NBC failed to leverage Web for Olympic video, say reports

The TV network lagged behind competitor Yahoo in terms of traffic to its Olympic themed Web site, while its decision to limit Web video may have crippled online advertising revenue.

Although during the first three days of the Summer Olympic Games, NBCOlympics.com was able to hold onto the top spot, Yahoo's Olympic-themed site was able to beat NBC's since Day 4 in the race for Web eyeballs, according to Nielsen.

AOL also did well during the Games, and was the only other site to regularly average for than one million unique visitors per day. Rounding out the top five was Sports Illustrated and ESPN.

Typically, noon was the busiest hour for most sites, leading Nielsen to believe that during the workweek, Web users were using their lunch hour to stay up to date on the day's events.

About 1.5 million users per day visited NBC's online video site for the games, generally about a third of overall traffic. Some research firms, including eMarketer, say the network's decision to limit online video in the end may have actually cost it some revenue.

Based on video stream figures released by NBC, eMarketer estimated that the network made about $5.75 million in revenues during the Games. While it may sound like a healthy number, the potential was likely there to make a lot more.

For example, CBS' online presentation of the NCAA Basketball Tournament earned that network $23 million. Unlike NBC, games were streamed in their entirety from the Web site. NBC, on the other hand, chose to run clips instead.

EMarketer also fingered the network's decision to force users into downloading Microsoft Silverlight, pointing to studies which show it serves as a deterrent to many, it said.

"One might just award NBC's online presentation of the summer Olympics a bronze medal then," senior analyst David Hallerman quipped.