By David Bauder, Media Writer
NEW YORK (AP) --For most nights at the Tokyo Olympics, NBC's primetime coverage is drawing about half the audience that the Games had in Rio de Janeiro five years ago.
The numbers are sobering: Sunday's NBC audience of 13 million was down 51% from the 26.7 million who watched the corresponding night in Rio. Saturday night was down 57%, last Wednesday down 53% and Tuesday down 58%, the Nielsen company said.
NBC's best night last week, when it reached 16.2 million on Thursday, was still down 43% from Rio, Nielsen said.
"We've had some bad luck," NBC Universal chief executive Jeff Shell said last week. "There was a drumbeat of negativity … and that has resulted in linear ratings being probably less than we expected."
COVID restrictions that left largely empty arenas, the time difference with Japan and a lack of star power has played a part. Add in cable networks and streaming, and NBC Universal's position improves, but not by much.
The marked change in how people experience television in the past five years plays a part in the ratings decline. NBC's primetime had, on average, 35% less viewers this season than it had in 2015-16, Nielsen said.
One saving grace is NBC's dominance against its rivals. In fact, Fox last week averaged below 1 million viewers in primetime, believed to be the first time that's ever happened for one of the top four broadcast networks.
NBC averaged 13.4 million viewers in primetime last week. CBS had 2.22 million, ABC had 2.17 million, Univision had 1.9 million, Ion Television had 1.1 million, and Fox and Telemundo tied with 980,000.
Fox News Channel led the cable networks with an average of 1.95 million viewers in primetime. USA had 1.68 million, MSNBC had 1.1 million, HGTV had 979,000 and TLC had 882,000.
ABC's "World News Tonight" led the evening news ratings race with an average of 7.5 million viewers. NBC's "Nightly News" had 7.2 million and the "CBS Evening News" had 4.8 million.
For the week of July 26 to Aug. 1, the top 20 shows in primetime, their networks and viewerships:
1. "Summer Olympics" (Thursday), NBC, 16.19 million.
2. "Summer Olympics" (Monday), NBC, 14.76 million.
3. "Summer Olympics" (Tuesday), NBC, 14.01 million.
4. "Summer Olympics" (Sunday), NBC, 13.02 million.
5. "Summer Olympics" (Wednesday), NBC, 12.29 million.
6. "Summer Olympics" (Friday), NBC, 11.73 million.
7. "Summer Olympics" (Saturday), NBC, 10.91 million.
8. Soccer: Copa Oro 2021: EEUU vs. Mexico, Univision, 5.17 million.
9. "60 Minutes," CBS, 4.9 million.
10. "Big Brother" (Thursday), CBS, 3.86 million.
11. "Big Brother" (Wednesday), CBS, 3.79 million.
12. "Big Brother" (Sunday), CBS, 3.4 million.
13. "The Bachelorette," ABC, 3.36 million.
14. "Celebrity Family Feud," ABC, 3.33 million.
15. "NCIS," CBS, 3.31 million.
16. Soccer: Copa Oro 2021: Mexico vs. Canada, 3.26 million.
17. "America's Funniest Home Videos," ABC, 3.25 million.
18. "The $100,000 Pyramid," ABC, 3.19 million.
19. "Press Your Luck," ABC, 3.05 million.
20. "Tucker Carlson Tonight" (Tuesday), Fox News, 3.01 million.
Mike Pierantozzi joins Movers+Shakers as exec creative director
Creative agency Movers+Shakers has appointed Mike Pierantozzi as executive creative director. In this new role, he will help guide the creative direction of Movers+Shakers’ socially-native campaigns. Pierantozzi will report to co-founder and chief creative officer Geoffrey Goldberg.
With nearly two decades of experience as a copywriter, creative director, and multi-platform storyteller, Pierantozzi brings a wealth of knowledge from his work with major brands including Kraft, Unilever, IBM, and Walmart. He has led the creation of award-winning campaigns for agencies like Red Tettemer, Ogilvy, The Brooklyn Brothers, TAXI, Saatchi & Saatchi, and most recently, Vayner, where he spearheaded culturally iconic work for Planters including “Death of Mr. Peanut.” He led the National Down Syndrome Society and Luvs account, whose “First Kid. Second Kid” campaign was awarded by the Effies, ADC, Clios and LIAs.
Outside of the office, Pierantozzi practices what he teaches brands. He’s gone viral multiple times on his own TikTok account, featuring comedic interactions with his son and a trombone. He’s accumulated 15K followers on TikTok.
“Mike brings a rare and awesome combination of deep social and platform experience, a keen eye for excellent storytelling, and a humble and kind approach to leadership,” said Goldberg. “Mike’s got a knack for turning brand stories into cultural movements, making him the perfect fit for Movers+Shakers. He’s got the kind of bold vision and attention to culture that fits perfectly with our mission to push creative boundaries and drive industry firsts. Plus, as a creator himself he has the innate ability to make people stop, laugh, and share--which is exactly what we’re about.”
“I’ve... Read More