in any physical jeopardy. But, to think an event of such worldwide significance is truncated to make room for a sitcom should enrage many more than it seems to be. We've gotten way too passive regarding our rights to not be force-fed censored information whether it be politics, sports, or entertainment. I don't like the feeling of being at the mercy of NBC.

London Olympics 2012

After NBC's overly-edited and shameful coverage of the Olympic Closing Ceremony, I have no desire to see anything on NBC. I don't have a problem with the time-shifting to maximize their audience. And Saturday night's kick-off with the interesting, but inappropriately scheduled one-hour "history channel-style" documentary on Winston Churchill was bad enough (and I admire Churchill). But, the final blow was not only delaying The Who until after the sitcom sneak peek, but to find out they deleted entire performances should get people really upset. Overall, I think NBC did a very good job, with what they actually decided to share with the audience. But, with all the hours there are to broadcast, to use much of this time as NBC's personal showcase for their programming is a disservice to the IOC, the Brits, the American audience, and to the spirit of the Olympics. The audience expects to see the ceremony in its entirety and for NBC to offer what amounts to a highlight reel is nothing short of offensive, disrespectful, and, well, disgusting. I'm sure NBC will issue another of their infamous apologies over the next day or two. But, the real losers in all of this are the British people who deserve to have their farewell "love letter" to the world be viewed by all Americans who wish to view it. The IOC should demand more from those they award the broadcasting rights.