NBCUniversal CEO Steve Burke made it clear today that NBC needs to find some way to get better ratings and more ad revenue to compete with ABC, Fox and CBS, who are all doing significantly better.
Despite The Voice, NBC continues to lag behind the other three major networks, but while speaking at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch 2013 Media, Communication & Entertainment Conference in Beverly Hills, Burke showed confidence that new and returning programs will help the network this season. According to TheWrap, Burke put the deficit in numbers - noting that the other three are beating NBC’s revenue by $500 million to $1 billion.
“We feel like we have some shows returning and very, very good development for this fall,“ Burke said. “But the fact of the matter remains that we are significantly behind CBS, Fox, and ABC in terms of the profitability of our broadcast business.”
He continued, “Roughly speaking… we are $500 million to $1 billion behind the other three broadcasters and we have essentially the same physical plant.”
Multichannel News also reports that Burke spoke about Aereo, the service that allows subscribers to stream and record over-the-air programming at a low cost. He is confident that Aereo will eventually be found illegal, but admitted that streaming is going to be a major part of TV’s future.
NBC’s 2013-2014 TV season will not only be bolstered by two editions of The Voice and Sunday Night Football, but also the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. The Games will be used to promote new spring shows. “We feel like we’re putting ourselves in a position to do better this fall and spring,” he said.
Burke also said that retransmission fees were up $200 million for NBC. His comments came a day after a shake-up at NBCUniversal, with Jeff Schell taking over Universal Studios.
image: NBC