By David Bauder, Television Writer
NEW YORK (AP) --The chief of NBC Sports said Thursday the Rio Games are a huge hit and that he doesn't anticipate having to make concessions to advertisers.
While NBC's prime-time viewership for the Rio games hasn't reached the levels of London 2012, the dip has been offset by increases in people streaming content to their mobile devices or watching on cable networks like Bravo and NBCSN, said Mark Lazarus, chairman of the NBC Sports Group. He expects there to be more streamed content from Rio than for all of the previous Olympics combined.
"The Olympics are dominating the media landscape," Lazarus said.
Despite social media complaints about the number of commercials for the opening ceremony, Lazarus said there were actually fewer commercials shown that night than for the London festivities. NBC did front-load many of the commercials early in the broadcast in more frequent breaks.
After a disastrous start for the opening ceremony and first night of competition, NBC viewership picked up with the success of the U.S. swimmers and gymnasts.
Often a failure to live up to promised viewing levels results in "make-goods," or advertisers being offered free time. But Lazarus said advertisers will leave the game getting what they paid for, and that NBC has sold an additional $30 million in advertising time since the games started. Before the start, NBC said it had sold $1.2 billion in advertising time.
Viewership has met NBC's expectations, "it's just the mix is a little different," he said.
"Rio 2016 is a huge hit," Lazarus said. "We are aggregating audiences at a scale that no one has ever seen before."
Rom-Com Mainstay Hugh Grant Shifts To The Dark Side and He’s Never Been Happier
After some difficulties connecting to a Zoom, Hugh Grant eventually opts to just phone instead.
"Sorry about that," he apologizes. "Tech hell." Grant is no lover of technology. Smart phones, for example, he calls the "devil's tinderbox."
"I think they're killing us. I hate them," he says. "I go on long holidays from them, three or four days at at time. Marvelous."
Hell, and our proximity to it, is a not unrelated topic to Grant's new film, "Heretic." In it, two young Mormon missionaries (Chloe East, Sophie Thatcher) come knocking on a door they'll soon regret visiting. They're welcomed in by Mr. Reed (Grant), an initially charming man who tests their faith in theological debate, and then, in much worse things.
After decades in romantic comedies, Grant has spent the last few years playing narcissists, weirdos and murders, often to the greatest acclaim of his career. But in "Heretic," a horror thriller from A24, Grant's turn to the dark side reaches a new extreme. The actor who once charmingly stammered in "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and who danced to the Pointer Sisters in "Love Actually" is now doing heinous things to young people in a basement.
"It was a challenge," Grant says. "I think human beings need challenges. It makes your beer taste better in the evening if you've climbed a mountain. He was just so wonderfully (expletive)-up."
"Heretic," which opens in theaters Friday, is directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, co-writers of "A Quiet Place." In Grant's hands, Mr. Reed is a divinely good baddie — a scholarly creep whose wry monologues pull from a wide range of references, including, fittingly, Radiohead's "Creep."
In an interview, Grant spoke about these and other facets of his character, his journey... Read More