NBC faces plenty of performance pressure as it prepares to broadcast the Sochi Winter Olympics, which get under way in few weeks.
Most important, of course, are the well-documented security concerns amid rumblings of terrorism.
But there are plenty of less spectacular worries that might be keeping the Peacock Network awake at night — like what is going on at the Olympics during those same wee hours in the US.
The nine-hour time difference between Sochi and the East Coast means that NBC will not be able to show every competitive event live in prime time. And fans can easily peruse the Internet to find out who won the medals before NBC can air some events.
Then there’s the missing star-power to fret over. The absence of one of America’s most publicized and photogenic stars — world-class skier (and media golden girl) Lindsey Vonn — looms as a huge setback for both the medals-fixated US squad and the ratings-focused NBC contingent.
“I don’t think there will be a record TV audience [for the Sochi games],” said Neal Pilson, former president of CBS Sports and currently a TV-industry consultant. Pilson should know: He presided over CBS’ Olympics coverage of the Lillehammer games in 1994, the most-watched Winter Olympics of all.
Coming in second in viewership was the Vancouver Winter Olympics four years ago, which 190 million Americans watched on the NBCUniversal networks.
But even Jim Bell, executive producer of the Sochi coverage, admitted last week that may be too tough a standard. He said it would be “a challenge” to top the Vancouver ratings.
On the bright side, NBC has made provisions to stream the action across media platforms.
“Advertisers will get the benefit of cumulative ratings, which will be quite acceptable,” Pilson said.
As for the main concern, safety, Pilson is similarly reassuring.
“You will see a very high level of security,” he said. “If you’re working for NBC, you can have a degree of confidence that the Russians will provide as tight a security blanket as has ever existed at the Olympics.”