NBC Uses Phelps to Boost Ratings

The Olympics swim meet is soon to end, with Phelps winning his eighth gold medal on NBC Saturday night, and only one more week of competition remaining in the Olympics, according to the Associated Press.

The interest in the Olympics is sure to wane once Phelps is no longer in the limelight, but NBC has already gotten a medal from its viewers by way of its huge average viewers each night. The channel got an average of 30 million prime-time viewers over its first eight nights which are American Idol numbers. NBC Universal said it earned more than $10 million since the games began and new advertisers were eager to climb on board, according to AP.

This is the first sign that broadcast television can recover from the strike of last winter and come up with an event that will pull viewers in front of the television for the networks. Brian Hughes, a researcher from the ad buying firm, Magna, told AP, "Broadcast is not dead, despite reports to the contrary."

NBC has convinced the Olympics officials to start the races early so they could be aired live in prime-time in the Eastern Time zone. The network's battle plan has been built around Phelps's bid for the record eight medals in the swim competition. This has worked even better than they could have hoped with two of his races ending in heart-stopping finishes, reported AP.