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Promotion’s Limited Impact in the 2000 Sydney Olympics

Indiana University

Andrew C. Billings

Clemson University

Lower-than-expected ratings made the 2000 Sydney Olympics an unusual promotional platform and led the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) to alter its on-air plans for marketing its fall 2000 prime-time schedule while the event was proceeding. This study assessed the impact of the prime-time promos carried in the 2000 Games on post-Olympics program ratings. A comparison of before-and-after difference scores for each promoted program showed that only one-quarter of its promoted programs rose in the ratings after the event, half stayed flat, and one-third went down, despite NBC’s having the top-rated shows at the time. Ten factors were identified that potentially affected the promos’ collective impact. From a theoretical perspective, the findings suggested two new variables that might be incorporated in salience theory and from a practical perspective, suggested that NBC’s unusual promotional practices led to too little exposure time and repetition for effective promotion.

Key Words: marketing • NBC • Olympics • programming • promotion • ratings • salience theory • sports

Television & New Media, Vol. 5, No. 4, 339-358 (2004)
DOI: 10.1177/1527476403255818


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