Olympics coverage showdown: CTV is trumping NBC in viewer satisfaction

An Ottawa-based media monitoring company combed through 50,000 tweets to gauge how Canada’s television coverage stacks up against the U.S.’s—and, in terms of viewer satisfaction, things are looking bad for the Americans. Media Miser looked at tweets with Olympic-themed hashtags made during the first three days of the London games; of those referencing Canada’s broadcaster, CTV, about half were positive, while a whopping 83% of tweets related to NBC, America’s lone holder of Olympic coverage rights, were disparaging. Use of the hashtag #nbcfail surged as disgruntled NBC watchers lambasted the lack of live event coverage, oddly timed cuts to commercials and irritating commentary, as well as some accidental spoilers and a host of other problems. This makes the uncertainty over Canada’s domestic media rights to the next few Olympics all the more alarming. Sure, CTV’s not perfect, but we really don’t relish the thought of Ryan Seacrest as our guide to the games. [Globe and Mail]