From a news release issued by NBC Sports & Olympics on Feb. 24, 2010:
NBC UNIVERSAL PRESIDENT OF RESEARCH & MEDIA DEVELOPMENT ALAN WURTZEL’S TOP 5 RESEARCH LEARNINGS – SO FAR – FROM VANCOUVER GAMES:
“The Billion Dollar Lab” initiative involved the participation of a number of research suppliers and the source line following each of the learnings indicates how the data was obtained.
1. THE OLYMPICS IS A HUGE CULTURAL EVENT
· 46% of Olympic viewers changed their typical routine to watch the Olympics.
· 63% stayed up longer than usual to watch, resulting in 42% being “more tired than normal.”
· 35% of viewers cried or became teary-eyed while watching (25% among men)
2. BIG EVENT TV PROGRAMMING BIIGER NOW – MORE THAN EVER
· More than half of all Americans have watched the Vancouver Olympics on the networks of NBC (174 million).
· That’s 24% more viewers than watched the entire 2009 season of American Idol (140 million for 39 separate telecasts).
3. THE OLYMPICS ARE A POSITIVE FAMILY VIEWING EXPERIENCE
· 77% of parents say they use the Olympics to teach their kids values.
· 76% agree “Olympics give me an opportunity to spend quality time together with my family.” (Source: Insight Express 2/14/10)
4. THERE IS TREMENDOUS GROWTH IN YOUNGER VIEWERS
· Gains from youth categories far exceed growth in older demos.
· Viewing among P18-24 is up 46% and viewing among older teens (15-17) is up 34% (compared to viewing for Torino Games).
5. PEOPLE ARE LOOKING FOR A SHARED CULTURAL EXPERIENCE IN A FRACTIONALIZED MEDIA WORLD
· There aren’t many experiences that let people share an event in such great numbers. We see that in our social networking numbers and the overall amount of viewing.
· 63% of Olympics viewers say, “My friends and I enjoy talking about these Olympics.” (source: Knowledge Networks)