Viewers may complain, but NBC isn’t running more commercials in Rio Games

NBC’s television ratings for the Rio Games still are way down from the levels for London in 2012. But despite complaints from viewers, the network hasn’t loaded its coverage with more commercials than it carried four years ago.

An analysis by Kantar Media shows that the amount of ad time in the Games has not changed.

Over the first seven nights of the Rio Games, NBC’s Olympic prime-time coverage contained an average of 15 minutes and 37 seconds of ad time per hour. The figure includes local commercials and promotional announcements for other programs.

In contrast, during the first seven nights of NBC’s coverage of the 2012 Games, the average was 15 minutes and 38 seconds per hour.

The average is lower than the 16 to 17 minutes of commercial time that NBC typically carries in an hour of prime-time programming.

Frustration with commercials has been cited as a possible reason for the decline in TV viewing of the Games. Through the first 13 nights, NBC has averaged 26.8 million viewers in prime time, off 16% from the audience levels for London.

NBC executives have publicly downplayed the TV audience decline, citing the surge in viewing online. Viewers have streamed nearly 2 billion minutes of NBC’s Olympics coverage, more than all previous Games combined.

But a number of Los Angeles Times readers have written to complain about commercial interruptions.

“You’re missing a big reason for less viewers during NBC’s coverage -- the suffocating amount of commercials and chitchat by commentators,” one reader said. “SO frustrating! I thought it was just me, but countless people are posting this same opinion on social media.”

Social media complaints were especially intense Aug. 5, the first night of NBC’s coverage of the opening ceremony in Rio, which saw a 34% decline in viewing compared with London. The network averaged 13 minutes of commercial time per prime-time hour that night, lower than during the first seven nights in 2012, and one minute and 37 seconds less than London’s opening ceremony.

Jon Swallen, chief research officer for Kantar, said the impression of higher commercialization can be attributed to the Olympics carrying shorter but more frequent interruptions. An hour of prime-time programming typically has five to six breaks an hour. But NBC’s Rio Games has had as many as eight.

“More frequent breaks fuel the perception of over-commercialization even as the duration of these pods has been a bit shorter,” Swallen said in his analysis.

Changes in viewer behavior might also contribute to the perception that the Olympics are saturated with ads. An overall increase in streaming may be making viewers less patient with commercials in general. Streamed programs and movies on Netflix have no commercials. Viewers also have become accustomed to fast-forwarding through ads when playing back programming they record on their DVRs.

NBC’s shortfall in audience means it will have to air more commercials to meet ratings guaranteed to them. But those spots are likely to air in place of promotional time.

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Twitter: @SteveBattaglio