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Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Who Watched the Olympic Athletes?

According to The Nielsen Company, the TV audience for the Winter Olympics is predominantly female, unlike the male-favored Super Bowl. Through February 21, an estimated 56% of Olympic viewers are female, while 44% are male. Super Bowl viewership earlier this month was almost the exact opposite, with its audience composed of 54% males and 46% females.

Olympics ratings are clearly highest among older viewers, finds the study. Ratings among teenagers are 57% lower than the national average for this year's primetime Olympics broadcasts.

Ratings among the 18-49 group are 20% lower than the national average
Ratings among those 55 and older are 82% higher

Some additional ratings include ethnicity, geography, and equipment:

Ratings among Hispanic and African-American viewers are each 74% below the national average
Asian ratings are 15% below the national average
Ratings in the West Central region of the United States area are 24% higher than the national average
Viewership in the Southwest is 28% lower than the national average
55% of Olympic viewers are in HD-capable/receivable homes. Viewing in these homes is 14% higher than the national average
41% of Olympic viewers are in DVR homes and have ratings 12% higher than the national average

To lend context to these demographic insights, Nielsen compared U.S. viewership trends from the Olympics to trends from the Super Bowl played earlier this month.

Ratings among female Olympics viewers are 9% higher than the national average, says the report, while ratings among male Olympics viewers are 9% lower. In contrast, female ratings were 11% lower than the Super Bowl's national average, while male ratings were 11% higher.

Much like the Olympics, ratings for the Super Bowl were highest among older viewers. Ratings among teenagers for the Super Bowl were 20% lower than the national average (compared to the 57% lower ratings for the Olympics). Ratings for the Super Bowl improve in older demographics, where the ratings are 6% higher than the national average in the 18-49 age group and 15% higher among those 55 and up.

Age Group Viewership Index (vs. Total Average Viewership)
	*Index*
*Age Group*	*2010 Olympics*	*Super Bowl XLIV*
12-17	43	80
18-49	80	106
55+	182	115
Source: The Nielsen Company, February 2009

The comparison also found that a larger percentage of Super Bowl viewers were African-American, Hispanic, or Asian (23% compared to 11% for the Olympics). Ratings within the African-American and Hispanic markets were also higher in the Super Bowl when compared to the national average for each event. Ratings for African-American viewers were 18% lower than the national average for the Super Bowl while Hispanic ratings for the game were 49% lower. Asian ratings for both events were almost identical (16% below average for the Super Bowl vs. 15% below average for the Olympics).

Broken down by individual event, freestyle skiing, which includes men's and women's moguls competition, was the most popular Olympic sport among US TV weekend viewers through February 15, according to a minute-by-minute analysis of viewing conducted by Nielsen.

As reported by MarketingCharts, during NBC's primetime broadcast coverage, an average of 26.9 million viewers watched the freestyle events in the first weekend of Olympic competition:

Downhill skiing was the second most popular sport, with an average of 26.7 million viewers watching coverage of the event
Luge coverage earned an average of 26.2 million viewers

However, Nielsen analysis of Internet buzz from February 9-18, 2010 shows that hockey is the most discussed Olympic sport online. Among all online messages related to winter Olympic sports, more than 30% were linked to hockey. Luge generated the second highest amount of buzz over that time, with almost 18%, followed by figure skating with 10% of Olympics sports buzz.

We use the term research in the broadest possible sense. We do not perform an audit, nor do we analyze the data for accuracy or reliability. Our intention is to inform you of the existence of research materials and so we present reports as they are presented to us. The only requirements we impose are that they are potentially useful and relevant to our readers and that they pass the rudimentary test of relying on acceptable industry standards. We explicitly do not take responsibility for the findings. Please be aware of this and check the source for yourself if you intend to rely on any of the data we present.

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We welcome and appreciate forwarding of our newsletters in their entirety or in part with proper attribution. (c) 2008 MediaPost Communications, 1140 Broadway, 4th Floor, New York, NY 10001

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