Despite rants, NBC scores on Olympics

#NBCFail? Not by a long shot. Despite rampant criticism from fans and pundits alike, NBC outperformed even its own predictions with its multi-platform coverage of the 2012 Summer Olympics. Wayne Friedman reports for MediaPost that, “Through the first 10 days, the London Olympics has averaged a Nielsen 33.6 million viewers in prime time, which NBC says is the most for any non-U.S. Summer Olympics in 36 years.” Even before the opening ceremonies, NBC reported that it had surpassed $1 billion in ad sales (up from $850 million from the Bejing Games)—and clients are now pretty pleased with the results. Writes Jeanine Poggi of AdAge, “Viewers have been ranting on social media about NBC’s tape-delayed prime-time coverage, its failure to edit out the bare breast of an Olympic swimmer, a ‘Today’ promotion revealing a swimming winner minutes before NBC showed the race and streaming-technology glitches. Marketers aren’t having it.”

Among the happiest marketers are Chobani, General Electric and Coca-Cola, all of which got the highest scores, according to Ace Metrix analytics. Doug VandeVelde, senior VP of Kellogg-owned Morning Foods told Poggi, “We have been thrilled with the results so far—the ratings have been incredible, and we’ve seen positive social engagement among our consumers.” Online, Friedman reports, “NBC’s ‘TV Everywhere’ efforts, which allowed those with cable, satellite or telco monthly TV packages to see Olympic content online for free, has been verified at 7.6 million devices.” And, NBC reported that visitors are spending more than 27 minutes per visit on the site —a whopping 118% ahead of Beijing. And total video streams are now at 102 million, while Beijing had 75 million streams.

• So Much for #NBCFail: Olympics Ratings Soar (AdAge)

• Chobani, GE, Coca-Cola, P&G Score With Olympics Ads (MediaPost)

• Olympics Viewership Scores Cross-Platform (MediaPost)

• #NBCFail? Not Quite. Prime Time Olympics Coverage is Surprising Success for Network (TIME)

• Reality or “Reality”?: Should NBC’s Olympics Coverage Be More Straightforward? (TIME)

• Is it really #NBCfail? (CNNOpinion)

• Forget ‘social media Olympics’, these are the mobile games (PaidContent)

• Are the Olympics a bigger media draw than the Super Bowl? (PaidContent)

• Give the BBC a Gold Medal: A Love Letter to Britain’s Olympic Broadcaster (TIME)

• Here’s how the BBC is stomping the competition for Olympics coverage (The Next Web)