NBC Insists Twitter Is Useless Because Not Enough People Tweeted During The Olympics... Which NBC Made Difficult To Watch Online

from the maybe-rethink-your-position dept

People are jumping on a story in the Financial Times, in which NBC Universal's research chief, Alan Wurtzel totally trashes Twitter for not being particularly important to television viewing. The basic claim about the relationship between Twitter and television may, in fact, be true, but the reasoning that Wurtzel presents for his conclusions makes no sense at all. In fact, it raises questions about what kind of "research" NBC Universal actually does.

NBCU had expected social media to have a dominating effect on viewership for the Games. However, during the 18-day period of coverage, just 19 per cent of Olympic viewers posted about the games on social media, the broadcaster found.

Frankly, that seems somewhat high to me. Part of the issue is that Wurtzel seems to think that everyone watching the Olympics and using social media would or should then express that fact to the public. That's bizarre. Plenty of people use social media not to speak out directly, but to pay attention to what their friends and family are doing. This is the same sort of debate that internet-native folks have had for years about participants in online communities vs "lurkers." But lurkers have tremendous value as well, even if they don't participate. Frankly, a 19% participation rate in an online community is massive. It's amazing that NBC Universal seems to think this is a bad thing.

“I am saying the emperor wears no clothes. It is what it is. These are the numbers.”

There are three totally empty statements there, none of which have anything to say.

But, you know, something else that might have had a big impact on this? The fact that NBC Universal has a very long history of making it extraordinarily difficult to actually watch the Olympics that people want to see online (you know, at the time when they're most likely to be connected to social media). Combined with its continued demented decision to make it nearly impossible to watch any of the hot events live and you've basically wiped out many of the big reasons why people might be on social media talking about things. The whole thing was constructed around a typical TV "broadcast" mentality. Is it any wonder that it didn't really resonate with people on social media?

Filed Under: alan wurtzel, lurkers, olympics, social media, tweets
Companies: comcast, nbc universal, twitter

NBC Universal Likes To Keep Its Head In The Sand About People Watching TV Online

from the it's-all-a-big-urban-legend dept

While NBC Universal has done a decent job with Hulu, the video streaming site it partially owns, the company still seems to be pretty tone deaf to where the market is heading. Reporter Laura Holson told NBC Universal's president of research, Alan Wurtzel that she had ditched her TV and now watches TV solely via her computer, and his response indicates an unwillingness to believe that such things really happen:

"I hear about people like you," he said, a hint of skepticism in his voice. "But the notion that people have forsaken watching cable and network television is an urban myth."

Then he hissed what sounded vaguely like an insult.

"You probably read."

Yet, it is happening more and more often as it becomes easier than ever to watch TV online. And, that trend is only going to continue, thanks to new technologies and services such as Boxee.

In the end, this is something of an Innovator's Dilemma issue. Yes, the number of folks watching TV via their computers is still quite small, it's getting easier and easier to do so, and the offerings are getting better and better. At some point, the line of "good enough" is crossed, and people start flooding to that offering, and away from the older, more expensive offering. NBC Universal may be brushing off the early adopters as something to sneer at, but it's making a huge mistake if it thinks such things will remain on the fringe.

Filed Under: alan wurtzel, innovator's dilemma, internet, tv, video
Companies: nbc universal