NBC Does More With Less in Vancouver Games

Doing more with less has been NBC’s motto at the Vancouver Games.

The network maintained strong ratings at home during the first week of broadcasts despite having 22 percent fewer employees and 33 percent less operational space in Vancouver than in Torino in 2006. It averaged 26.2 million viewers through eight prime-time broadcasts.

NBC undertook efforts to reduce its staff size and the space it occupies in the International Broadcast Union at the request of the International Olympic Committee, which hopes to make the Olympics more environmentally sustainable. NBC complied not only by bringing fewer people to Vancouver than Torino but also by not setting up a production office in New York, as it did for part of its digital and television operations during the Beijing Games.

Here’s a look at the numbers for NBC’s operations in Vancouver compared to four years ago:

Staff:

Torino — 2,768

Vancouver — 2,168

Square Feet On Location:

Torino — 75,000

Vancouver — 50,000

Hotel Room Nights:

Torino — 63,696

Vancouver — 46,912

Vehicles:

Torino — 399

Vancouver — 235

Despite those reductions, NBC is still exceeding its ratings guarantee to advertising of a 14.0 average prime-time household rating. Through Friday, it was averaging a 14.7 rating and 26.2 million viewers over the first eight nights of the Olympics.

The cut in staffing and associated travel helped NBC reduce its costs of the Games as it struggles with the $820 million rights fee associated with them. NBC executives have said they expect to lose more than $200 million on the Games because of the licensing fee and a challenging advertising market that’s still recuperating from the recession.

NBC Vice President of Communications Chris McCloskey said the network was able to reduce its operations in Vancouver because of efficiencies it had gained by producing eight other Olympics since the 1980s. It has relied on Olympic Broadcasting Services feeds more than in the past and also has benefited from equipment and sets it purchased in the late 1990s that are still usable.

“Those efficiencies are still paying off today and will continue to pay off in London,” McCloskey said.

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Tripp Mickle writes for Street & Smith's Sports Business Journal.