BREAKING NEWS – New York City, New York – NBC Universal CEO Jeff Shell insisted that NBC’s costly investment in the Tokyo Olympics will be profitable despite a massive drop in viewership that reportedly has caused “anxiety” for the network’s advertisers.
Through five days of the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, NBC’s average primetime audience of 15.2 million viewers is down 47% from Rio in 2016 and 57% from London in 2012. The opening ceremony, delayed a year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, drew 16.7 million viewers for NBC on Friday, the smallest audience for the network broadcast since the 1988 Seoul Games.
“We had a little bit of bad luck and this drumbeat of negativity,” Shell said during an earnings call with investors. “But we feel we’ll make a boatload of money when we start selling anti-American t-shirts worldwide. Countless companies in liberal cities across this country has made massive orders. Their dedication to the hatred toward this nation will be very profitable. Count on it!”